EERE has added two new requirements about adding subscribers to electronic newsletters. You should only add subscribers who manually opt in to receive your emails. And when you invite these individuals to opt-in, you should only contact those you have an existing relationship with.
You can find the new requirements on our newsletters page. They are:
Do Not Add Subscribers to Mailing Lists Without Their Approval
EERE mailing lists should only include individuals who requested, or opted in, to receive your emails. Do not enroll subscribers from one newsletter to another. You can send an email inviting individuals you have a relationship with to join a new newsletter, but they must choose to subscribe.
Only Email Individuals You Have a Relationship With
You may invite individuals you have a relationship with to sign up to join a new newsletter. Someone who attended a DOE event or signed up for a newsletter is assumed to have a relationship with DOE; someone who emailed a question to a DOE webmaster is not.
If you have a list of individuals that you want to add to an existing or new newsletter:
- Remove any individuals you don't have an existing relationship with
- Send one email to the others, inviting them to sign up for your newsletter. Include a link to sign up for it.
This ensures that only individuals who want to see your newsletter have signed up for it.
We've also added a new best practice. Best practices are not required, but they help make your newsletters more effective:
Limit the Use of Images in Email Bulletins
Because many individuals do not download images in emails, EERE recommends using few or no images in your newsletters. Design your newsletters so they can be understood with the images off. Images may also negatively affect the responsive design of the EERE email template.
As always, if you have questions you can ask in the blog comments or send an email to the Communication Standards webmaster.
