Kids on the Yard Anti-Spam Guidelines
At Kids on the Yard, we take Spam seriously.
Many people today are unaware of the cost associated with sending unwanted or unsolicited emails. The principal costs for small businesses and non-profit organizations are poor reputation and lost revenue. For customers and prospects of small businesses and non-profit organizations, receiving unwanted or unsolicited emails is frustrating and time-consuming; it can also provoke adverse reactions toward those who send them. Let's face it: who wants to patronize a business or make a donation to an organization that doesn't consider your preferences or respect your time?
Likewise, there is a cost to processing and filtering unwanted and unsolicited email. This cost is placed squarely on the shoulders of the internet service providers (ISPs) and mail administrators who filter 'spam' from their users. With over 85% of all email traffic considered "Spam" sent from individuals with malicious intent today, there's no wonder why ISPs condemn the sending of unsolicited emails and employ complex filtering to protect their customers from it.
With email marketing, it's all about the recipients. Remember, it's the ISPs and recipients that control the email marketing channel. Unlike many other marketing channels, recipients can easily react to emails they don't want. It's as easy as hitting the "Spam" or "Junk" button or forwarding the email to a third-party blocklist. The result? If enough recipients report the mail they receive from a specific sender as unwanted or unsolicited, both the sender and Kids on the Yard may be blocked from delivering mail in the future.
That's why Kids on the Yard has a no-tolerance spam policy. Please see our Terms of Use & Terms of Service for further details.
What is Spam?
Spam is often in the eye of the beholder. If you ask ten different people for a definition of Spam, you will probably get ten other answers. So here's our best explanation:
- Spam, as applied to email, means "Unsolicited Bulk Email".
- Unsolicited means the recipient still needs to grant the sender affirmative consent (permission) to email them.
- Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having materially similar content.
Okay, so what does "Affirmative Consent" mean?
The term "affirmative consent" means the recipient has expressly consented to receive your message, either in response to a clear and conspicuous request or at the recipient's own initiative. The consent must be specific to you, and general consent to be contacted by third parties is insufficient. Therefore, a list of email addresses purchased from a third party or scraped from the internet would not satisfy the affirmative consent requirement.
Kids on the Yard only sends emails to leads, contacts, students, parents, teachers, suppliers, and the general public who agree to receive an email either by submitting a request on the website, attending events, registering to service, conducting business with Limitless Virtue LLC doing business as Kids on the Yard.
Spam is an issue of consent, not content!
Are there any laws against sending Spam?
Yes. In January of 2004, a federal anti-spam law went into effect in the United States. It's known as the CAN-SPAM Act. This Act regulates commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations. While this law did not stop Spam, it made it illegal and less attractive to spammers. At Kids on the Yard, we applaud the CAN-SPAM Act, but view it as the lowest barrier to entry rather than the pinnacle to which marketers should strive. Because Spam is about consent not content, arguments that mail is CAN-SPAM compliant are often irrelevant.
There are also many other laws and regulations around the world surrounding electronic marketing. If you live or work in Canada or mail to folks who do, you'll want to be sure to collect and catalog express consent as outlined in the Canadian Anti-Spam Laws (CASL).