Email Opt in/Out on donation forms not pulling into reports or constituent records issue

Hayley Adams · February 2020

We noticed at the end of last week while managing some duplicate records that individuals who opt out of receiving emails via our donation forms never actually are getting opted out. It you look at the individuals interaction tab you can see where donors select to opt out but their constituent record never updates and we can still send bulk emails to these donors.

I have opened a case with support and it appears that this functionality is what they expect. They provided me with this KB article.
https://kb.blackbaud.com/articles/Article/74441

We have looked at a few different records and are seeing this issue where our donors think they are opting out but we have no way of knowing this without looking at their interaction tab. Has anyone else seen this issue or had donors ask why are you still emailing?

We are looking for suggestions on the best way to handle this moving forward.

Sarah Robie · February 2020

This is an interesting question that we've discussed as well. We generally agree that if an email subscriber doesn't check the opt-in box while making a donation, it's because they don't think they need to opt-in to email they're already receiving. If this is true, then the functionality is working correctly. If they really want to opt-out of email, they should unsubscribe via an email link or log into their Supporter Center and unsubscribe there.

However if a donor has never been opted in to email, then not checking the box will keep them not opted in. I hope that's working correctly for you!

Have you gotten donors who are mad that not checking the box means they don't unsubscribe? We haven't seen any (or many) unsatisfied comments that I can recall.

Hayley Adams · February 2020

We just stumbled across this topic by accident in some clean up we were doing. Many users were added to our system when we migrated over from BBNC and Sphere to LO which then opted them in. The functionality the donor expects when making a donation is not working as they would think it should.

Sarah - do you mind sharing how you have the question worded on your donation forms to keep down donor confusion? Also do you have the checkbox pre-checked or unchecked to start?

Sarah Robie · February 2020

Ah, sorry to hear. I can't say our language is perfect for minimizing confusion, but it's: "Send me email about important conservation news and how I can help WWF protect the diversity of life on Earth."

Let me know if you end up using language that can help clarify the actual opt-in behavior. We have been looking to update ours.

Also, we have the opt-in checked by default on donation forms.

Hayley Adams · February 2020

Our language on our donation forms says...

Yes! I want to be able to receive emails from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation staff, leaders, and programs.

But we are concerned that we truly do not know if individuals uncheck this box because they may already be in our system.

Our case is still open with Blackbaud and hopefully they will be able to update this functionality to truly capture opt in/ opt outs.

Email Opt in/Out on donation forms not pulling into reports or constituent records issue

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