Bulk Emailing: Should you use a third party?

We’re all involved in the pro-life movement, and in such a large movement we tend to have long contact lists.

How can you make your emails land in the inbox rather than the dreaded Spam folder?

The answer may surprise you. Ready?

Don’t send bulk emails with through your regular email account. Use a third party instead.

Whether your email address is with Extend Web Services, an Internet Service Provider (WOW, Verizon, Comcast, EarthLink, etc.), Google, Yahoo! or Microsoft, your account is not set up to reach all the masses on your contact list.

That’s because regular email services all have set sending limits… and they are all different. (For more info on your server’s email limits, click here.)

Limits on your email account aren’t the only reason to use a third-party service for bulk emailing—the law is another. Since 2003, the CAN-SPAM Act has spelled out best practices for bulk emailing, which can be found here. (Click here for an easy-to-read list for non-profits.)

When you send bulk emails from our Extend Web Services server and our new Extend Web Services OpenSRS service, you run the risk of placing our service IP address, as well as your domain and your specific email address into a blocked list. That means all our emails could end up in Spam boxes!

How can you help us avoid getting blocked?

Use a third party to send bulk emails.

Emailing to the many folks on your contact list is simple and cost-effective (and did we mention, legal?). Plenty of third-party email services provide FREE plans, and others provide a low monthly cost depending on the size of your audience.

Here are some of the services we recommend:

1. MailChimp – (Entrepreneur plan is FREE, lets you have up to 2,000 contacts/subscribers and send 12,000 emails per month)
2. VerticalResponse – (Free plan, lets you have up to 1,000 contacts, and send 4,000 emails per month)
3. Emma – (Get 20% off everything just for being a non-profit)
4. iContact – (20% discount to all non-profit organizations anywhere, and non-profits in North Carolina get a free iContact account!)