Chapter to Non-Board/Advisory Council NFC Member Communications
Goal
NFC looks to minimize unwanted correspondences, prevent overlap, adhere to accepted email etiquette and formal newsletter policies, and act in a consistent and professional manner in regard to all electronic correspondences with non-Board/Advisory Council NFC members.
Background
Non-Board and Advisory Council membership in NFC is at the national level, not state level. While state-level correspondence with non-Board and Advisory Council members is not prohibited, it must be controlled at the national level and adhere to our policies for a number of reasons.
Policy
The Executive Director will reply to all online membership, renewal, schwag sale, and inquiry notifications. Where applicable, they will CC the respective state Chair. This is done to give the person behind the transaction someone to reach out to at NFC if they choose to. We ask that state chairs do not respond to these emails unless the recipient reaches out to them. This is done to minimize overlap and so as not to appear too pushy.
States should not maintain their own email lists. This is due to the fact that the list would be incomplete as states are not party to all communications with NFC members, and as a result, state maintained lists would by default be incomplete. In addition, Mailchimp, our newsletter application, has strict policies in regard to honoring “unsubscribes,” and violations of that policy such as emailing a person who has unsubscribed, can result in the suspension or even termination of our account.
In order to maintain a level of common-look-and-feel and professionalism in regard to correspondences with non-Board/Advisory Council members, NFC uses a formal newsletter application. This ensures that the proper contact information, website link, logo, etc., are in place. NFC is willing to support state-level newsletter mail-outs when we feel it is the best way to address something. However, we prefer to use Facebook and Instagram at the state level as they are more effective.
Summary
NFC believes there is a direct correlation between the frequency of communications and opt-outs or unsubscribes. People are bombarded with emails today, many of which are repetitive, spam, or otherwise of no interest to the recipient. This results in blocking or unsubscribing when people feel that an organization, business or agency is being too pushy. Therefore, all scheduling must be run through national so we do not overlap or overdo it.
If a state chapter feels that state-level email correspondence with Non Board and Advisory Council membership residing in that state is necessary, please work with national NFC to make sure we can provide an updated contact list and newsletter template, and schedule the release in a manner that does not conflict with other correspondences.