How do charities and nonprofits handle consent differently?

If you run a charity or nonprofit, you've probably wondered whether the usual email consent rules apply to you. The short answer is: mostly yes, but with some important carve-outs depending on where you operate and who you're emailing.

Under CAN-SPAM in the US, charities and nonprofits aren't automatically exempt from the law's requirements. What changes is that certain nonprofit messages (fundraising solicitations from political organizations, charities, and similar groups) are not classified as "commercial" emails. That means they don't have to follow CAN-SPAM's commercial email rules, like the opt-out mandate and sender identification requirements. But this only applies to messages whose primary purpose is fundraising or advocacy, not to a nonprofit's promotional marketing emails.

Under CASL in Canada, registered charities actually do get a specific exemption. Emails sent on behalf of a registered charity for fundraising purposes are carved out from CASL's express consent requirement. That's one of the more generous nonprofit exemptions in major email law. Worth noting though: if a Canadian charity sends any other type of email (event promotions, newsletters, third-party partnerships), those messages fall back under the standard CASL rules.

Under GDPR in the EU, there's no special nonprofit exemption. Charities, foundations, and NGOs all have to play by the same rules as everyone else. You still need a lawful basis to process personal data for email marketing. Legitimate interest can work for existing supporters, but you'll want a clear record of why it applies. Whether your email counts as informational or promotional matters a lot here, because the threshold for legitimate interest shifts depending on how commercial the content is.

A few things nonprofits often get wrong:

• Assuming the charity exemption extends to all emails. It usually doesn't. A fundraising appeal and a newsletter about your latest gala are treated differently.
• Mixing supporter lists with event attendees or volunteers. These groups may have very different consent histories, and treating them as one list creates compliance gaps.
• Ignoring unsubscribes. Exempt or not, continuing to email someone who has asked to stop is a fast track to deliverability problems and reputational damage.
• Operating internationally without checking local rules. Your donors might be in Canada, the EU, and the US all at once, and you're bound by the rules where they are, not just where you are.

If you're not sure which exemptions actually apply to your organization's email program, our SOS hotline is free. We can help you figure out what you're actually working with before you send the next campaign.