Opt-in and opt-out
Add unsubscribe and resubscribe links to your emails, and what changes when a donor uses them.
You can give donors a link to unsubscribe from your marketing emails, and a link to subscribe again. Each link is a merge tag that becomes a personal web address for the donor. This page explains how to add the links, what the donor sees, and exactly what changes.
No layout or built-in email includes an unsubscribe link. If you want one in an email, add it yourself.
The merge tags
| Merge tag | What it gives |
|---|---|
*|RECIPIENT_CONTACT_OPT_OUT_URL|* | The unsubscribe link of the person receiving the email. |
*|RECIPIENT_CONTACT_OPT_IN_URL|* | The resubscribe link of the person receiving the email. |
*|CONTACT_OPT_OUT_URL|* | The unsubscribe link of the donor the email is about. |
*|CONTACT_OPT_IN_URL|* | The resubscribe link of the donor the email is about. |
In the merge tag dropdown they all appear under Contact, labelled Opt out url and Opt in url. Each label appears more than once, so tell them apart by the merge tag shown beneath it.
Use the RECIPIENT_CONTACT_ tags. They always belong to the person the email is sent to. The CONTACT_ tags belong to the donor named by the triggering event, if it names one (for example, the donor of a donation recorded by hand). That may not be the person receiving the email, and in many emails, including manual ones, the CONTACT_ tags are empty.
Add an unsubscribe link to an email
- Open the email or workflow, and open its Send an email step.
- Select Design to open the email in the builder.
- In a text, for example at the foot of the email, choose the Opt out url under Contact whose merge tag reads
*|RECIPIENT_CONTACT_OPT_OUT_URL|*from the merge tag dropdown. See Merge tags. - Send or publish the email or workflow so the change goes live.
The tag is replaced by the donor's full unsubscribe web address.
While you design, and in tests sent with Send test, the tag shows a sample address that does nothing.
In a test run (Test email or Test workflow), the email comes to you, but its links belong to the donor the test acts as. Selecting the unsubscribe link in a test email unsubscribes that donor.
What the donor sees
Unsubscribe link. The page says "You've been unsubscribed" and: "We've updated our records to ensure that you won't be contacted for marketing purposes in the future." It has a contact us link to your contact form and an opting-in link that resubscribes them straight away.
Resubscribe link. The page says "You've been resubscribed" and: "We've updated our records to show that you would like to be contacted for marketing purposes in the future." It has a contact us link.
What changes
The change happens as soon as the page opens. There is no confirmation step and no sign-in: anyone who opens the link makes the change, for example if a donor forwards your email.
- Unsubscribe sets the donor's email consent to Revoked. They stop receiving emails from Emails, which are marketing emails. They still receive emails from Workflows, such as receipts and membership emails, because those are transactional.
- Resubscribe sets the donor's email consent to Given. They receive emails from Emails again.
Neither link changes the donor's deliverability. A donor whose deliverability is anything other than OK or Bounce, transient, for example Bounce, permanent or Complained, still receives nothing after resubscribing. A donor with Bounce, transient (a temporary bounce) is still sent emails.
Consent can change again later. For example, when a donor joins a club, their consent is replaced by their answer on the join form. For every way consent changes, and how consent and deliverability decide which emails a donor receives, see Contacts.