Sending email responsibly

Online Surveys includes email tools that allow you to send survey invitations and reminders to respondents.

Before sending survey invitations or reminders, you must make sure that:

  • recipients are likely to expect the email, or understand why they are being contacted

  • the contact list is appropriate for the survey

  • the contact list is accurate and up to date

  • the invitation explains why you are contacting the recipient

  • you do not expect the email to generate high levels of spam complaints, bounces, or abuse reports

  • you comply with your organisation’s policies and any relevant legal, ethical, or data protection requirements

 

Recipients should understand why they are being contacted

Recipients are more likely to mark an email as spam if they do not understand why they have been contacted, or trust the survey link.

Your invitation should clearly explain:

  • who you are

  • which organisation you are contacting them from

  • what the survey is about

  • why the recipient has been contacted

  • who they can contact with questions


Contact lists must be appropriate and up to date

You should only send emails to contact lists that are suitable for the survey and are unlikely to cause high levels of complaints or bounces.

You should not send emails from Online Surveys to a list if:

  • recipients are unlikely to expect or understand why they are being contacted

  • the list is old, inaccurate, or unverified

  • the list includes people who have opted out, objected, complained, or asked not to be contacted

  • the list has previously generated high levels of bounces, spam complaints, or abuse reports

  • you are unsure whether the list is appropriate for email distribution through Online Surveys


Publicly available contact details

The fact that contact details are publicly available does not automatically mean they are appropriate to use for email distribution through Online Surveys.

Before using contact details from a public source, you should consider whether recipients would reasonably expect to receive your survey invitation, whether the purpose of the contact is clear, and whether your organisation is satisfied that the contact is appropriate.

If there is a high risk that recipients may mark the email as spam, you must not send the email through Online Surveys.


Large email sends

Online Surveys may allow large numbers of respondents to be added to a survey. This does not mean every large contact list is suitable for email distribution through the platform.

Before sending a large number of invitations or reminders, consider whether:

  • recipients are likely to understand why they are being contacted

  • the list is accurate and up to date

  • the email clearly explains the purpose of the survey

  • the email is likely to generate complaints, bounces, or abuse reports

  • another method of sharing the survey, such as a public survey link, would be more appropriate


Reminder emails

You should only send reminder emails where it is appropriate to do so.

Do not send reminders to recipients who have opted out, objected, complained, or asked not to be contacted again.

If a previous invitation to the same list has generated high levels of spam complaints, bounces, or abuse reports, you must not use Online Surveys to send further emails to that list or to a similar list from the same source.


What happens if email activity creates a risk

We monitor email activity to protect Online Surveys and its users.

If email activity creates a risk to the service, we may take action to protect the platform. This may include:

  • pausing or preventing further emails from being sent

  • removing or disabling a respondent list

  • changing survey access settings

  • temporarily locking a user account

  • restricting email functionality for a user, survey, or account

  • contacting the user and/or account administrator

  • taking any other action reasonably necessary to protect the service


Account administrator responsibility

Account administrators are responsible for helping ensure that users in their account send email responsibly.

Where email activity from an account creates a risk to the service, we may contact the account administrator and may require their agreement before restoring access or email-sending functionality.