What happens when a supporter unsubscribes or marks an alert as spam?

Your alerts only go to supporters who said yes and have not changed their mind. The platform keeps track of this for you.

Who receives an alert

A supporter receives your alert only if all of these are true:

• Their status is Active.
• They are opted in to your alerts, either by the checkbox when they signed up or by a staff member who confirmed their permission.
• They have not unsubscribed or marked one of your alerts as spam.
• Their current email address has not hard-bounced.

They must also match the audience you chose for that alert. The count in the alert composer already leaves out everyone who cannot receive it.

Unsubscribes

Every alert ends with an Unsubscribe from these emails link. Many email apps also show their own unsubscribe button at the top of the message. Either one does the same thing:

• The supporter's status changes to Unsubscribed.
• Their Action Alerts consent shows Unsubscribed, with the date.
• They stop receiving your alerts right away.

The supporter sees a page that says they have been unsubscribed from email updates from your organization.

Unsubscribing does not delete the supporter. Their record and action history stay, and they can still take action on your action pages.

Spam complaints

If a supporter marks your alert as spam in their email app, the platform treats it the same as an unsubscribe. They are set to Unsubscribed and stop receiving alerts. On the alert's page, that person shows complained in the Delivery Log.

Bounces

A bounce means the email could not be delivered.

• Hard bounce (the address does not exist or refuses mail): the delivery shows bounced. That supporter is skipped on every future alert for as long as their email is the address that bounced. If you or the supporter update their email to a working address, they can receive alerts again.
• Temporary problem (a full mailbox, a server that is down): the delivery shows failed. Nothing changes for future alerts.

Can we opt someone back in?

Not after they unsubscribe or complain. Staff cannot opt a supporter back in once they have used an unsubscribe link or marked an alert as spam. This protects your organization and keeps your mail out of spam folders.

If a supporter who never unsubscribed asks to receive alerts, an Owner or Editor can open their page, click Edit, check Opted in to email updates and confirm that the person gave permission. See "What is on a supporter's page?"

Other mail is separate

Your alert unsubscribe covers alerts from your organization. Staff email digests and saved-search emails have their own unsubscribe links, covered in the articles on notifications and reports.

If this does not solve it, email support@conservativestates.app and tell us your organization's name.