Communicating with members

As administrators, you’ll want to send specific messages to members – for example, promoting particular activities or sharing important news. 

Here we outline some methods for communicating with members, when it should be used and who has the permissions to send these messages.  

It’s really important to be aware of your GDPR obligations when deciding the most appropriate method of communication. The methods without an opt-out must be used with additional care so, if in doubt, please don’t do it! 

If members deem your emails to be spam, they may report your emails which will have a direct negative affect on your ability to communicate with members in the future.

Mass emails

This function is reserved purely for important messages relating to member data and consent. It is only designed to be used where either Made Open or the lead partner has a legal obligation to do so. 

Members do not and cannot have an opt -out for these sorts of emails as it could include very important information that we are lawfully obliged to share with them. 

Here are some examples of legitimate uses of the mass email function: 

• An update to the privacy policy which affects how a members data is being used. For example, a new partner organization signs up who will be administrating the website. 
• An update to Terms and conditions where additional conditions have been added. For example, administrators have the right to remove users who don’t have a legitimate connection to a place based platform. 
• There has been a data breach and we are required to inform users that some of their information may have been compromised. 
• An important safeguarding message; for example, reporting that a member has been sending inappropriate messages. 

Mass message

The ability to send a mass message out to all platform members is reserved for only the highest level of platform administrator. Due to the nature of the mass message (sending a message to all members), we ask you to think carefully before sending each message as inappropriate use of this feature will have a negative impact on your sending reputation.  

Here’s a simple checklist for suitability: 

• Is it relevant information for all members? 
• Is it something that all members would reasonably expect to receive? 
• Is it a clear use of legitimate interest? (GDPR) 
• Have we recently sent out a message to all (e.g. in the last month)? 
• Is it the most appropriate channel to use? 

Direct message

The best option for communicating directly with members is via the instant messenger on your platform. Options to message individual users can be found on a members profile via the members stream or in the CMS. 

If a member hasn’t seen your message they’ll be sent an email, same goes for if they reply to you. 

Emails are currently sent twice day at 11am and 3pm, any unread messages older than 1hr will be included, members will only ever get sent one reminder email about any one message. 

It’s possible to send out a single message to a group of users as long as you are connected to those users.

Team chatroom

If you have a specific group of members you wish to communicate to as a group you might benefit from setting up a project team to bring them altogether. Once in a team you can set up a chatroom for different discussion topics and when posting a new message, team members will get notified via email if they haven’t read your message. 

Mailchimp newsletter

We have the ability to link your platform with a Mailchimp newsletter list of your choice (subject to a small set up fee). Once integrated new members will have a single opt in to receive newsletters from you which is a great way to share exciting news, events and more with your audience. 

Unfamiliar with mailchimp? Learn more from their website.

Interested in setting up an integration? Contact your Nominated Individual to get some more information.