March 23, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
America Online has announced two new delivery options for nonprofit organizations to ensure that their e-mail messages reach supporters.
The new program was announced three days after a coalition of nonprofit groups, political organizations, labor unions, and small businesses started an online petition campaign. The coalition protested the company’s plan to allow marketers who send bulk e-mail messages to pay a fee to bypass the company’s spam filters and ensure that their messages are delivered to AOL customers (The Chronicle, March 9).
AOL said that under the new program nonprofit groups that follow its anti-spam and e-mail policies may qualify for AOL’s Enhanced White List, a free service that provides delivery of messages — including images and Web links — in a way that is equivalent to the fee-based, certified e-mail program it plans for commercial marketers.
The second option will allow nonprofit organizations to use one of several “third-party e-mail accreditation services” to vouch for the authenticity of their e-mail messages. AOL will pay the fees associated with using the service if the organizations are nonprofit groups.
The company said that the options will provide nonprofit organizations the assurance that their e-mail messages will “be delivered on comparable terms to commercial e-mail senders while also providing their constituents a way of being able to trust that the e-mail they receive is authentic.”
America Online said it would announce details of the new programs in the next 30 to 60 days.
Even with the new options, the coalition protesting AOL’s certified e-mail program continued to voice concerns.
It said the latest move by the company acknowledges that the certified e-mail program will create a “two-tiered Internet with one standard of e-mail reliability for the big guy and an inferior standard for the little guy.”
The coalition questioned how nonprofit groups would be selected for the new delivery programs, and said that the proposal doesn’t deal with the larger issue of maintaining a “level playing field” on the Internet.
Since the start of its campaign, the number of organizations in the coalition has grown from a little more than 50 to 500, and its online petition has collected more than 37,000 signatures.
For more information: Go to http://www.dearaol.com for the coalition’s letter and to http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/newmedia/cb_press_
view.cfm?release_num=55254538 for information on AOL’s new e-mail delivery programs for nonprofit organizations.
