BLG's Charities and Not-for-Profit Group held a client breakfast on October 9, 2013 in its Calgary office. The following is a synopsis of a presentation given by me at the "Topical Issues for Charities and Non-Profit Organizations" breakfast:
The impending introduction of anti-spam legislation could have a profound impact on how not-for-profit organizations and charities send electronic messages. Canadian anti-spam legislation ("CASL") has some consent exceptions for charities and not-for-profits, but electronic messages containing encouragement to participate in a commercial activity will still largely be subject to CASL regardless of who is sending the message. Commercial activities promoted in electronic messages may include those activities that are done with no expectation of profit, including the sale of tickets to a fundraiser. To the extent regulations remain the same as those proposed in January 2013, not-for-profit organizations and charities will have to take care to review and understand CASL before it comes into force.
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