Consent, quiet hours, and compliance
Last updated 4 min read
On this page5
The philosophy
Outreach regulations exist to protect people from unwanted contact — and following them isn't just legal hygiene, it's good fundraising. Pledgix bakes the hard rules into the platform so you can't accidentally break them, and leaves you with a short list of common-sense responsibilities.
What Pledgix enforces for you
Calling hours for voice broadcasts. Broadcasts only dial between 9 AM and 8 PM in your campaign's time zone, in line with telemarketing regulations. Launching outside the window is blocked — schedule the broadcast for a compliant time instead. The window is checked against your campaign's zone, not each recipient's — if your list spans time zones, it's your job to pick a time that keeps every recipient inside their own local window. (A visible badge on the launch screen confirms the window applies; exceptions exist only for specific pre-approved situations arranged with the Pledgix team.)
In-call opt-out. Every voice broadcast ends by telling the recipient they can press 7 to unsubscribe. Opt-outs are recorded on your campaign's Do Not Call list before the call even ends.
Do Not Call screening. Every SMS audience is scrubbed against the Do Not Call lists at send time — team roster numbers, manually-entered numbers, and uploaded lists alike — and so is every voice broadcast list. Screening happens when the blast actually fires, including scheduled sends, so a late opt-out is always honored. Blocked numbers show as DNC blocked in your delivery results. (Teams also have their own SMS-consent setting; a team that opted out of SMS is skipped entirely.)
Text-message opt-out keywords. Anyone can reply STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, REVOKE, OPTOUT) to any Pledgix text and they're suppressed platform-wide, automatically, with a confirmation reply — you don't need to do anything. Replying START re-subscribes them; HELP and INFO are recognized as support keywords (the carrier may auto-reply). A STOP opt-out can only be reversed by the recipient texting START themselves.
Email unsubscribe. Emails to donor, uploaded, and manually-entered audiences carry the one-click unsubscribe that mail providers show at the top of the message. Unsubscribed, bounced, and complaining addresses go on a platform-wide suppression list — and every blast checks it, including emails to your campaign teams. Suppressed team addresses are skipped and reported in your send summary. Team emails don't carry an unsubscribe link themselves; the suppression list is the mechanism, so if a team leader asks to stop receiving them, honoring that is still on you.
SMS content screening. Messages are checked against carrier rules — restricted topics and non-Pledgix links are blocked before sending.
Roster-only texting by default. SMS blasts reach only your team roster unless the Pledgix team has approved your campaign for open recipients.
What remains your responsibility
- Contact people who agreed to be contacted. Upload only lists built from real relationships — sign-ups, donors, members. Never purchased or scraped lists.
- Identify yourself. Every text and voice message should say who's calling within the first sentence.
- Honor requests immediately. A texted STOP is handled for you automatically, but when someone asks you to stop in any other channel — email, in person, a phone call — add their number to your DNC List yourself. Don't wait for them to opt out "officially."
- Respect quiet hours everywhere. The 9 AM – 8 PM rule is enforced for calls, but the same courtesy should guide your SMS scheduling — the platform lets you schedule a text for 6 AM; your donors would rather you didn't.
- Mind your frequency. There's no legal limit on how often you may email your own list, but there is a practical one: every unwanted touch converts a supporter into an unsubscriber.
Tip: A simple internal rule that keeps most campaigns compliant and well-liked: no more than one SMS per week per audience, voice broadcasts only for genuine moments, and email as the default for everything else.
Where the rules differ by region
Contact regulations vary by country. The protections above align with common requirements (US telemarketing hours, one-click unsubscribe standards), but if your campaign operates in a jurisdiction with stricter rules, those rules still apply to you. When unsure about a planned outreach push, contact the Pledgix team before sending — not after.
Related articles
- Do Not Call and opt-out management
- Recipient lists and the suppression list
- Texting beyond your team roster
Was this article helpful?