TCPA, 10DLC, consent, opt-outs, quiet hours, and state texting laws, the compliance rules every political campaign has to follow.
Build the rules into the tool and the training, not the volunteer's memory. Centralize sending through a compliant platform that handles STOP and quiet hours automatically, give volunteers approved message templates, and never let anyone text the list from a personal phone.
Political and commercial texting follow different consent rules, and confusing them is a common, costly mistake. Here's how the two differ on consent, registration, and content, and where they're exactly the same.
If a presidential campaign can get sued for texting voters without consent, so can yours. A factual look at the TCPA suits brought against the Trump 2020 campaign, and what they teach every campaign.
The words at your opt-in point are your consent record and your first impression. Here's what good opt-in language includes, why clarity protects you, and the elements carriers and regulators expect to see.
A wave of state consumer-privacy laws governs how organizations collect and use personal data, including phone numbers. Here's how they may touch campaign texting data, the common exemptions, and why good data hygiene matters regardless.
Yes, with consent, but draw a hard line between official and campaign communications. Official office texts to constituents who opted in follow the texting rules; using official constituent lists for campaign or fundraising texts crosses into rules against that, check your jurisdiction.
Campaigns assume a supporter's action gives them permission to text. Voters, and the carrier standard, disagree. The three consent myths that get programs flagged.
Yes, opt-in resident alert programs (service updates, emergency notices, reminders) are common and valuable, and they follow the same consent-and-opt-out logic. Emergency alerts have some separate legal footing, but routine informational texting still needs opt-in and STOP.
Not necessarily, but the line is legal, not marketing. 'Robotexting' loosely means automated mass texting, which raises autodialer and consent questions under the TCPA. Compliant political texting (consent, registration, opt-out) is lawful; 'robotexting' is what it's called when it isn't.
Prior express written consent: a clear, affirmative agreement to receive texts (often autodialed) at a specific number, with disclosures about what they'll get and that they can reply STOP. A pre-checked box, a buried clause, or 'they gave us their number' doesn't count.
TCPA damages run $500 per message, but willful or knowing violations can triple to $1,500. Here's what makes a violation willful, why it matters for campaigns sending in volume, and how to stay on the right side of the line.
A voter who gave you their email or agreed to calls hasn't necessarily agreed to texts. Here's how consent works across channels, why texting needs its own opt-in, and how to collect consent that actually covers text.