Global Unsubscribes

The global unsubscribe feature is optional, so if you'd like to handle unsubscribes in this way, you can enable the option by going to Settings > Options > Petitions > Allow global unsubscribes.

Overview

Within ControlShift, each petition, event, and partnership has its own mailing list. By default, when a user clicks the unsubscribe link included in a blast email, they are only unsubscribed from that specific petition's or partnership's mailing list. They're subscriptions to updates about other campaigns remains unchanged.

As example, if a user has signed and subscribed to updates for three petitions, and clicked the unsubscribe link included in a blast email from one of them, they'd stop receiving updates about that petition, but would still receive email updates regarding the other two campaigns. Additionally, by default, clicking to unsubscribe does not have an effect on the organization's main mailing list. So in addition to receiving email updates about the remaining two petitions, our user would also still receive emails sent from the main organization, through their own email client outside of ControlShift.

The global unsubscribe feature updates this default behavior. When global unsubscribes are enabled, a user who clicks an unsubscribe link will be brought to the unsubscribe options page. From this page, they can choose to unsubscribe from just the specific petition/event (or specific partnership) and/or unsubscribe from all emails.

By default, only the 'unsubscribe from this campaign' option will be checked. However, if they also select the 'Unsubscribe from all [Organization Name] emails' option, the user will be unsubscribed from all petitions/events/partnerships/and groups. They will no longer receive any email updates that are sent via ControlShift.

After unsubscribing from all updates, if a user signs a new petition or RSVPs to a new event and opts into updates, they'll begin receiving updates from that petition/event.

Enable Global Unsubscribes

To enabled the global unsubscribes behavior, go to the admin homepage > Settings > Options. In the Petitions section, check the Allow global unsubscribes box. This will immediately update your site's unsubscribe behavior.

CRM Syncing

For some CRMs, including ActionKit, Action Network, and NationBuilder, we'll sync these unsubscribe requests back to your CRM. This allows your users to unsubscribe from all communications, both originating in ControlShift and in your organization's main CRM / email client.

Organizations can also export a CSV of all users who have globally unsubscribed from the admin homepage > Members > Unsubscribes.

Please note that we do not have support for unsubscribes originating from within the CRM. This means that if a user unsubscribes from an email not sent from ControlShift, and they are marked as unsubscribed in your CRM, it will not update their subscription status for the petitions/events that they have signed/attended in your ControlShift instance.

Further Reading

We have more detailed information about subscription statuses and unsubscribes in our help center. You can also learn more about customizing the email opt-in that your supporters see when they take action.