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E-mail List Rental Guidelines

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E-mail list rental from reputable third-parties is one avenue for obtaining e-mail addresses to invite to online surveys. When using a third-party list, keep these four guidelines in mind:

1. Reputable providers will only rent the e-mail list to you: they will never sell you a list. If a list owner offers to sell you the full contact names and e-mail addresses of their list, you should strongly avoid using this type of list since it is most likely a non-permission-based list and could put you at risk for violating the CAN-SPAM Act.
2. Reputable providers will send your content out to their list from their e-mail system. You will not have the ability to review the names and their contact information nor will you have the opportunity to obtain a copy of the list. You'll only obtain the responses to your survey.
3. Reputable providers will only rent double opt-in lists. Double opt-in lists are created when an individual registers on a website and provides permission to contact them via e-mail. Once they have opted-in to the list, a confirmation e-mail is then sent to the e-mail address provided in their initial registration. Only by clicking on a link confirming that they are providing their permission for communications will they be added to the list. By requiring a second level of confirmation to the registered contact, list owners are assured that no one will be added to the list without the permission of the contact.
4. You pay for one-time use of the list regardless of the response rate to your survey. When you rent a list, all responsibility for obtaining responses is yours, and you must make sure that you have a compelling invitation and incentive in order to justify the expenditure.

Please keep in mind that most research conducted using rented email lists is qualitative; because respondents were not selected randomly from a target population, you cannot extrapolate to a wider audience. The exception is when a magazine or website itself uses its own list to measure attitudes among its subscriber base; such surveys are typically projectable to the audience of readers. For some research, especially into low-incidence populations, qualitative studies using email lists are simply the only cost-effective approach.