Calling, texting and emailing donors

Who counts as a nonprofit here?

The federal phone rules give their breaks to calls made "by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization" (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(15)). "On behalf of" means a vendor calling for you can share the break under the FCC's rules. The FTC's rules are different, as explained below.

Churches that meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3) are tax-exempt automatically, without applying to the IRS (IRS).

What nonprofits are exempt from

• Federal law defines a "telephone solicitation" as a call or message encouraging a purchase or investment, and excludes calls by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit (47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(15)).
• Two FCC rules apply only to telephone solicitations: no calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the called person's location, and no calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry (§ 64.1200(c)). A tax-exempt nonprofit's own calls fall outside both.
• The FTC confirms that people on the Registry can still get charitable calls, as long as the calls don't also include a sales pitch (FTC).
• The FCC's rule limiting abandoned calls from predictive dialers doesn't cover calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt nonprofits (§ 64.1200(a)(7)(iv)).

Consent: what still applies

• Calls and texts to a cell phone sent with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice need the person's prior express consent, unless it's an emergency (§ 64.1200(a)(1)). This covers texts as well as voice calls: the FCC's opt-out rule refers to text messages sent under this consent rule (§ 64.1200(a)(10)). Being a nonprofit doesn't change this.
• For-profit businesses need prior express written consent for marketing calls and texts sent that way. The FCC's rule makes an exception: for calls made by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit, prior express consent is enough, even if the call includes an advertisement or counts as telemarketing (§ 64.1200(a)(2)).
• Consent doesn't have to be written, but you have to be able to prove it. Keep a record of when and how each person agreed, what they saw, and the number.
• Calls and texts a person dials or types by hand fall outside the autodialer rules. What counts as an autodialer was narrowed by the Supreme Court (Facebook v. Duguid, 2021). Prerecorded and AI voices are covered either way.

Prerecorded and AI-voice calls

• In February 2024 the FCC ruled that AI-generated voices are "artificial" voices under the TCPA, so these calls need the person's prior express consent unless an exemption applies (FCC 24-17).
• To a home landline, a tax-exempt nonprofit may make up to three prerecorded or artificial-voice calls in any 30 days without consent. More than that needs prior express consent (§ 64.1200(a)(3)(iv)). The FCC added these limits in a December 2020 order (FCC 20-186), in force since July 20, 2023 (Venable).
• Every prerecorded or AI-voice message must state your organization's name at the start and give a callback phone number (§ 64.1200(b)).
• Calls made under the three-call exemption must also offer an automated opt-out by voice or key press, within two seconds of identifying yourself. If the call reaches voicemail, the message must give a toll-free number that leads to the same opt-out (§ 64.1200(b)(3)).
• Those calls also require an internal do-not-call list: a written policy, trained staff, requests honored within 10 business days and kept for five years (§ 64.1200(d)).
• The FCC's rulings cover AI that places calls. We found no FCC ruling applying these rules to an AI assistant answering calls people make to you. The FCC proposed AI disclosure rules in August 2024 (FCC 24-84); we found no final rule as of early October 2026.

Opt-outs

• People can take back consent to your automated calls and texts. Replies of stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel or unsubscribe count automatically. Other wording counts if a reasonable person would read it as an opt-out (§ 64.1200(a)(10); FCC 24-24).
• Honor it within 10 business days. You may send one confirmation text with no marketing in it, presumed fine if sent within five minutes (§ 64.1200(a)(12)).
• Today you can't require one exclusive way to opt out. On September 30, 2026 the FCC voted to change that (FCC 26-67). Once the new rules take effect, 30 days after Federal Register publication, you may name an automated phone opt-out, a STOP-style text reply, or a website or phone number as the only way to opt out, if you clearly say so on each call or text.
• Under the new rules, an opt-out from an informational message can be limited to that type of message, but an opt-out from a marketing message stops all your marketing calls and texts. The new rules replace the broader "revoke all" rule that had been delayed to January 31, 2027 (FCC DA 26-12). The FCC is also asking for comment on a shorter deadline for honoring opt-outs.
• It isn't settled how a donation appeal fits these categories. The safe course: treat a STOP reply to any fundraising text as stopping all fundraising texts.

If a fundraising company calls for you

• Tax-exempt charities that make their own calls are not covered by the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. For-profit telemarketers who solicit donations for a charity are (FTC guide).
• They must promptly say which charity they are calling for and that the purpose of the call is to ask for a donation (16 C.F.R. § 310.4(e)). They may not misstate the charity's mission, how the gift will be used, how much of it reaches the charity, or whether it's tax deductible (§ 310.3(d)).
• Charitable calls are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry rule (§ 310.6(a)). But the fundraiser must honor a person's request not to be called for your charity, and a new fundraiser you hire must get and honor the old one's list for you (§ 310.4(b)(1)(iii)(A); FTC guide).
• Prerecorded fundraising calls by a telemarketer are allowed only to your members and previous donors, meaning people who gave to you in the past two years, and must offer an automated opt-out right after the opening disclosures (§ 310.4(b)(1)(v)(B); § 310.2).
• They may call homes only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time without the person's consent (§ 310.4(c)). Since the FTC's 2024 amendments, they must keep their call records for five years (§ 310.5).

Calling hours

The federal calling-hours rule doesn't apply to a nonprofit's own calls, but some rules do reach fundraising calls:

Other states have their own hours, and we haven't checked how each treats charities. Calling between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the donor's time zone, no more than three attempts a day, satisfies every rule above.

Do Not Call

• Federally, your own donation calls don't have to be checked against the National Do Not Call Registry. A for-profit fundraiser calling for you doesn't either.
• Washington is the exception we found. Its law counts a nonprofit's call asking for a donation as a telephone solicitation, unless it goes to your own members, and bars telephone solicitations to numbers on the national Registry. The caller must also say who they are, who they're calling for and why within 30 seconds, and ask whether the person wants to continue, end the call or be taken off your lists. People hurt by repeated violations can sue for at least $1,000 per violation (RCW 80.36.390).
• Florida bars anyone from calling, texting or leaving a voicemail for a donor or potential donor who said they don't want those contacts on behalf of your charity, and people can sue for $500 per violation (Fla. Stat. § 501.059(5), (10)).
• Keep your own do-not-call list in any case. It's required for prerecorded calls under the three-call exemption, and it's what donors expect.

State laws that let people sue

• Florida (FTSA, § 501.059): its written-consent rule for automated calls covers "telephonic sales calls", meaning calls, texts and voicemails selling consumer goods or services. A pure donation ask doesn't fit that definition, but a text selling event tickets or merchandise may. The do-not-call rule above covers charities. Damages are $500 per violation, up to triple if willful, and people must reply STOP and wait 15 days before suing over texts.
• Washington (RCW 80.36.390): covers nonprofit donation calls, as described above.
• Virginia (§ 59.1-510) and Maryland (Pub. Util. § 8-205) define the solicitations they cover around selling goods or services. Calls and texts that sell something, even for a good cause, can fall under them.
• Other states have their own laws. If you call or text donors in many states, have a lawyer check the ones where most of your donors live.

Texting from a business number

• Texting people from a standard local number requires A2P 10DLC registration: your organization (the brand) and what you text about (the campaign), including how people opt in and out. Your texting provider handles it, and carriers charge extra fees for unregistered traffic (Twilio).
• Nonprofits have access to special use cases (Twilio). The Charity use case is for 501(c)(3) organizations only, for messages aimed at providing help and raising money for those in need. It isn't for things like appointment reminders, and carriers must approve it after registration (Bandwidth). Registering under it can lower carrier fees, and 501(c)(4), (5) and (6) groups use the Political or standard use cases instead (Twilio, 2021).
• A church without an IRS determination letter should ask its provider what proof of 501(c)(3) status it accepts.
• Carriers enforce the CTIA Messaging Principles: get opt-in first and keep a record of it (date, method, the words shown, the number), send a confirmation with your program name, how to get help, how to opt out and how often you'll text, and honor STOP.
• An opt-in covers the campaign it was given for. Don't text rented, sold or shared lists.

Email

• CAN-SPAM covers "commercial" email, meaning email whose primary purpose is to advertise or promote a commercial product or service (FTC; 15 U.S.C. § 7702).
• There is no blanket exemption for nonprofits. The FTC said a nonprofit's email can be commercial, for example a nonprofit hospital offering a paid medical screening (FTC, 2005). It has also described the law's focus as messages that sell something, as distinct from "messages seeking a charitable contribution" (Venable, 2005). So a pure donation appeal likely falls outside it, while an email selling gala tickets, merchandise or paid programs may not.
• When CAN-SPAM applies, the email needs accurate "From" lines, an honest subject line, your physical postal address, a clear way to opt out, and opt-outs honored within 10 business days (FTC).
• Include an unsubscribe link and your mailing address in every email anyway. Gmail requires bulk senders' marketing and subscribed messages to support one-click unsubscribe and include a visible unsubscribe link, and it makes no exception for nonprofits (Google).

A checklist

• Get consent before automated or AI-voice calls and texts to cell phones, and keep the record: date, method, the exact wording and the number. Written consent isn't required for a tax-exempt nonprofit, but it's the easiest to prove.
• Keep prerecorded or AI-voice calls to home landlines to three in 30 days unless you have consent, name your organization at the start, and offer an automated opt-out.
• Honor STOP and other opt-outs right away. Ten business days is the limit, not the goal.
• Keep your own do-not-call list. In Washington, also check non-member numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry.
• Call between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the donor's time zone, no more than three attempts a day.
• If you hire a fundraising company, make sure it follows the Telemarketing Sales Rule and gets your do-not-call list.
• Register your texting number for A2P 10DLC through your provider, under the Charity use case if you qualify.
• Put an unsubscribe link and your mailing address in every email.