Subscriptions & Consent

Gordon CRM tracks email marketing consent for every contact. Before any marketing email is sent, the system checks whether the contact has opted in and whether any delivery issues (bounces, spam complaints) have occurred. This page explains how consent works, how contacts subscribe and unsubscribe, and what happens when emails bounce or are marked as spam.

[SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER: Contact detail page showing subscription status — subscribed badge and consent proof fields]

What "Subscribed" Means

A contact is subscribed when they've given consent to receive marketing emails (broadcasts and campaigns). Gordon CRM records proof of consent for every subscription:

• When they subscribed
• How they subscribed (form, CSV import, manual, or Eventbrite)
• IP address at the time of consent (when available)

Only subscribed contacts with no active suppressions can receive marketing emails.

Important: Transactional emails (receipts, confirmations, policy updates) bypass subscription status entirely. See Email Marketing for the difference between marketing and transactional categories.

How Contacts Subscribe

Via Form Submission

When a contact submits a form that includes an opt-in field, they are automatically subscribed. Gordon CRM records the timestamp, form source, and the submitter's IP address as proof of consent.

If the contact was previously unsubscribed, their unsubscribe status is cleared.

Via CSV Import

When you enable "Mark as Subscribed" during a CSV import:

• New contacts are created as subscribed with consent proof (source: "CSV Import", IP: the uploader's IP address).
• Existing contacts who are already subscribed keep their original consent proof — it's never overwritten.
• Existing contacts who are not subscribed get new consent proof recorded.

See CSV Import for details.

Via Dashboard (Manual Consent)

Subscribing a contact manually from the dashboard is a guarded action — whether they've never been subscribed or they previously unsubscribed. You can't simply toggle them on. Gordon CRM requires you to confirm that you have valid consent.

To manually subscribe a contact:

1. Open the contact's detail page.
2. Click the subscription toggle.
3. A consent confirmation appears requiring:
   • Legal basis — Select a reason: Verbal Consent, Written Consent, or Existing Relationship.
   • Attestation — Check the box confirming you have obtained legal, verifiable consent.
4. Click Confirm. Your IP address is automatically recorded as part of the consent proof.

All non-complaint suppressions (bounce, unsubscribe) are automatically cleared when you subscribe a contact, so they become fully emailable.

Note: Unsubscribing a contact (toggling them off) does not require confirmation — only subscribing a non-subscribed contact triggers the consent flow.

[SCREENSHOT PLACEHOLDER: Manual consent confirmation showing legal basis dropdown and attestation checkbox]

Via Eventbrite (Auto-Subscribe)

If you've enabled the auto-subscribe toggle in Settings → Integrations → Eventbrite, contacts created from event registrations are automatically subscribed.

• Contacts with a complaint suppression are never auto-subscribed — this protects your sender reputation.
• Non-complaint suppressions (bounce, unsubscribe) are cleared on subscribe.
• Auto-subscribe only applies when someone registers for an event in real time — it does not apply to historically imported attendees or manual syncs.

See Eventbrite Integration → Auto-Subscribe for the full details, including the compliance confirmation when enabling this setting.

Unsubscribing

Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. When a contact clicks it:

1. Their subscription status is set to unsubscribed.
2. A suppression record is created with reason "unsubscribe".
3. They are automatically excluded from all future marketing broadcasts and campaigns.

Transactional emails do not include unsubscribe links. These emails are for messages that recipients expect regardless of their marketing preferences (receipts, confirmations, policy updates).

Suppressions

Beyond voluntary unsubscribes, Gordon CRM maintains a suppression list that tracks delivery issues. A suppressed contact will not receive any emails, even if they are subscribed.

When a bounce or complaint occurs, a notification is sent to your Notification Center so your team has immediate visibility.

Why Complaints Are Permanent

When someone marks your email as spam, their email provider reports this to your sending service. Continuing to email a contact who filed a complaint can seriously damage your sender reputation and affect deliverability for your entire workspace. That's why complaint suppressions cannot be cleared.

Clearing Suppressions

You can clear bounce and unsubscribe suppressions from the contact's detail page. This is useful when a contact has corrected a typo in their email address (bounce) or has reached out asking to re-subscribe (unsubscribe).

When a previously suppressed contact re-subscribes via a form submission, suppressions are handled automatically:

• Bounce and unsubscribe suppressions are cleared.
• Complaint suppressions are never cleared — they remain permanent.

What Happens When You Change a Contact's Email

If a contact was bounced because their email address was entered incorrectly, updating their email address to the correct one automatically clears the bounce suppression. A bounce is tied to a specific inbox, so a new address resets it.

Complaint suppressions are not cleared when the email changes — they stay with the contact permanently. Even if you update their email, the fact that they reported your messages as spam means continuing to email them could still harm your sender reputation.

Who Can Receive Marketing Emails?

A contact can receive a marketing email only when both of these are true:

1. ✅ The contact is subscribed (has opted in to marketing emails)
2. ✅ The contact has no active suppressions (no bounces or spam complaints)

If either check fails, the email is skipped.

Transactional emails (receipts, confirmations, policy updates) bypass the subscription check — only active suppressions prevent a transactional email from being sent.

Permissions

All workspace members can view subscription status. Re-subscribing a contact via the manual consent flow is available to all members and requires the legal attestation.

Related

• Email Marketing — Marketing vs. transactional categories, email eligibility
• Broadcasts — Audience targeting and subscription requirements
• Forms — Opt-in via form submission
• Eventbrite Integration — Auto-subscribe toggle for event registrations
• Notifications — Bounce and complaint alerts
• Technical Reference: Subscriptions — Data models, consent proof schema, and suppression architecture