why do people have to ACCEPT before we can have them completely added to site

New VPE here and out club is booming with new members. When adding a new guest, will she automatically receive a letter guiding her to "opt-in" once her name is listed with a strike-through on the member list? It looks like I can't send the welcome letter with directions until she opts-in.
Thanks,
Liz

Opt-in is a requirement of the EU Privacy Laws and the Spam acts of the USA and Canada. We have been required to do this by Toastmasters International.

All persons who want their name and email on FTH are required to opt-in and that will not change.