Key tips to ensure your charity is ready to benefit from soft opt-in

The government’s adoption of a soft opt-in amendment to the Data (Use & Access) Bill was welcome news for the charity sector last month. There are a few things to understand though before using it as a basis for contacting people via email – here are some insights.  

The background

Firstly, soft opt-in isn’t an option just yet – that will happen once the Data (Use & Access) Bill finishes making its way through parliament and comes into law. The government’s adoption of the amendment came about after the DMA, backed by 19 charities, wrote to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, on behalf of its members last November, asking for soft opt-in to be extended to charities in the Bill. Analysis by DMA member Wood for Trees, referenced in the letter, has estimated that doing so could lead to an extra £290 million in annual donations for UK charities.

Current rules

At the moment, under the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), soft opt-in can only be used as a basis for contacting people with email and text marketing by commercial organisations, and there are some strict rules. 

Firstly, the email address needs to be captured or given to the organisation during the course of a sale or a negotiation for a service or a product. Secondly, when the consumer first provides their email address, they must have the option to opt out of communications; and thirdly, marketing can only be sent about similar products or services. In addition, this contact data must not be shared with third parties.

For example, you might sell double-glazing to a customer and capture their email address as part of that sales process, giving them the option at that point to opt out of further communications. If they didn’t opt out, you could contact that customer again at a later date to see if they might be interested in purchasing more windows and window related products (although not different products, for instance guttering and soffits).  

The challenge with the soft opt-in law as it stands, is that charities with a retail outlet can use it in a commercial context but it cannot be used for fundraising purposes, such as asking someone who has signed a petition if they’d like to become a regular donor.

The amendment (p5 of the Bill) will mean that if someone shows an interest in what a charity is doing at the point of an email address capture (perhaps donating, participating in an event, or signing a petition), as long as they’re given the opportunity to opt out (and don’t), the charity will be able to contact them via email about something else, providing it’s to help further their work. This could be asking them to sign up to give regularly, or leave a legacy, or inviting them to take part in an activity for example. The option to opt out however, must be given each and every time, and there must be no sharing of the data with any third party.

As was highlighted by the DMA, its charity members, and many others, soft opt-in presents a really valuable opportunity for raising more vital funds. So while the Bill still has to progress through the House of Commons, now is the time for charities to start giving its use some thought.  

What to consider now

Soft-in or consent?

When the Bill becomes law, charities will need to make a decision. You can choose to stick with consent for email marketing, or to swap to use soft opt-in: you won’t be able to use both, it’s worth starting the discussion now.

Updating your systems

If you do want to use soft opt-in, you’ll need to build it into your systems, so you can capture that information and accurately mark what permissions you hold for each individual on your database.

While there aren’t any differences in what you will be able to send people under consent or soft opt-in, you will be talking to quite different groups of people so understanding on what basis you’re contacting them will be important.

Targeting tactics

Someone you email under the soft opt-in basis won’t be as warm and committed a contact as someone who’s consented to receive emails from you. This will impact how often you might want to communicate with them and the messaging, so careful thought around this will be needed. Be prepared too for people asking why you are contacting them, as many will still believe you need their consent.

Communicating the change

Something else to think about is how you’re going to communicate the soft opt-in message to the consumer. People have become used to opting in to emails – under soft opt-in you’ll be asking them to do the opposite, which they won’t be used to, so it will really important to help people become aware of, and understand, the change. You’ll need to make sure your wording is very clear where you capture that email address, and on your site where you explain how you use people’s data, which will mean updating your privacy statement. Because you’ll be introducing a change to what you do with people’s data, conducting a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) will also be a step you have to take.

What’s the impact?

Consider too the impact of sending more emails. This is twofold: firstly, will doing so achieve what you want it to? We all know how cluttered with marketing messages our inboxes have become, so making soft opt-in a success will depend on careful targeting and attention to frequency of messaging. Secondly, don’t forget that there’s an environmental impact with digital communications: every email has a carbon footprint so again, targeting will play an important role in ensuring volumes are kept to a minimum.  

If you have any questions on the points above, or would like to discuss this further, please get in touch.