DMA letter to Secretary of State Peter Kyle on behalf of the charity sector

Supporting statements from UK Charities

Johnty Gray, Individual Engagement Director, Oxfam:

“The inclusion of the soft opt-in for charities in the Data (Use and Access) Bill would be of significant benefit to the UK charity sector, which has suffered a series of financial challenges post Covid-19.  The commercial sector has benefited from soft opt-in since the implementation of the Privacy and Electronic Communications in 2003.  It's now time to finally level the playing field for charities too and to allow them to similarly engage their passionate and committed audiences.  This will correct the imbalance and will finally turn the tide; empowering them to generate increasing levels support for the causes they represent, at a time that their work has never been more needed.”

Leah Mates, Director of Customer Transformation and Retention, British Heart Foundation:

“It would help to generate significant income for the sector and increase levels of public engagement with UK charities. Government has acknowledged the value of the charity sector in delivery of its five missions, which is welcome. The sector makes vital contributions to UK society, from delivery of services for some of the most vulnerable groups to funding lifesaving research and providing much-valued information and support.”

Alex Wathen, Fundraising Compliance Manager, WaterAid:

“In an increasingly challenging fundraising environment, the need for the soft opt-in has become urgent for charities to build meaningful relationships with their supporters without undue barriers. While businesses can leverage this option to communicate after a single transaction, charities are denied the same ability, even when a donor has actively chosen to support a charitable cause. This disparity suggests that a person's relationship with a charity is valued less than with a retailer—an implication that is far from reality and undermines the essential support charities rely on to carry out their vital work.

The soft opt-in offers charities a practical alternative to consent, enabling them to maintain communication with engaged supporters without the obstacles of repeatedly obtaining explicit consent. This helps charities maximise their engagement and build a sense of community with their supporters. Importantly, supporters retain control over the communications they receive and can easily opt-out at any time.”

Sarah Dutton, Chief Executive Officer, Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation:

“The “soft opt-in” would benefit us as a small charity, with limited resource, by enabling better engagement with donors and beneficiaries. It would support our need to drive more awareness and help us to generate fundraised income to support our charitable activities, at a time when fundraising is challenging and demand for our support as high as ever. It could make a significant difference to future campaigns and stewardship programmes, meaning that we can concentrate on delivering more benefit to our diabetes patient and research communities.”

Sally Doyle, Senior Fundraising and Marketing Compliance Manager, Macmillan:

“The inclusion of the soft opt-in for charities in the Data (Use and Access) Bill would be of significant benefit to the UK charity sector, who have seen significant impact due to the cost of living crisis and high inflation rates of recent years. It would finally provide a level playing field for charities given that the commercial sector has benefited from the soft opt-in since the implementation of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations in 2003. It would generate significant income for the sector, and increase levels of public engagement with UK charities”

Victoria Ingram, Head of Public Fundraising, Concern UK:

“Email is an important tool for raising funds, but also one of the best channels for increasing our transparency with supporters and allowing them to see the impact their donation is making. A move to a soft opt in to bring the charity sector in line with the commercial sector would not only help charities like us fundraise more effectively in a difficult economic climate, but ensure our supporters who choose to regularly donate and engage with us feel more connected to our cause and have a better understanding of how we use their donations.”

Karen Searle, Associate Director of Fundraising & Marketing, Macular Society:

“The Macular Society is the only UK charity dedicated to beating macular disease, the UK’s biggest cause of sight loss, affecting around 1.5 million people in the UK. Email offers us a cost-effective way to contact the optimum number of supporters to raise funds to beat this disease. At present, less than 20% of our database have opted into email; should the soft opt in apply, and based on our insight into contactable supporter rates across other channels, we would be able to target around four times as many supporters. Even with a small increase in response rates to such a change in volume of recipients, it would significantly uplift our income, thereby enabling us to support more people with Macular Disease and fund more research to find a cure.”

Rodney Burns, Data Protection Manager, Young Lives VS Cancer:

“The extension of ‘soft opt-in’ for charitable purposes, as proposed in the previous Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, was widely welcomed, with many charities preparing for its introduction. Its omission from the current Bill is therefore disappointing.

Charities are not asking for special treatment, but rather an extension of the well-established rules that currently benefit commercial organisations. This amendment could have a significant, if not transformational impact on charities’ ability to fundraise effectively, enabling them to continue delivering excellent value and contributing significantly to sectors and causes across the economy and society.”

Shabby Amini, Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Medical Aid for Palestinians:

“Enabling charities to use the soft opt-in would have a significant and positive impact for the charity sector, increasing income and driving engagement and loyalty with charity audiences. Our supporters, who choose to part with their money for causes aligned to their values, should be able to be communicated with easily and clearly regarding the impact they have had. Soft opt-ins enable charities to build stronger connections with supporters without requiring repeated consent, boosting fundraising and engagement and helping drive forward critical causes. For Medical Aid for Palestinians, this change would play a pivotal role in providing more sustainable income to expand our programmatic reach in support of the health and dignity of the Palestinian people. This change would help maintain trust in our causes, growing loyalty whilst still allowing easy opt-out options for charity audiences.”

Francesca Savage, Deputy Director of Public Income and Engagement, Save the Children UK:

“Supporters are at the heart of everything we do. If Save the Children UK could use the soft opt-in for marketing, it would allow us to connect with supporters more meaningfully by sharing relevant, timely updates that strengthen our relationship and demonstrate the impact of their contributions. We would use the soft opt-in responsibly, always giving supporters the choice to adjust their preferences at any time. Ultimately, this could transform relationships with supporters and enable us, together, to create lasting change for and with children.”

Terry Makewell, Director of Digital, Data and Technology, RNID:

‘’The charity sector is playing an increasingly critical role in delivering vital services and creating the social change that has a real impact on people’s lives. Fundraising across the sector needs to grow to meet this demand. Extending the soft opt-in to charities will allow us to develop closer relationships with our supporters building greater engagement and generating more income, whilst always ensuring that individuals can still opt-out of communications at any time.’’

Craig Walker, Information Governance & Risk Manager, Diabetes UK:

“The commercial sector has benefited from the soft opt in since the introduction of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations in 2003. The extension of this benefit to the UK charity sector would at last provide a level playing field allowing charities to increase levels of engagement with the public and generate income. We strongly urge the government to reconsider its decision to omit this from the planned legislation.”

Abi Corney, Head of Legacies and Single Gifts, Guide Dogs for the Blind Association:

“The charitable sector is an essential part of UK society, delivering services and support which all have come to rely on. However, the current economic climate sees a growing reliance on the services of charities, whilst they shoulder increasingly higher costs and at the same time experience a decline in the percentage of those donating to them. Enabling charities to utilise the soft-opt in would further enhance their communication with engaged supporters, whilst helping to generate vital funds for the sector. Soft-opt in would also divert funds from the current requirement of needing to repeatedly obtain explicit consent to contact supporters by email and enable charities to properly thank their supporters at less cost than using a printed letter.”

Pete Meacham, Fundraising Operations Manager, MIND:

“Mind’s ability to reach people who care about mental health is vital. We cannot deliver life changing mental health services without the financial support we receive from the public. The fundraising environment continues to be extremely challenging, and the removal of the extension of soft opt ins to charities makes it harder for charities to grow support for the difference they make to society. The continued omission of the soft opt in rule to not-for-profits would have a significant impact on Mind’s ability to expand the community of people who care about mental health and want to ensure that everyone has access to the support they need”.

David Welch, Chief Executive Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS):

“The underlying principle of data protection law revolves around the reasonable expectations of those whose data we’re processing. It is challenging to engage meaningfully with our supporters via email, with such a broad application of the current regulations relating to direct marketing and consent.

We firmly believe inclusion of the soft opt in for charities will enable charities to deliver better more meaningful supporter experiences, aligned with the expectations of those individuals. Our own experiences have shown that, when legitimate interest is used for postal and telephone communications, where we are well-versed in processing opt-out requests, the number of opt-out requests we get as a result are minimal.

More demand is being placed on the charity sector than ever before, and yet it appears with the soft opt in, charities are being held to an unfair higher standard than that of other sectors, such as commercial retail. Positive supporter experience is shown to correlate with intention to support and, at a time that is particularly challenging for the sector, this will be a meaningful step towards generating sustainable long-term income.”

Nigel Lewis, Income & Engagement Compliance Lead, RNIB:

The charity sector continually finds opportunities to make an impact across society within the boundaries of multiple regulatory bodies and an extremely challenging external climate. The inclusion of the soft opt-in to this Bill is another way we can responsibly engage with the public to provide our vital services. Our supporters and service users expect us to keep in touch with them, and they do not understand why we cannot do so in the same way as commercial organisations, whether that is to provide our services, to understand more about what people need from us, or to raise the funds on which we depend, Any legislation which recognises the importance of charities and supports the work we do is wholeheartedly supported.

Edward Brown, Fundraising Compliance Lead, Parkinsons UK

"We encourage the government to consider including the amendments to the Soft opt in as previously proposed within the DPDI bill. There are certainly circumstances and opportunities that charitable organisations would like to responsibly explore, to increase awareness of their cause and generate support in a range of ways such as financial support, but also through volunteering and campaigning for their charity. It continues to be a situation where charities who are more likely to have a person's interest as an organisation or cause are not allowed to use the Soft opt in for these purposes, where commercial sales companies can use it as a legal basis for communications."

John May, Chief Executive Officer, Cats Protection
“Cats Protection was disappointed that the recent Data (Usage and Access) Bill did not include the soft opt-in for charities. This decision will harm our fundraising efforts and make it harder to reach new audiences during an already challenging time for the sector. Including the soft opt-in would have helped us stay connected with potential supporters, boosting engagement across the cat community while respecting their right to opt out at any time.”