Written by Published: 01/07/2026
Based on goDonate’s June 2026 webinar on the charitable soft opt-in, this guide expands on the ICO guidance with practical implementation advice for charities.
The charitable soft opt-in has arrived – what does it mean for charities?
The introduction of the charitable soft opt-in presents a big opportunity for charities.
It means you can grow your email and SMS audiences without adding friction to the donation journey. But it has also prompted a lot of questions.
- When can charities use it?
- What communications are permitted?
- What changes should you make to your donation forms?
- And how do you make sure your CRM and supporter journeys remain compliant?
In our recent webinar, we explored the ICO’s guidance, looked at different implementation options and discussed the practical implications for fundraising teams.
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the charitable soft opt-in?
Before the new legislation, charities needed supporters to actively opt in to receive fundraising or campaign emails and SMS messages.
Typically, this meant unticked checkboxes asking supporters whether they wanted to hear from the charity.
The charitable soft opt-in changes that.
Instead of asking supporters to opt in, charities can now rely on legitimate interest and use an opt-out approach for email and SMS communications, provided certain conditions are met.
Rather than asking supporters to subscribe, you can tell them you’ll keep in touch unless they choose not to hear from you.
The legislation came into force on 5 February 2026, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) publishing detailed guidance on 28 April 2026.
One important point is that the permission cannot be backdated. It only applies to supporters whose data was collected after you’ve implemented a compliant charitable soft opt-in process.
When can charities use the charitable soft opt-in?
The ICO sets out four key conditions.
1. The person must be supporting your charitable purposes
The supporter must be expressing an interest in, or providing support for, your charitable purposes.
This includes activities such as:
- donating
- volunteering
- campaigning
- charity memberships
- sponsorship
- fundraising events
- raffles and similar fundraising activities.
By contrast, buying products from a charity shop or using your services will not usually fall within the charitable purposes soft opt-in, although those activities may be covered by the separate products and services soft opt-in.
2. The supporter must give their details directly to your charity
Supporters must provide their contact details directly to your charity.
This means the supporter should reasonably understand that they’re interacting directly with your organisation and providing their information to you.
If details are collected first by a third-party fundraising platform and only shared with your charity afterwards, the charitable soft opt-in generally can’t be used.
What about goDonate?
goDonate is not considered a third-party fundraising platform in the same way as platforms such as JustGiving or The Big Give are.
Instead, we build and host donation pages on behalf of charities, much like a digital agency hosts a charity’s website.
From the donor’s perspective, they remain on the charity’s own branded website – usually on the charity’s own domain—and they’re providing their information directly to the charity.
The charity remains the data controller, while goDonate acts solely as the data processor.
This is the same as with other technology providers that charities use every day, such as:
- a website hosting company hosting the charity’s website
- a CRM provider storing supporter records
- an email platform sending communications on the charity’s behalf.
This is fundamentally different from third-party fundraising platforms, where supporters are using the platform’s own website and providing their details to that platform before those details are shared with the charity.
3. Supporters must have a clear, immediate opportunity to opt out
Supporters must be able to opt out during the same interaction in which they provide their details.
You can’t simply tell supporters to contact you later to opt out.
The opt-out must be:
- prominent
- immediate
- easy to understand.
Every future email or SMS must also include an unsubscribe option.
4. Communications must further your charitable purposes
This is one of the most important restrictions.
Using the charitable soft opt-in doesn’t give charities permission to send any type of content to supporters.
Communications must further your charitable purposes.
That includes:
- fundraising appeals
- volunteering opportunities
- campaigning
- updates about your projects and programmes
- stories showing the impact of supporters’ donations.
It does not include:
- promoting other organisations or charities
- general commercial products
- services that aren’t directly connected with delivering your charitable mission.
This differentiation between charitable purposes vs products and services can be nuanced, and sometimes an interaction could be covered by both the charitable and the products and services soft opt-in.
What about SMS, phone and post?
SMS – The charitable soft opt-in applies to SMS and MMS (including WhatsApp).
Phone – The new legislation doesn’t affect telephone marketing. This can still be an opt-out, and existing PECR rules continue to apply.
Post – Direct mail also remains unchanged.
Consent isn’t normally required for postal marketing, although you’ll still need an appropriate lawful basis for processing personal data, such as someone’s name.
Which implementation should your charity choose?
There are several ways charities can implement the charitable soft opt-in.
Each has different implications for compliance, supporter experience and conversion.
Consent opt-in (no change)
The traditional opt-in remains fully compliant and carries the lowest legal risk.
It also requires little or no change to your CRM or integrations.
However, because supporters must actively subscribe, list growth tends to remain relatively low. The upside is that email engagement rates are often stronger because communications are being sent to highly engaged supporters. Conversion is amber here just because there are too many different channels being asked about, and every additional field harms the donation conversion rate.
Mandatory radio buttons
Mandatory radio buttons generally capture more permissions than optional checkboxes.
However, they interrupt the donation journey and force supporters to make a communication preference decision before completing their donation.
For donation forms, we don’t recommend this approach because the impact on fundraising conversion can outweigh the increase in contact permissions.
Opt-out (Recommended)
This is our recommended implementation.
Supporters are clearly told they’ll receive communications and can immediately opt out using an unticked checkbox.
It’s simple, compliant and provides the strongest opportunity to grow your supporter database.
It’s worth remembering that larger audiences may naturally produce slightly lower engagement rates, more unsubscribes and occasional spam complaints. That’s an expected consequence of reaching more supporters rather than necessarily an indication that your content is performing less well.
Mixed opt-in and opt-out
Although legally possible, using different permission models across different channels can create unnecessary confusion.
It also introduces additional complexity when importing and interpreting communication preferences in your CRM.
Where possible, choose a consistent approach.
Pre-ticked opt-in
The ICO hasn’t explicitly approved pre-ticked positive consent boxes.
Its published examples instead use unticked opt-out checkboxes.
Some charities have received legal advice suggesting pre-ticked boxes may be acceptable, but until the ICO provides clearer guidance, we recommend seeking your own legal advice before adopting this approach.
No checkbox
Removing the checkbox altogether isn’t compliant.
Supporters must have an immediate opportunity to opt out during the same interaction.
Simply telling people they can unsubscribe later doesn’t meet that requirement.
Progressive opt-in
Some charities have asked whether communication preferences can be hidden behind a “Tell us now” link in an expandable section.
The ICO guidance doesn’t currently provide a definitive answer.
Because the guidance says the opt-out must be prominent, we’d recommend treating this approach cautiously until further clarification is published.
Don’t forget your CRM
Implementing the charitable soft opt-in isn’t just a change to your donation forms.
You’ll also need to review how supporter preferences are captured and interpreted throughout your systems.
Questions to consider include:
- Do your export field names still accurately describe the data you’re collecting?
- Does your CRM interpret communication preferences correctly?
- Should you record that permissions relate specifically to charitable purposes?
- Have you updated your supporter journeys to reflect the new rules?
- Have you changed your donor-facing wording from opt-in to opt-out?
It’s equally important to remember that historical permissions haven’t changed. Existing records should continue to be interpreted according to the rules that applied when they were collected.
Write for supporters, not your organisation
Small wording changes can make a significant difference.
Instead of focusing on what your charity wants to send, explain the value supporters will receive.
Rather than saying:
We’d like to send you information about our campaigns, fundraising and events.
Consider something like:
You’ll hear about the difference your support makes, opportunities to get involved in campaigns, and other ways you can continue helping our cause.
Supporter-focused language creates a better experience and is likely to improve permission rates regardless of which implementation you choose.
Final thoughts
The charitable soft opt-in gives charities an exciting opportunity to grow their supporter audiences while reducing friction in the donation journey.
But successful implementation isn’t simply about changing a checkbox.
You’ll also need to consider your supporter messaging, CRM, reporting and ongoing communications to ensure they remain aligned with the ICO guidance.
With the right implementation, charities can increase the number of supporters they stay in touch with while continuing to build trust through clear, transparent communication.
If you’re considering introducing the charitable soft opt-in and would like to discuss how it could work on your donation forms, we’d be happy to help.