We all know about the soft opt-in, but are you struggling to get the most out of it? Understanding the new regulations is only the first step. To truly unlock the potential for deeper supporter relationships, you need a strategy that prioritises empathy, relevance, and intelligent engagement over simple broadcasting. This guide outlines how to navigate these changes effectively to maximise your impact.
The extension of soft opt-in regulations to UK charities represents one of the most significant opportunities for supporter relationship building in years. But like any good journey, this one must start with empathy - putting your audience’s needs before your own asks. That’s what will drive genuine re-engagement.
What’s changed
The privacy of everyone’s communications online is protected by the UK's Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). These laws help safeguard our personal information when we use email, text, phone calls, and online services. Until now, the PECR regulations required explicit consent from organisations to send email and SMS marketing to individual supporters.
On 5 February 2026, that changed. Under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, charities are now able to rely on a soft opt-in to re-engage some supporters, meaning you can send marketing emails or SMS without explicit consent if all three of the below are true:
- someone has previously engaged (for example, donated, joined an event, signed a petition, used a service)
- the message you intend to send furthers your charitable purpose
- you offered a clear data opt-out at collection, and include this in every message going forward.
The soft opt-in cannot be applied to past interactions, but if a supporter chooses to engage with your charity after 5 Feb 2026, the new interaction can open the door to more relevant, ongoing communications.
And this isn’t just about permissions. It's a chance to reignite the connection between your cause and the people who have shown they care about it.
It’s important to remember that soft opt-in doesn't override supporter choice. Existing opt-outs and communication preferences must still be respected and take precedence.
Responsibilities first
With expanded permission comes increased responsibility. The ICO has warned that misuse, particularly with vulnerable audiences, could lead to significant penalties.
But the deeper risk is reputational. Supporter tolerance for irrelevant, impersonal communication is low. Before sending any communication, remember to ask yourself: would this supporter expect to hear from us again? Would they want to hear about this particular cause, service or campaign?
We don't want to come across like a Tinder date from 2020, popping up out of nowhere with "hey stranger". The solution? Get engagement right.
And that starts with choosing the right channel at the right moment for each person. Email and SMS shouldn't be treated the same. Think about the content you're sharing, any behavioural signals or preferences, and where possible, start with the least intrusive option.
Every interaction is an opportunity to learn. Each email opened, link clicked or donation made helps build a richer understanding of what supporters value, how they engage with you and when they're most likely to respond. Those insights should feed back into future journeys, making every communication more relevant than the last.
That also means moving beyond one-size-fits-all communications. The strongest soft opt-in strategies use real data to personalise, adjusting frequency, content and channel based on individual behaviour, interests and preferences.
Because relevance builds trust.
Trust drives engagement.
And positive engagement is what turns a one-off interaction into a long-term supporter relationship.
Reconnection starts with empathy
The soft opt-in gives you the tools to nurture these connections again. But success depends on understanding:
- What does this person need to hear from us right now?
- Are they emotionally ready to re-engage?
- What was their last interaction?
- How do we show them they’re seen, valued, and remembered?
Empathy leads, tech follows
Marketers use, on average, just 42% of their martech capabilities (Gartner). The problem isn’t (usually) the technology, it’s the lack of strategy in what we’re trying to achieve.
Modern platforms like Dotdigital, Salesforce or Adobe Campaign offer powerful tools to orchestrate personalised content within dynamic journeys, not just send batch emails to a full list.
Examples:
- A supporter gave £20? Reference the donation directly, thank them specifically, and show them how they were part of something bigger. For example:
“Thanks to your £20 donation last year, with your help, we achieved real impact - and you’re part of that story.” - A user gave to an emergency appeal two years ago? Tailor your message to the impact made since.
- Someone shows strong interest in volunteering? Serve them new ways to get involved.
Think of this as composing a relationship symphony, not broadcasting the same note to everyone at once.
How to get started
The practical stuff
- Create a cross-functional ‘task force’ for soft-opt in. You could include legal, data, digital, content, insight, fundraising, supporter care - whoever across the organisation this could affect.
- Conduct a Legitimate Interests Assessment (LIA). Because you are moving away from relying on explicit consent, it's important to demonstrate why using the soft opt-in is appropriate and that supporters would reasonably expect to hear from you.
- Review your opt-out processes: preference centres and data capture forms may need updating to ensure everyone has been given an explicit opportunity to opt out.
- Review your Privacy Policy: update to clearly explain the lawful basis you are relying on, what communications supporters can expect to receive, and how they can opt out at any time.
- Take a look into your database: who, and what volumes are qualifying for soft opt-in? What action did they last take with you? Volunteers, cash donors, campaigners?
- Update consent records: flag ‘soft opt-in’ vs ‘consent’ as lawful basis in your CRM
- Check behaviour clusters: what cause, service or product did they last engage with? What tone is appropriate? Who should you not contact right now?
The strategic stuff
- Once you have your soft opt in audience defined, the next step is understanding who they are and how best to engage them.
- Start with the data you already have. How could this audience be segmented e.g. soft opt in and left a gift two months ago, soft opt in and signed up to an event six months ago, opted in but disengaged? What journeys and experiences would be most relevant to them?
- Consider bringing teams together in a workshop to explore what you know, what you're assuming, and what could be validated through testing.
- Resist the urge to batch and blast. Instead, test, learn and refine as you go. This may be your first - and only - meaningful opportunity to build a deeper relationship with a supporter, so make it count.
- Use behavioural signals to shape what happens next, and lead with personalisation wherever possible. Show supporters that you're paying attention to their actions, interests and motivations.
For many organisations, this will be an ongoing journey rather than an overnight change. Remember, even a small amount of personalisation is better than none. Start small, test and learn, and build on your approach as you gain a better understanding of your supporters and what resonates with them.
Our team helps charities build audience-led, personalised, technology enabled supporter experiences and we would love to help you turn this opportunity into stronger connections.
A real example: Reframing with RNIB
We recently worked with RNIB to re-engage thousands of former service users, some of whom hadn’t heard from RNIB in over three years.
Originally, the goal was to invite the service users to donate. But we reframed the challenge: What do these individuals need right now?
We conducted research and learned:
- Some were carers under pressure
- Some were newly diagnosed and overwhelmed
- Some simply didn’t know what RNIB did anymore
We didn’t start with asks. We started with empathy.
We segmented based on need and readiness, used personalised storytelling and ran A/B testing within Dotdigital. The result?
An 84% increase in engagement compared to RNIB's benchmark.
Feedback like “The email shows you care, thank you.”
The lesson? When you lead with the audience for re-engaging with an audience, you need to lead with empathy.
The bigger picture: Culture change
This isn’t just about better emails. It’s a catalyst for exploring ways, as an organisation, you can improve collaboration between teams, gain a stronger understanding of your audience, find better ways to make decisions based on that understanding, and drive a more confident use of your existing tools.
If embraced well, soft opt-in can help you:
- Break silos across teams
- Align on shared engagement metrics (not just open rates)
- Invest in customer experience design as a core capability
- And… expand your pool of contactable people for your cause!
Final thought
The soft opt-in change doesn’t give you permission to send more communications. It gives you the chance to reconnect with purpose.
- Be curious.
- Lead with empathy.
- Design for relevancy.
- Let the tech enable.
- And nurture the relationships.
Ultimately, soft opt-in opens the door, but it's relevance, value and trust that encourage supporters to keep walking through it. The strongest relationships are built when supporters are able to choose how they stay connected to your cause, and see those choices respected.
Ready to make the most of soft opt-in?
Our team helps charities create personalised, audience-led supporter experiences, optimise marketing technology, and build relationships that drive long-term engagement. Let's talk.