The implementation of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) earlier this year brought a welcome wave of flexibility for charity fundraisers. By softening the rules around electronic marketing, the act allowed charities to utilise “soft opt-in” routes to communicate with supporters without requiring explicit prior consent.
But as Privacy Helper Managing Director Andy Chesterman warns in his latest opinion piece for Fundraising Magazine, this regulatory relaxation comes with a significant speed bump: the burden of proof.
While the rules have softened, the requirement to prove that a supporter “reasonably expected” a communication has intensified.
The Compliance Shift: Since June 19th, data complaints must go to the charity first rather than the ICO. Combined with PECR penalties soaring up to £17.5m (or 4% of global turnover), the commercial stakes of getting supporter communications wrong have never been higher.
“Charities aren’t struggling to use soft opt-in,” Andy notes. “But many are struggling to evidence how they are using it.” If a supporter challenges a specific message, your organisation must be able to instantly show which precise interaction was relied upon, what the person was told at that point, and how it connects to the campaign sent.
Navigating this requires deep control over your data structures, definitive record-keeping and moving away from compliance assumptions.
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The full article is available now in the latest issue of Fundraising Magazine.
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