Email addresses

Sue Fidler explains the opportunities that come from email addresses.

An easy way to collect the names of people who want to hear from you is from their emails. Every charity, no matter how small, should be building up email lists and sending out regular email newsletters. It can cost as little as £50 to set up an account with an email service provider and £10 a month to send out emails.

Asking for email addresses on all supporter communications is obvious, and adding the request to donation forms, campaign forms and all web-based sign-ups should be second nature. These addresses are added to the central database because you have some other contact with the supporter, but you must ask for a data-protection opt-in when receiving emails.


Capturing email addresses through an 'e-news' sign-up form on your website is even easier. As long as it is obvious people are signing up for e-news and you stick to just sending e-news, you don't even need an opt-in.

It's more difficult to decide what to ask for. First name, surname and email address are the usual minimum, and surveys and tests show that the number of people who sign up will significantly decrease if you ask for other contact information.

Some organisations are unwilling to add supporters to the database if they have only names and email addresses. They should recognise that emails can be great marketing tools that allow enquirers to have a gentle and non-aggressive relationship with a charity. If they decide to donate, shop or campaign, they will naturally complete more detailed forms. So either add them to the database using the email address as a matching field, or leave them off until they participate in a more engaged way. With an email service provider system, the email-only people can live in address books until their postal addresses are needed.

Data protection act

Sue Fidler considers some of the implications of the Data Protection Act.

The Data Protection Act is a morass of ill-defined requirements, but the best practice is relatively clear. Users must be given the opportunity to opt into any electronic communications you would like to send them, and they must always be given the opportunity to unsubscribe. There is only one exception: you have a legal right to contact people about financial transactions.

In practice, every form on your website should have an opt-in check box for communications you would like to send out. Whether people are completing job applications, signing up as campaigners or giving money, if you want to send them anything more than an acknowledgement you should be asking them to opt in to those communications.


Complexity arises when you want to offer more than one form of communication - for example, more than one email newsletter. The options are either to offer a complex sign-up form, whereby people opt in to what they want, or to offer a single sign-up and then use the first email sent to offer them options to sign up to the range on offer.

The one simple sign-up you can offer without a tick box is to an email newsletter. If your online or printed form says "sign up to our e-news", you do not need an opt-in tick box as long as you only use the email address for e-news. Several barristers have confirmed that the act of completing the email sign-up is considered an opt-in, so long as it is to a single, named subscription.

Once you have an opt-in, it is vital you offer an opt-out option on every message you send. Otherwise, you will be in breach of the act. And make sure you respect the wishes of people who unsubscribe. The act is a matter of trust, and the sector must be seen to do its best to comply with users' preferences.