Why a charity may email you after you donate

Wonderful Team -

If a charity emails you after a donation, you may wonder when you agreed to hear from it again. The answer changed this year.

Since 5 February 2026, a UK charity can sometimes send fundraising emails, texts or social-media direct messages without getting your prior consent. The rule is called the charitable purposes soft opt-in. It can help a charity keep genuine supporters informed, but it comes with strict conditions and does not remove your right to say no.

When the new rule can apply

The Information Commissioner's Office guidance says every one of these conditions must be met:

  • The sender is a charity.
  • The charity collected your contact details directly from you on or after 5 February 2026.
  • You gave those details while expressing an interest in its charitable work, or while offering or providing support.
  • The message is solely intended to further the charity's charitable purposes.
  • You were given a simple way to opt out when your details were collected.
  • Every later marketing message also gives you a simple way to opt out.

Imagine you donate on a charity's own website. The charity asks for your email address and clearly offers a box you can tick if you do not want fundraising updates. You leave it unticked. A later email about the charity's work or a new appeal may be covered by the soft opt-in, even though you did not tick a separate consent box.

The rule is narrow. An address collected before 5 February cannot simply be moved into a soft opt-in list. Nor can a charity rely on it because your address happens to be public or appears on a list it has bought.

A donation through a fundraising platform is different

Direct collection matters. The ICO gives the specific example of a donation made through a third-party online fundraising platform: if the platform collected the email address and passed it to the charity, the charity cannot use the charitable purposes soft opt-in for that address.

That distinction protects the choice you made during the donation journey. Wonderful.org's donor terms say that a charity, fundraiser or Wonderful may contact a donor when the donor has given express consent through the donor page. Donating through Wonderful.org does not by itself create a charitable purposes soft opt-in for the charity.

You can change your mind at any time

Every marketing email should contain a clear unsubscribe option. Texts and direct messages need an equally simple route to stop them. Once you opt out, the organisation must stop using that channel for unsolicited marketing under the soft opt-in.

Start with the unsubscribe link or the instructions in the message. If you do not recognise the sender, avoid replying or clicking. Find the charity's official website independently and use the contact details in its privacy notice instead. The ICO's advice for unwanted marketing emails also explains how to report messages that continue after you have opted out.

The Fundraising Regulator's practical guide, updated on 7 July, adds an important reminder: charities should consider whether sending the message is fair and appropriate, especially where a person may be vulnerable. Meeting the basic checklist is not a reason to ignore the effect on the recipient.

Keep the updates that help

Some charity messages are genuinely useful. They can show what happened after an appeal, invite you to volunteer or tell you about another way to help. The new rule gives charities more flexibility to send them, while leaving the final choice with you.

The next time a charity message arrives, check who collected your details, look for the opt-out and keep only the updates you want.

Further reading

This article provides general information, not legal advice. The rules depend on how and when an organisation collected your details and what it sends.