Key tips for successfully venturing into charity cold mail – understanding the law

Direct mail is great for getting attention – and response. It provides the space to really tell a story, integrates well with other channels, and it’s also very measurable. Yet it can be overlooked as an acquisition channel by charities. Those that haven’t used it for a long time – or ever – may be unaware of how useful it can be in today’s fundraising environment, while others might think that UK GDPR means it’s just not possible to get the data to run a campaign. 

Back in June, Arc Data’s founder and MD Suzanne Lewis took part in a webinar that shared how charities in the UK, Europe, and US are successfully using mail for acquisition, and to provide some tips. Led by WPNC Chair John Watson, and with a host of expert speakers, Direct Mail Reborn provided insights into successful campaigns, the role of AI, how the channel integrates with digital, and the postal market. And of course, it also covered data protection and the list landscape – presented by Suzanne.  

To help even more charities venture successfully into cold direct mail, Suzanne’s now sharing her key points in a two-part blog. 

First up, Suzanne answers: is cold mail even possible and what about the law? 

Is cold direct mail even possible?  

When GDPR came into force in 2018 (it’s since transitioned into UK GDPR) the stricter rules on using personal data meant cold direct mail volumes fell dramatically. However, there is still responsive, compliant cold data out there, so it definitely is possible, and with targeting more precise and people receiving less mail these days, it works! 

What about the law? 

A key point to understand is that under UK GDPR, you can mail people using cold data under the legal basis of legitimate interests. This means without their express consent – so long as they haven’t said no and you’re sending them something they might reasonably expect to receive.  

Enacted back in June, the Data (Use & Access) Act, which builds upon UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, has brought in some changes to be aware of. Under the Act, legitimate interests is properly recognised as a legal basis charities can use for processing data for direct marketing, and some organisations have ‘recognised legitimate interest’ status, meaning they no longer have to undertake a Legitimate Interest Assessment (LIA). These changes should help charities feel much more confident and comfortable about using this basis with direct mail. On a different but related topic, it also brings in soft opt-in for email marketing. More on this here. 

In addition, restrictions on automated decision making where it is used in profiling are relaxed under the new Act, only applying to special category data. International data transfers rules have also relaxed. Previously, taking data out of the UK or EU to a country where rules are considered less stringent required a transfer risk assessment. Under the new Act, this won’t be necessary, but you will still need to "reasonably and proportionately" consider whether the data protection standards in that country are significantly lower than those in the UK.  

Another need to know is that AI is considered a high-risk activity so data controllers will have to be able to explain how and why a person was selected, which will mean carefully documenting when and how you're using data, and why individuals have been selected or not selected. 

Other changes that aren’t specifically direct mail related but can still be relevant to it include a new right to complain that will mean if a consumer is unhappy about a mail piece they must come to you before going to the ICO. This gives you the opportunity to talk to them and correct the issue, potentially stopping it from going any further.  

Okay, I’m interested – so how do I get my ducks in row to send out cold direct mail?  Coming soon: In part two, Suzanne shares her tips for putting together a successful cold mail campaign.