Not for ordinary club business. Emails telling members about an AGM, a fixture change or a cancelled session are service messages, which the ICO says are not direct marketing. But the moment an email promotes something (a fundraiser, a sponsor's offer, a paid trip, a campaign), it is direct marketing, and for individuals you normally need their consent or a recognised soft opt-in. Since 5 February 2026, registered charities have a new soft opt-in for messages that purely further their charitable purposes.
This is general information, not legal advice. The ICO's guidance is still being updated after the 2025 data law changes, so check its pages if your case is borderline.
The law in two lines
Regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) says you must not send, or instigate the sending of, unsolicited electronic mail for direct marketing to individual subscribers unless the recipient has previously notified you that they consent for the time being. There are two exceptions (soft opt-ins), set out below. "Individual" includes a living person and also an unincorporated body of individuals, so it covers the personal email addresses of members.
Separately, UK GDPR applies whenever you use members' personal data, which includes their email addresses. PECR is about the permission to send; UK GDPR is about the lawful basis and fairness of using the data. You need to satisfy both.
Step 1: is this email marketing at all?
PECR defines direct marketing as the communication, by whatever means, of advertising or marketing material which is directed to particular individuals. The ICO reads that widely: it includes promoting your aims and ideals as well as advertising products or services, which means fundraising and campaigning count.
But the ICO also says data protection law and PECR do not stop you telling people important information they need as part of their relationship with you. It calls these service messages: communications that are not promotional but are for administrative or customer service purposes. Its examples include reminding people how to contact you in case of a problem, checking contact details are correct, confirming or reminding about appointments, and updating terms and conditions. In its example, a gym calling to say a membership payment has not worked is not direct marketing.
Two warnings from the same guidance:
- A service message with a marketing element is marketing. If a message includes promotion even as a side issue, the whole thing counts as direct marketing. General branding or a logo does not tip it over.
- Tone and context matter. A neutral message that simply gives information the person needs as part of the relationship is more likely to be a service message. The ICO lists renewal notices that are worded neutrally and do not encourage renewal among the kinds of message that can fall on the service side, but a message that pushes people to renew, upgrade or buy is promotional.
How that works for a club
| Likely category | |
|---|---|
| AGM notice, agenda and minutes | Service message (club business) |
| Fixture, rota or venue change; session cancelled | Service message |
| Neutral subscription-due reminder with how to pay | May be a service message if worded neutrally |
| Reminder to check your details are correct | Service message |
| Donation or fundraising appeal | Direct marketing |
| Sponsor's offer or discount | Direct marketing |
| Promoting a paid trip, social or merchandise | Direct marketing |
| Campaigning on a local issue | Direct marketing |
| A newsletter with club news plus a donation ask | Contains direct marketing |
A practical approach: keep club business in its own email, and send promotions as a separate message to people who have opted in. That way a missing opt-in never stops you reaching a member about the AGM.
Step 2: if it is marketing, what permission do you need?
For individual subscribers, you need either consent, or a soft opt-in that you meet in full.
Consent
The ICO says consent under PECR takes the UK GDPR standard: freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous, shown by a statement or clear affirmative action. In practice:
- no pre-ticked boxes, and silence is not consent;
- consent must be separate from your terms and conditions, and should not be a condition of joining, buying or donating;
- say that it covers email marketing and who you are, and ask for each channel (email, text) separately;
- keep a record of who agreed, when and how; and
- make it as easy to withdraw as to give.
Soft opt-in 1: products and services (everyone, including clubs)
You can email without consent about your own similar products or services if you got the person's contact details directly from them while selling, or negotiating to sell, a product or service; they were offered an opt-out when you collected the details and are offered one in every message. The ICO says charities, political parties and other not-for-profit organisations must not use this soft opt-in for campaigning or fundraising messages, even to existing supporters. Whether a membership subscription counts as selling a service for this purpose is a judgement call, so for a club the simplest and safest route for promotions is a clear opt-in tick on the joining form.
Soft opt-in 2: charitable purposes (charities only, from 5 February 2026)
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 added regulation 22(3A) to PECR. A charity can send electronic mail marketing without consent where all of these are true:
- the sole purpose of the marketing is to further one or more of the charity's charitable purposes;
- it obtained the recipient's contact details itself, in the course of the person expressing an interest in the charity's purposes, or offering or providing support for them; and
- the person was given a simple, free way to refuse at the time the details were collected, and is given one in every later communication.
The ICO adds that it only applies to contact details obtained on or after 5 February 2026, and that only charities can use it, using the definition of "charity" for England and Wales (Charities Act 2011), Northern Ireland (Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008) or Scotland (entered in the Scottish Charity Register). An unregistered club, a CIC or a company that is not a charity cannot use it. Its examples of marketing that furthers charitable purposes include asking for donations and asking people to volunteer.
If both soft opt-ins could apply, the ICO says you must offer separate opt-out boxes for each when collecting the details.
Wording to copy
On a joining form or sign-up page (consent):
[ ] Yes, please email me news, events and offers from [Club name]. I can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email.
Leave the box unticked. Use a separate box for any named sponsor: "[ ] Yes, I'm happy to receive offers from [Sponsor name] by email."
Charity opt-out wording (charity soft opt-in):
We would like to email you occasional updates about our work and ways you can help. If you would prefer not to receive these emails, tick this box: [ ]
Footer of every email:
You're receiving this because you are a member of [Club name]. [Club name], [postal address or contact email]. To stop receiving newsletters like this, [unsubscribe link] or reply STOP to [email]. Club notices about meetings and fixtures will still be sent. See our privacy notice: [link].
To separate the two kinds of email at the top of a newsletter:
This is a club notice about [AGM / fixtures]. It is not a marketing email.
The mechanics
- Do not disguise who you are, and give a valid contact address. The ICO says these rules apply to all electronic mail marketing, solicited or not.
- Unsubscribe means stop. People can change their mind at any time, and have an absolute right under data protection law to object to direct marketing. Keep a suppression list so a removed person is not re-added from an old spreadsheet.
- Opt-out usually applies to the channel. The ICO says an unsubscribe link only covers email marketing if that is what your wording makes clear, so say what the person is unsubscribing from.
- Do not use bought-in or shared lists. The ICO says there is no such thing as a third-party marketing list that is compliant with the soft opt-in, and you must collect the details yourself.
Using a free mail tool or your club email
The ICO says using a webmail service or bulk-email platform does not normally make that service responsible: it is just providing the technical delivery, and you remain responsible for complying with PECR. So Mailchimp, Gmail or a club mailbox is fine as long as you do the above. If you send newsletters from a club address on your own domain, our guide to custom domains and a matching club email covers the setup. If you use BCC to a large list, remember that a members' list shared openly is personal data in the wrong hands; use proper mailing list software or a bulk email tool.
Where it fits with the rest of your data protection
The same wording should appear in your joining form and privacy notice: see membership form wording that meets UK GDPR, the privacy policy template and the plain-English GDPR guide. Whether you must pay the ICO fee is a separate question: see ICO data protection fee for clubs and charities.
Where Natterio fits
A Natterio site gives you a contact form and a Privacy page, and every site has cookie consent, with UK hosting. Natterio does not send your club newsletter or make your mailing compliant: the permission and wording above are for your club to manage. The free plan is permanent (three pages, no card) and paid plans start at £7 a month. Build your club's site free.
Sources and last checked 30 Oct 2026
- Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, regulation 22 (as amended 5 February 2026) and regulation 2 (definitions): legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2426/regulation/22 and regulation 2
- ICO, How do we comply with the PECR electronic mail marketing rules?: ico.org.uk
- ICO, Identify direct marketing (including service messages): ico.org.uk