GivePanel provides flexible options for collecting marketing consent from your supporters through your data capture forms.
Depending on how your form is configured, consent can be captured using Yes/No radio buttons, a single checkbox, or separate checkboxes for each communication channel.
This article outlines the different ways you can configure opt-ins in your forms and how those choices appear in your exported data.
Opt-In Configuration Options
There are three main ways to collect marketing consent in GivePanel:
1. Yes/No Radio Buttons (Default)
This is the default configuration when the Marketing Opt-In field is enabled and the checkbox setting is left unticked.
Setup:
“Display as a checkbox instead of radio buttons” is not selected.
Supporters see your opt-in message followed by:
🔘 Yes
🔘 No
Export Behaviour:
"Yes"is stored if the supporter selects Yes."No"is stored if they select No.This appears in the Opt-In column only.
Form Preview:
Export Preview:
2. Single Checkbox
If you tick “Display as a checkbox instead of radio buttons,” the supporter sees one checkbox underneath your opt-in message.
Setup:
Ideal for opt-in messages like: “Tick this box if you’d like to hear from us.”
Export Behaviour:
"Yes"if the box is ticked.Blank if left unticked (interpreted as an opt-out).
Appears in the Opt-In column only.
Form Preview:
Export Preview:
3. Separate Checkboxes for Email, Post, Phone, and SMS
This option allows supporters to opt into individual channels.
Setup:
Enable both:
“Display as a checkbox instead of radio buttons”
“Display as separate checkboxes for Email, Post, Phone, and SMS”
Supporter sees a checkbox for each channel (Email, SMS, Phone, Post).
Export Behaviour:
"Yes"appears in the respective channel column if ticked.Blank means the supporter did not opt in (opt-out).
The original Opt-In column will also populate with a comma-separated summary (e.g.
Email, SMS).
Form Preview:
Export Preview:
Export Columns
When exporting opt in data from GivePanel, you'll have the following columns:
Opt-In (Summary of opt in)
Optional (if using separate channel checkboxes):
Marketing Opt-In (Email)
Marketing Opt-In (SMS)
Marketing Opt-In (Phone)
Marketing Opt-In (Post)
For organisations based in the US, there’s also an option to set the opt-in checkbox to be ticked by default.
Why Are Some Values Blank?
GivePanel records explicit consent - in line with best practice for affirmative marketing consent. This means:
Opt-In Summary Column
If the value says “Yes” or lists the communication channel (e.g. “Email”), the supporter has opted in.
If the value is blank, it means the supporter did not opt in and it should be treated as an opt-out.
If using radio buttons, a supporter selecting “No” will show as
"No"in this column.
Separate Channel Columns (Email, SMS, Phone, Post)
If using radio buttons, these columns will be blank - refer to the Opt-In column for a “Yes” or “No” response.
If using checkboxes, and a supporter leaves one or more of these unticked, the value will be blank in the export, and should be treated as an opt-out for that specific channel.
Only when a checkbox is ticked will the value show as “Yes.”