Contact Statuses
Last updated: October 8, 2026
Understand each Contact Status to know whether someone can be reached for research, and why.
Each person record has a Rally-defined property called Contact Status associated with it. Contact Status is visible on any record, in any people table, and within your People database.
Certain contact statuses will prevent users from being able to email a person. People with In Blocklist or Opted Out statuses can't be overridden by a user to send emails.
Unlike Participant Status, which is study-specific, Contact Status is a workspace-wide field:
Relates to any outreach across any study and workspace governance rules.
Shown on person profiles, in populations, and in the People database.
Status | Description | Can be overridden? |
|---|---|---|
Free to Contact | Person complies with all Governance rules and can be contacted for research. | - |
Active in Study | Person has been contacted in an active study, or has started participating through a public study link, and hasn't yet reached a terminal stage (Done or Canceled) in that study. This status is automatically computed and can't be set manually. It reverts to the person's underlying stored status (e.g. Free to Contact or In Cooldown) once they hit a terminal stage, even if the study itself is still open, or once the study closes. Select the Active in Study badge in a person table to see which studies they're active in. | Yes, with the "Override governance rules" permission |
In Cooldown | Person recently completed a study or was contacted, exceeded a governance limit, or a manual or custom governance rule placed them on a temporary cooldown. | Yes, with the "Override governance rules" permission |
Do Not Contact | A custom governance rule automatically placed the person in this status based on the rule's conditions, or an email to their primary address hard bounced. Updates dynamically as the person's properties or the rule's conditions change. | Yes, with the "Override governance rules" permission |
Opted Out | Person opted out of research or unsubscribed from all communications. | No |
In Blocklist | Person was manually added to the blocklist, or a custom Governance rule added them. Common reasons include repeated no-shows, dishonesty, or poor communication during studies. | No |
Reached Incentive Limit | Person has reached your workspace's incentive limit for the year, so no further incentives can be sent without an override. This status is applied automatically and can't be set manually. | Yes, with the "Override governance rules" permission |
Opted Out and In Blocklist always take priority over every other Contact Status, including Active in Study. If someone is both actively participating in a study and opted out or blocklisted, they'll display as Opted Out or In Blocklist rather than Active in Study.
Overriding a contact status
Statuses marked Yes in the table above can be overridden to allow outreach anyway, by users with the "Override governance rules" permission. Statuses marked No can't be overridden.
When you try to email someone who can be overridden, Rally shows a warning and asks for a reason, which is logged on their profile. For the full override workflow, see the Governance article.
Unsubscribing vs. opting out
Unsubscribing from an individual opt-in program only removes the person from that specific population. It doesn't change their overall Contact Status. They remain subscribed to other communications and any other opt-in programs they haven't unsubscribed from.
Selecting Opt out from all communications on the subscription page is a separate, broader action. It updates the person's Contact Status to Opted Out.
FAQs
Why is someone showing as Active in Study instead of In Cooldown?
Active in Study takes priority over every stored status except Opted Out and In Blocklist. If a person is currently participating in an active study, they'll display as Active in Study even if they'd otherwise be in cooldown. Once they reach a terminal stage or the study closes, their Contact Status reverts to the underlying stored status, such as In Cooldown.
Does someone need to be emailed to become Active in Study?
Not necessarily. Someone who books an interview or completes a survey through a public study link also counts as Active in Study, even without being sent an email invite through Rally. Submitting only a screener through a public link doesn't make someone Active in Study.
Can a Do Not Contact status change on its own?
Yes. Unlike In Blocklist and Opted Out, which change only through direct action (a team member updating the person, or the person opting out), Do Not Contact is set by governance rules and re-evaluates automatically as a person's properties or the rule's conditions change.
What happens to Contact Status when a study closes?
Anyone who was Active in Study because of that study reverts to their underlying stored status, such as Free to Contact or In Cooldown. The same happens when a person reaches a terminal stage (Done or Canceled) in the study, even if the study itself is still open, or when they're disqualified from the screener.