Question about contacting an admin re academic research

Hello,
I am an academic researcher interested in the topic of gay men's body image. I read a moderator's post saying that recruiting members for a research study is considered advertising and that researchers should PM an administrator. I respect this rule and tried to PM an admin, however, I got a message saying that sending a PM is not available to me as I am a new member.
I am wondering how to resolve this issue. Please let me know if anyone has a solution.
Thanks!