If you’re a nonprofit, you’re probably no stranger to the struggle of fundraising. Finding the right people who are willing to donate can be difficult and time consuming.
And then, there’s keeping your donors engaged. You don’t want them to forget about your organization or stop donating altogether.
But if you have the right tools at your disposal, it can become a lot easier.
One tool that nonprofits need to have in their arsenal is email marketing software. Email marketing is a great way to bring additional awareness to your cause and keep your donors engaged.
But finding the right email marketing software for nonprofits can be a challenge.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best email marketing software for nonprofits so you can find out which one will work best for you.
Best Email Marketing Software For Nonprofits
| SOFTWARE | RECOMMENDED FOR | FAVORITE FEATURE | WORKS WITH KINDFUL | PRICING STARTS AT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindful | Donor management & CRM | Kindful BCC | Yes | $100/month |
| Mailchimp | Affordability | Automation | Yes | Free |
| Constant Contact | Customer support | Deliverability | Yes | $20/month |
| Emma | User experience | Segments | Yes | $89/month |
| Gmail | Internal use | G-suite applications | With Kindful BCC | Free |
Kindful
Recommended for: Nonprofits of any size looking for donor management and CRM software that integrates with the best-in-class email marketing providers.
Favorite feature: Kindful BCC. Even if you’re using Gmail to send your emails, you can take advantage of Kindful BCC to track all of your email communication with your contacts and donors.
Favorite integrations: With Kindful, you don’t have to give up the email marketing software you already know and love. Simply connect your software and your data will automatically sync both ways, allowing you to segment your communication to different groups.
Kindful works with:
- Mailchimp
- Constant Contact
- Emma
- And many more apps
Pricing: Monthly, contact-based. Kindful’s pricing starts at $100 per month, and it’s free to integrate Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Emma, and any other apps you use. Nonprofits also receive free phone and email support from our Nashville-based Support Team.
Learn More About Kindful
Mailchimp
Recommended for: Nonprofits of any size looking for an affordable platform with a variety of marketing features. Their free plan offers access to a Mailchimp domain and website builder.
Favorite feature: Marketing automation. Mailchimp offers advanced marketing automation that allows you to welcome new subscribers, follow up, or connect with a customized response without taking time away from your mission.
Favorite Integrations:
- Kindful
- Shopify
- Squarespace
- Google Analytics
Pricing: Monthly, contact-based. Mailchimp offers a free plan that allows you to use several features of other paid subscription plans. Paid plans start at $9.99 per month and increase based on the number of contacts and audiences. Mailchimp also has nonprofit rates featuring a 15% discount.
Learn More About Mailchimp for Nonprofits
Constant Contact
Recommended for: Nonprofits looking for responsive customer service and reliable deliverability. Constant Contact seamlessly integrates with your marketing team to help you develop the outreach strategy you need and boasts a 97% email deliverability rate to ensure that your communication gets where it needs to go.
Favorite feature: Customer Service. It’s no secret that email marketing can be difficult. Constant Contact has mitigated a lot of the frustration with real-person customer support that can help you with anything from product questions to marketing strategy.
Favorite Integrations:
- Kindful
- WordPress
- Shopify
- Zapier
- Google Analytics
- Eventbrite
Pricing: Monthly. Plans start at $20 per month and are great for nonprofits looking to develop professional email and marketing campaigns but don’t need all the additional features of the more expensive plans. They offer a 20% 6-month prepay discount and 30% for 12-month prepay.
Learn More About Constant Contact for Nonprofits
Emma
Recommended for: Nonprofits that want a highly-customizable user experience and templates that get your audience’s attention.
Favorite feature: Segmentation. Emma’s adaptable segmentation lists allow you to define, specifically, who you want to reach out to. This allows you to target your outreach and save time on finding similar audiences.
Favorite Integrations:
- Kindful
- Salesforce
- Eventbrite
- Zapier
- Google Analytics
Pricing: Monthly. Plans start at $89 per month and offer a wide range of features, including real-time reporting and analytics, A/B content testing, and several segmentation tools. More expensive plans are geared toward large brands, franchises, and companies with high-performance marketing strategies.
Learn More About Emma for Nonprofits
Gmail for Nonprofits
Recommended for: One-to-one emails and internal team collaboration apps.
Favorite feature: Access to G Suite applications like Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Google Meet.
Favorite integrations: With the help of Zapier, you can integrate Gmail with a number of your favorite software tools, including email marketing tools that are better suited for marketing campaigns. Some available integrations with Zapier include:
- Mailchimp
- Constant Contact
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Square
- Shopify
- Squarespace
- WordPress
- Eventbrite
- QuickBooks
Pricing: Monthly. Plans start at $0 per month and include unlimited users, 30 GB cloud storage, shared Drives, and access to other Google applications.
constant contact for nonprofits
It’s easier than ever for nonprofits to stay connected with the people who matter most to their organization.
While newer technology has brought some enormous benefits, it also comes with also some challenges.
Marketers need to consider widely different channels to reach all the right audiences. Besides that, they need to stand out. Social media, video, microsites, paid ads, search results, and email are saturated with messages from marketers.
Many of the newest marketing channels are proven innovative communication tools, but email remains a pillar of effective marketing. 99% of email users check their email every day. That’s why email marketing should be at the center of your nonprofit’s outreach efforts.
The best email marketers enjoy a high return on investment of their efforts by running targeted, creative, thoughtful campaigns.
Keep your organization growing with expert advice and all the tools you need, all in one place.Start a Free Trial of Constant Contact for Nonprofit Organizations
What makes an email campaign top-notch? Well, a little planning goes a long way.
Take the time to map out the who, what, where, when, and why of your email marketing strategy and you can use email to help your organization:
- Reach fundraising goals
- Increase social shares
- Personalize your brand
- Build rapport with donors
- Educate supporters on your cause
The five W’s
1. Who should I email?
It might be tempting to answer this question with “Everyone on my list!” But if you want to improve donor retention and develop more meaningful donor engagement, you have to deliver the right message to the right person. When you create one message for your entire email list, you will be irrelevant to the majority of them.
Email marketing is one of the most effective channels for communicating with different audiences.
Rather than sending one broad message to your entire email list, you can segment your audience into different email lists and create email campaigns that are specific to them.
Here are some ideas for email segments for nonprofits to get you started on your own list:
- Blog subscribers who have never donated before
- Re-engagement campaign — speak directly to those who’ve impacted your nonprofit in the past
- Donation amount
- Monthly recurring donors
- Social media power users
- Corporate sponsors
- Volunteers
2. What should I email?
It’ll be much easier to answer this question once you’ve segmented your email list. Each segment of donors or fundraisers should get content tailored to them. This means that first-time donors might receive educational material on your cause, while recurring donors get more detailed impact reports.
Think about the message from your supporters’ perspective. Given your relationship with an organization, what kind of information or appreciation would you expect from them?
3. Where should I send my readers?
Of course, you want your email’s content to be engaging to your readers, but they should also receive clear direction as to what to do next. If the email is only going out to your newsletter subscribers, the main call to action (CTA) might link out to a blog post. On the other hand, if you’re running a recurring donations campaign, link out to the campaign microsite or branded donation form.
Tip: Make sure to connect what you’re emailing to what readers find on the other side of the CTA.
4. When should I send email?
In some cases, the best day to send email is on the weekend, while in others it might be a Monday or Tuesday. As yourself who your audience is and what their primary behaviors might be and start experimenting. By looking at your reports, you’ll eventually be able to determine what days and times receive the best open and click-through rates.
Note that the peak times for open rates can be different than primetime for click-through rates. Therefore, you might want to choose the send day and time based on the goal of your email. For example, send an email with a CTA to donate during the final push of your fundraising campaign on the day and time you’ve observed higher click-through rates.
5. Why should I send email?
This might be one of the most important questions you ask yourself before sending an email or starting a campaign. Remember, the most effective marketers reach the right people, at the right time, with a relevant message. Create specific goals, by segment, for your email campaigns and the content you deliver to supporters will be much more compelling.
Here are some examples of how you can use the five W’s in your nonprofit email marketing plan:
Who? First-time donors
What? An educational infographic that reminds them how important their donation has been to solve a problem in your cause sector.
Where? Send email recipients to a blog post or a video that elaborates on the information in the infographic.
When? Within a week of their donation.
Why? Demonstrate a donors’ value to your mission and motivate them to re-engage with your organization.
Who? Donors who have supported your organization multiple times
What? An exclusive invite to be the first to join your brand new recurring donors program.
Where? To your unique recurring donations program page or form.
When? During the soft launch of a recurring donations campaign or during your year-end campaign.
Why? Make dedicated donors feel appreciated, so they become a pillar of sustained support for your organization.
Who? One-time donors
What? A celebratory thank-you message with a soft ask to donate again
Where? Send them to a unique donation form that speaks to this segment. Maybe the headline of the form is, “Congratulations! You’re about to renew your impact!”
When? On the first anniversary of their first donation
Why? Increase donor retention through celebration and positive reinforcement.
Whether you’re running a fundraising campaign, sending a monthly newsletter or preparing a one-off email, begin with the 5 Ws. Ask yourself who, what, where, when and why, and start sending more effective emails!
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Check out other publications to gain access to more digital resources if you are just starting out with Flux Resource.
Also contact us today to optimize your business(s)/Brand(s) for Search Engines