MailChimp is a trusted email marketing platform for both nonprofits and for-profit companies alike.
For verified nonprofits, the platforms offer a 15% discount. Plus, the platform offers a free plan.
However, the free plan is restrictive: it only offers 1 user, email support for 30 days, and up to 1,000 email sends/month. Plus, the free plan restricts customization and segmentation capabilities, too.
For lots of organizations, this can be quite limiting. In this blog, we'll cover some of the top alternatives for nonprofits to consider if they're in need of more robust feature access, and support — without the price.
Though MailChimp is a popular email marketing tool that offers nonprofit discounted pricing as well as a few free perks, the platform can be restrictive. Nonprofits might consider an alternative that offers better:
When looking for a MailChimp alternative for your nonprofit, be sure to consider:
Zeffy is an all-in-one fundraising platform that offers nonprofits a full suite of tools for free: peer-to-peer campaign creation, raffles and lotteries features, donor management, email marketing, and other other advanced features.
With Zeffy, nonprofits can send targeted, personalized emails right from the platform — without paying a cent. Unlike other email marketing tools, organizations can send as many custom and targeted emails they need, and even automate them, too. Plus, Zeffy has it's own built-in CRM so nonprofits can rest easy knowing that all of their data is synced and up-to-date.
Zeffy is 100% free—there are no platform or transaction fees. While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your nonprofit
“Zeffy is very easy to use and ensures that every dollar donors have given to our small and recently set up nonprofit quickly gets into our account so we can do our important work. Minimizing costs is important for every nonprofit, but especially those just starting up. A huge help to our work!” — Nathan C.
4.9/5
HubSpot is an all-in-one email marketing software, sales, and customer service platform that offers a suite of tools for managing email marketing, CRM, social media, content management, and more. It's known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features designed to help businesses and nonprofits attract, engage, and delight customers.
The platform can be expensive, especially for nonprofits with limited budgets — the free plan limits users, analytics insights, support, and the number of emails sends a month. Meaning, users have to pay more as they grow.
HubSpot offers 40% off discounted pricing for eligible nonprofits through its HubSpot for Nonprofits program.
“I'm the first email marketing manager for our organization, and I'm thrilled to have Hubspot on my side to thoroughly track conversions and meet & exceed email marketing goals across our various audiences including donors, members, ticket purchasers, and community leaders.” —Tiffany C.
4.4/5
Givebutter is a fundraising platform that specializes in helping nonprofits, schools, teams, and clubs raise money online. It offers a variety of tools for collecting donations, selling tickets, and organizing fundraising events, all in one place.
While Givebutter is free to use, it requires that fees be covered by donors.
Givebutter is free to use.
“Our organization recently transitioned to Givebutter and the platform has served us well. It's user friendly for our whole team. I especially appreciate the free email and texting features. The Givebutter platform is constantly improving features that help us to cultivate and nurture our donors. I would highly recommend to any friends, family, or colleagues who receive donations.” —Alyssa D.
4.7/5
MailerLite provides a user-friendly platform tailored for nonprofits to execute effective email marketing automation and donor communications. With its intuitive interface and affordable pricing, it offers essential features to engage donors and drive conversions.
While Mailerlite has a free plan, it caps users at 3,000 emails, offers few templates compared to paid plans, and doesn't offer support or analytics.
Mailerlite offers 30% off for qualifying nonprofits.
“The free version is perfect for a small nonprofit like ours because our mailing list is still small and our budget is so small, that we need every penny we can save for our programs. The resources you provide (how-to's, etc) are great as well.” — Pamela L.
4.7/5
Sendinblue (now Brevo) is an all-in-one CRM and email marketing solution offering robust email marketing tools tailored for nonprofits to enhance donor communications and engagement. Its affordability and ease of use make it an attractive option for organizations seeking to maximize their outreach efforts.
Brevo's free plan offers limited support, no A/B testing, no automation, and limited access to other features.
Brevo offers nonprofits a 15% discount on the Enterprise license.
“We were looking for a marketing tool that would accomodate our need to have everything available in 12+ languages. It's also a great marketing tool for SMS and Email campaigns on its own. We are switching from other marketing tools and Sendinblue seems to perform better on every aspect. Workflows and automation are reliable and do not have a strong delay.” — Nikita V.
4.5/5
Campaign Monitor is an email marketing platform that specializes in helping organizations create, send, and track engaging email marketing campaigns. It offers a user-friendly interface, customizable templates, and advanced features to communicate with donors, supporters, and volunteers effectively.
Users have to pay to get access to Campaign Monitor's full suite of tools and features.
Campaign Monitor offers a nonprofit discount of 15% .
“Campaign Monitor is your tool to manage a few lists and send simple emails with the drag-and-drop template editor. It can be an excellent first tool to start marketing campaigns.” — Karl L.
4.1/5
Constant Contact is a widely-used email marketing platform offering intuitive tools for nonprofits to create, send, and track engaging campaigns. Its user-friendly interface and extensive support resources make it an accessible choice for organizations of all sizes.
Constant Contact doesn't offer a free plan
The platform offers nonprofits a 20% 6-month prepay discount and 30% for a 12-month prepay.
“Constant Contact truly is one of the best CRM platforms. Our small nonprofit uses Constant Contact for monthly newsletters, e-blasts, reminders, giving campaigns and so much more! We cannot recommend it enough! Customer support is top notch and always willing to help when needed.” — Anne-Harrison L.
4.0/5
ConvertKit is a specialized email marketing platform designed for creators and bloggers, offering powerful tools to engage audiences and drive conversions. While not explicitly tailored for nonprofits, its features can be effectively utilized for donor communications and outreach efforts.
ConverterKit's free plan only allows for up to 1,000 subscribers. Plus, free plan users don't have access to integrations or advanced reporting.
ConvertKit does not offer a discount for nonprofits.
“The main application of this tool is that it helps users to create and manage email campaigns, build landing pages, automate email sequences, and build Email lists. The platform is easy to use, allowing users to create beautiful and engaging emails without coding knowledge. Users can create email sequences using a drag-and-drop editor and also use a wide range of templates and customization options.” —𝕋𝕖𝕛𝕒𝕤𝕧𝕚
4.4/5
After their last donor management system eliminated their free version, Community Music School of Santa Cruz — a nonprofit focused on music education — was left scrambling to find a replacement that would help them keep in touch with donors. They wanted a platform that was powerful and intuitive — without having to pay any platform or transaction fees.
That's where Zeffy comes in.
The 100% fee-free fundraising platform for nonprofits, Zeffy was the perfect tool: the platform let them conduct all of their fundraising activities, including email marketing, without having to pay a cent. They were able to track donations, sell tickets, and keep in touch with supporters all in one place.
The result? The Community Music School of Santa Cruz saved over $2,000.00 in fees.
“I love the ability to quickly email people who've attended any one of our past events—it's simple and the “from” line in the customer's email is our name, so there's no confusion. I also appreciate the ability to embed the donation form or ticketing form into our website—it gives us a professional look. Finally, I couldn't ask for better customer service. My questions are always responded to promptly, and the team always seems to welcome suggestions for future improvements.” - Susan Willats, The Community Music School of Santa Cruz
Here are the best donor management software for nonprofits (with free option). Make managing your members database a breeze!
A how-to guide for nonprofits on writing emails with ChatGPT. Donor thank you emails, fundraising event emails, newsletters, just make sure to read them over.
Compare 6 free CRM (donor management software) by features and learn what “free” really means. Choose the best one among Zeffy, Givebutter and more.