Nonprofits thrive on connection - every donor, volunteer, and beneficiary represents a vital link in your mission's chain. Email marketing isn't just another strategy—it's your direct line to these crucial supporters.
With a number of software options, finding the right fit can seem overwhelming. That's where we come in. We've sifted through the noise to bring you the top 14 email marketing tools tailored for nonprofits in 2024.
Whether you're aiming to boost fundraising, nurture relationships, or amplify your message, this guide will help you pick the perfect platform to engage and reach your supporters.
14 best email marketing tools for nonprofits
- Zeffy
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud
- MailerLite
- Mailchimp
- HubSpot
- Constant Contact
- Campaign Monitor
- AWeber
- ActiveCampaign
- GetResponse
- Brevo
- Flodesk
- Benchmark Email
- Emma
Why should nonprofits use email marketing software?
Email marketing software is a game-changer for nonprofits, offering a cost-effective way to engage supporters and drive mission impact. Here's why it's essential:
- Personalized communication: Segment your audience and tailor messages to specific donor groups, increasing relevance and engagement
- Automation: Save time with automated workflows for welcome series, donation thank-yous, and event reminders
- Data-driven decisions: Gain insights into open rates, click-throughs, and conversions to refine your strategy
- Cost-effectiveness: Reach a wide audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods
- Increased donations: Send targeted appeals and showcase impact stories to encourage giving
- Volunteer engagement: Keep volunteers informed and engaged with regular updates and opportunities
- Brand consistency: Maintain a professional look with customizable templates that align with your nonprofit's branding
By leveraging email marketing software, nonprofits can build stronger relationships, streamline operations, and ultimately, make a greater impact in their communities.
Overview of the 14 best email marketing platforms for nonprofits
*Pricing is based on the number of email contacts that you require
**Most nonprofit discounts are available only on the Enterprise plan
1. Zeffy: 100% free fundraising software with integrated email marketing features
Zeffy is a 100% free comprehensive fundraising platform with built-in email marketing functionality with personalization, automation, and targeting capabilities.
With our integrated donor management system, you can segment and filter your contacts to create custom email lists and targeted campaigns. You access insights such as click-throughs, open rates, and unsubscribers.
Best features
- Send unlimited emails
- Send pre-filled forms
- Automated reminder emails
- Email testing
- Integrated donor management and fundraising functionality
Pricing
100% free
2. Salesforce Marketing Cloud: An all-in-one digital marketing platform
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an all-in-one digital marketing platform that offers strong email marketing capabilities. With its simple-to-use templates and custom interactive element, build emails effortlessly. Adjust content for each recipient using insights from their preferences and feedback.
Optimize key metrics like send time, open rates, and click-through rates with purpose-built AI functionality.
Best features
- Robust segmentation and personalization
- AI-powered automation
- Mobile-optimized emails
- A/B testing
- Integration with Salesforce CRM
Pricing
While Salesforce for nonprofits offers ten free licenses if they are accepted into the Power of Us Program, it is still an expensive option. Once your free licenses are used, you will have to pay
- Marketing Cloud Engagement: $1,250/month/org
- Marketing Cloud Account Engagement: $1,250/month/org
- Marketing Cloud Growth Edition: $1,500/month/org
3. MailerLite: Ideal choice for advanced segmentation capability
MailerLite has robust email marketing functionality, including landing pages, pre-designed templates, signup forms, and a drag-and-drop email builder. Its standout feature is that it lets you segment email lists according to a wide range of criteria based on previous engagement, age, location, event attendance, and more.
You can group your subscribers based on their interactions and set up automated email sequences to streamline outreach efforts.
Best features
- Visual automation builder
- Customizable surveys and signup forms
- Send targeted campaigns
- Automate workflows
- Reporting dashboard
Pricing
Besides the free version for up to 3,000 emails per month, there are three paid plans:
- Starter: $35/month (up to 50,000 emails)
- Professional: $110/month (up to 50,000 emails)
- Enterprise: Upon request
Nonprofits have access to a 30% discount
4. Mailchimp: Good for small to medium size organizations
Mailchimp helps engage supporters with the right message at the right time without any manual intervention. It comes with 50+ behavior-based triggers to personalize and automate your email campaigns.
Mailchimp's Intuit Assist AI allows you to create fully-built emails - all you need to do is review, edit, and publish. With a click map, get a visual demonstration of how users interact with links in your campaigns.
Best features
- Multiple list segmentation options
- Email preview tool
- Pre-built autoresponder templates
- AI assistant for email copywriting
- Delivery by recipient’s time zone
Pricing
Mailchimp comes with a free plan for up to 1,000 emails, and paid plans start at:
- Essential: $9/month (for 500 contacts)
- Standard: $13/month (for 500 contacts)
- Premium: $136/month (10,000 contacts)
Nonprofits can get a 15% discount.
5. HubSpot: Suitable for bigger organizations
HubSpot offers a comprehensive set of features tailored to larger organizations. With built-in CRM functionality, you can use donor details like contact name, lifecycle stage, and more to create the most relevant email content.
Use automation to trigger specific follow-up actions based on engagement, such as link clicks, open rates, and more. HubSpot supports extensive integrations, empowering organizations to unify their marketing efforts across various platforms.
Best features
- AI-generated subject lines and email copy
- Extensive segmentation
- Ready-made templates, including goal-based
- Omnichannel marketing automation
- Detailed reporting and analytics
Pricing
- For small teams: Starts at $15/month/user
- Marketing Hub (for enterprises): $890/month
HubSpot offers a 40% discount for nonprofits on the Marketing Hub plan.
6. Constant Contact: Ideal customer support and event management
Constant Contact is the longest-running email marketing service boasting responsive customer support. It offers one of the highest deliverability rates, ensuring that your message reaches where it's supposed to.
The email marketing platform is also useful for event promotions and allows you to send supporters invites via email and create custom landing pages for your events.
Best features
- Drag-and-drop email builder
- 3,300+ integrations (Zapier, Salesforce, Eventbrite)
- Signup forms and landing pages
- Email heat map (track most-clicked links in emails)
- Customer list management
Pricing
Constant Contact provides a 30-day free trial, and the paid plans are:
- Lite: $12/month
- Standard: $35/month
- Premium: $80/month
Constant Contact offers a 20-30% discount on the paid plans for nonprofits based on the tenure
7. Campaign Monitor: Recommended for analytics
Campaign Monitor is known for its robust analytics dashboard, which gives you an aggregate view of the overall performance of your emails, including open rates, acquisition, and engagement per campaign. You have access to real-time results to help improve your strategy and increase your email ROI.
With Campaign Monitor, you get pre-send views of the campaign's deliverability through spam testing and previews across email service providers and devices.
Best features
- Professionally-designed email templates
- Time zone sending
- Link review tool
- Responsive email templates
- Personalized customer journeys
Pricing
Campaign Monitor has a free limited plan, and paid plans are:
- Lite: $12/month (Send up to 2,500 emails)
- Essentials: $29/month (unlimited)
- Premier: $159/month (unlimited)
Nonprofits get 15% discounts on the paid plans
8. AWeber: Beginner-friendly email marketing tool
AWeber is a user-friendly email marketing platform that is simple to navigate, even for inexperienced users. You can drag and drop different elements, such as images, buttons, texts, and links, into your email template, saving time.
With its keyboard shortcut feature, you can effectively create your message with fewer clicks. The tool has a link review feature that prevents you from sending any broken or outdated hyperlinks. AWeber mobile editor allows you to craft, update, and check emails on the go.
Best features
- AI writing assistant
- Email testing across devices
- Pre-built email marketing templates
- Email and behavioral automation
- Various integrations with popular software
Pricing
The free plan has 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails, and the paid plans are:
- Lite: $12/month
- Plus: $20/month
- Unlimited: $899/month
Qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits can get a discount of 25%.
9. ActiveCampaign: Offers advanced automation options
ActiveCampaign is known for its advanced automation functionality, as you can easily create a custom workflow, or if you're short on time, pick from the 900+ automation templates. These include a welcome series to introduce new donors to your work, drip campaigns for nurturing donor relations, follow-ups and reminders for events, and more.
The email marketing tool comes with predictive and conditional content features. This ability uses machine learning algorithms to recommend email content for every contact best suited to them, boosting engagement and conversions.
Best features
- Sort, send, and automate with tags
- Ready-made templates
- Visual automation builder with over 400 templates
- Conditional content display
- Smart email list segmentation
Pricing
A 14-day free trial with paid plans starting at:
- Starter: $15/month
- Plus: $49/month
- Pro: $79/month
- Enterprise: $145/month
ActiveCampaign offers 20% off to nonprofits
10. GetResponse: Great A/B testing features
GetResponse has remarkable A/B testing functionality that is unlike any other, allowing you to test any aspect of your emails. While many email marketing tools limit your testing to the subject line and CTAs, GetResponse stands out as it allows you to create different variations of the same campaign. You can assess various layouts or visuals to boost open and click-through rates.
Best features
- AI email template generator
- Popups and landing pages
- Powerful email automation
- SMS marketing and sales funnel
- Web push notifications
Pricing
A 30-day free trial with pricing plans starting at:
- Email marketing plan: $15.56/month
- Marketing automation: $48.33/month
- E-commerce marketing: $97.49/month
Nonprofits can secure a 50% discount through TechSoup
11. Brevo: Budget-friendly email and SMS marketing
Formerly known as Sendinblue, Brevo is a practical solution for organizations seeking to boost their communication with minimal initial investment. It comes with a clean and user-friendly interface that makes creating sequences for emails and SMS easy.
You can schedule messages for a specific time or let Brevo automatically send them at the optimal date and time for each recipient.
Best features
- Advanced segmentation and automation
- SMS and Whatsapp campaigns
- In-built CRM systems
- Drag and drop email builder
- Popups and landing pages
Pricing
A free plan with 300 emails/day and paid plans starting at:
- Starter: $9/month
- Business: $18/month
- Enterprise: Custom price
Nonprofits get a 15% discount
12. Flodesk: Best for professionally designed templates
Flodesk has a great collection of professionally designed templates. These are ideal for nonprofits without dedicated design resources, allowing you to create visually engaging and branded emails within seconds.
Flodesk offers enhanced personalization in your email campaigns, making your recipients feel like you're speaking directly with them. It integrates with other nonprofit tech tools and social media channels like Zapier, Facebook, and Instagram, streamlining your email marketing efforts.
Best features
- Send unlimited emails regardless of the subscriber list
- Create automated workflows
- Audience segmentation based on interests, behavior, and engagement levels
- Track email performance
- Create sign-up forms
Pricing
Flodesk offers a 30-day free plan with unlimited subscribers. Their paid plan offers a flat rate for an unlimited number of contacts:
- Email marketing: $38/month
13. Benchmark Email: Good for autoresponder templates
Benchmark Email comes with pre-built autoresponder email templates and even allows you to build your own. It breaks down autoresponder implementation into manageable steps to quickly create complex email sequences, freeing up time to focus on high-level operational tasks.
You can set up welcome emails, donation acknowledgment sequences, and more to better engage your supporters.
Best features
- Surveys and polls
- A/B email testing
- Integration with popular tools like Salesforce and WordPress
- Reporting and optimization
- Live chat, email, and phone support in different languages
Pricing
A free plan is available for 500 contacts and 3,500 emails monthly, while paid plans start at:
- Pro: $13/month for 500 contacts and 7,500 emails monthly
- Enterprise: On contact
Benchmark Email offers a 25% discount to registered nonprofits
14. Emma: Best for designing branded emails
Emma offers a versatile email marketing platform with a wide range of layout and editing options. Its responsive design feature ensures emails and signup forms display properly across desktop and mobile devices.
Emma's brand consistency tool allows you to create templates with locked styles for fonts, headings, and colors. These templates can be shared across your organization, enabling team members to customize content while adhering to your nonprofit's visual identity.
Best features
- Drip campaigns
- Event-triggered actions
- Mobile-design mode
- Comprehensive insight dashboard
- Automation and analytics
Pricing
Emma does not have a free plan, and its paid plans are:
- Emma Lite: $99/month with 10,000 contacts
- Emma Essentials: $159/month with 10,000 contacts
- Emma for Teams: $249/month with 10,000 contacts
- Emma Enterprise: Custom pricing
What should you look for in an email marketing tool for nonprofits?
List segmentation
List segmentation is crucial for targeted, effective email campaigns. It allows you to:
- Group contacts based on donor status, engagement level, or interests
- Tailor messages to specific audience segments
- Improve email relevance and engagement rates
- Personalize content for different supporter groups
- Optimize campaign performance through targeted messaging
Effective segmentation balances specificity with practicality. Too many segments can lead to fragmented audiences, while too few may result in generic messaging. Aim for segments that meaningfully impact your communication strategy.
Email automation
An email platform with automated workflows brings efficiency to your operations. They enable you to send targeted messages to potential donors based on specific donor actions or triggers, such as welcome emails for new subscribers, without manual intervention.
By delivering relevant, timely content automatically, nonprofits can maintain donor engagement while saving time and resources. You have full control over email frequency and timing, ensuring effective communication without overwhelming recipients.
Some more examples of automated workflows that you should look for in email software include:
- Donor appreciation series
- Event registration and follow-up
- Membership renewal
- Volunteer sign-up and engagement
Templates and drag and drop editor
When choosing email marketing software, look for a platform that offers a diverse library of customizable, nonprofit-specific templates. These should be mobile-responsive to ensure optimal viewing on all devices.
An intuitive drag-and-drop editor is essential for easy customization, allowing you to quickly adapt templates to match your nonprofit's branding. The ability to save and reuse custom templates can significantly streamline your email creation process. These features save time and ensure professional-looking emails that maintain brand consistency across all your campaigns.
A/B testing and reporting
Measuring the results from your email campaigns is essential to make informed marketing decisions.
When selecting an email marketing tool, prioritize platforms with an easy-to-understand and comprehensive analytics dashboard. Your software should allow you to track key important metrics like open rates, click-through rates, spam reports, and bounce rates.
Look for software that also includes A/B testing capabilities, allowing you to compare different email versions. This data-driven approach to email marketing allows you to continuously improve your campaigns to ensure the messages resonate with your target donors.
Email deliverability
High deliverability rates are crucial to ensure your emails reach supporters' inboxes rather than getting lost in spam folders.
Prioritize software that offers robust email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Look for platforms with built-in reputation management tools and list cleaning features to remove invalid addresses.
Spam testing capabilities can help you identify potential issues before sending. Software that provides best practice guidelines for content creation can further improve your deliverability. These features work together to protect your sender reputation and maximize the chances of your messages being seen by your intended audience.
Integrations
Choose a tool that integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack. A key integration is with your nonprofit CRM, allowing for comprehensive donor data management and advanced segmentation.
Connections with donation platforms enable automated follow-ups, while integration with event management software streamlines communications around your activities. Look for platforms that also connect with social media and analytics tools for multi-channel engagement and in-depth performance tracking.
Effective integrations enhance data flow across your systems, providing a holistic view of supporter interactions and enabling more targeted email campaigns.
Final thoughts on choosing the best email marketing software for nonprofits
Selecting the right email marketing platform can significantly enhance your nonprofit's communication strategy. Prioritize solutions that offer robust segmentation, user-friendly email templates, and strong deliverability rates.
Remember, email marketing is just one part of your overall engagement strategy. Consider how it integrates with your other systems, particularly your donor management and fundraising tools.
Zeffy offers a 100% comprehensive solution that combines these functionalities. With our donor management software, you can send emails to your community for free.
