Item: Constant Contact
Rating: 8
Author: Emily Westergaard

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Constant Contact to send regular email communications with donors and other interested parties. Constant Contact integrates fully with our donor management software, which makes it significantly easier to keep email addresses updated and manage communication preferences from donors.

Constant Contact also provides a way to evaluate the success of our communications by tracking what features, articles, and info the recipients interact with.

Pros and Cons

Integrates with donor management software
Tracks information on recipient engagement
Easy to create well designed emails
Provides lots of templates to customize

Pricier than other options that don't have the integration of Constant Contact
Creating an email can take longer than simply sending from an email provider
Additional users are an extra charge

Return on Investment

Has helped us improve our communication to donors and stakeholders
Has helped us track communications sent for future reference
Helps us track what information is most relevant to donors

Alternatives Considered

Constant Contact is very customizable and user friendly. It offers a bit more graphic design functionality than other software I've used, and is still easy to learn for those less technologically inclined.

My critique of Constant Contact is the billing structure which offers a monthly rate and additional add-ons that increase that monthly rate.

Key Insights

Do you think Constant Contact delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Constant Contact's feature set?

Yes

Did Constant Contact live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Constant Contact go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Constant Contact again?

Yes

Other Software Used

DonorPerfect, QuickBooks Online, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

Likelihood to Recommend

If you have a donor/client database that is used to manage contact information, Constant Contact's integration is essential. Any updated or changed emails in the database will automatically update in Constant Contact. Any unsubscribes from Constant Contact will cascade back to the database. Additionally, the integration creates a record in the database indicating that a recipient has received a specific email, and will link back to that email in Constant Contact for future reference.

My only complaint about Constant Contact is the price for nonprofits, which is significantly higher than other email management systems.

Constant Contact is a decent choice for small businesses

Overall Satisfaction with Constant Contact