Come for the free version, stay for the scalability

Mailchimp is a great solution for keeping in touch with our donors and supporters by email. We use Mailchimp to manage our mailing list database, and we also use it to send out quarterly newsletters, concert announcements, fundraiser asks, and other email communications we may need to share with our audiences. As the executive director, I am able to access our Mailchimp account, and I also manage another volunteer who is ultimately responsible for sending out the quarterly newsletters.

We didn't use any other tools for what we're using Mailchimp for previously, so I can't compare another set of tools. That being said, I do appreciate that Mailchimp is powerful enough to check several needs off our list in one free app. I also like that Mailchimp offers integrations for automating email campaigns as that will be even more useful to us in the future as we grow.

Mailchimp has been great for our basic needs. As our organization is growing, we are realizing that we aren't using Mailchimp as effectively as we could, given the power of the tool. We're planning to grow our email marketing and donation efforts this year, so I'm glad that we are using a tool that will be able to grow with us. One of the lessons here is that choosing a platform that is flexible and can fit a wide range of needs is important when starting out as an organization. If I had chosen a different tool that didn't scale as nicely or wasn't as flexible with what it can offer, we might be doing some uncomfortable shifting (which is especially challenging in an organization that relies on volunteers!).