Looking for a way to send out email in bulk? You might be able to get away with a tool like Outlook or Mailman if you have a very small list, or a free list management tool like Google Groups or Topica’s service if you don’t need the list to look very professional. But likely, you want a way to send out emails to dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people that is easy to setup, trouble-free, and sends good-looking emails to your constituents. For these purposes, a hosted bulk emailing service is a great choice. These services typically allow you to manage your list, create emails, and view reports through a web-based interface, as well as take subscriptions through your website. Which emailing service should you use? We asked seven nonprofit technology experts which they would recommend.
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Campaign Monitor
in 7 toolboxes
add to my toolboxIntended for web designers who can build their own HTML emails, CampaignMonitor doesn’t provide any template options, but offers good custom fields and reporting functionality as well as solid deliverability. At $5 per email campaign, plus $0.01 per emai
tagged: blasting, campaign, campaigning, client-tracking, eadvocacy, email, newsletter, politics, rendering, testing -
Constant Contact
in 15 toolboxes
add to my toolboxA commonly used tool in both the business and nonprofit worlds, ConstantContact provides solid templates, segmenting, and reporting features. The pricing scheme is friendly to small lists: $15/month for under 500 subscribers, $30/month for under 2500, and so on up to $150/month for up to 25,000 subscribers. However, several people mentioned trouble with spam filters when using ConstantContact.
tagged: announcements, communications, email, hosted, marketing, newsletters, smallbusiness, webbased -
EmailNow
in 3 toolboxes
add to my toolboxA good basic service, with solid deliverability and reports. If you want to send formatted newsletters, you must create them in a different tool and paste the HTML in. At $29.95/ month for 10,000 emails and $1 or less for every 1000 thereafter, Groundspring is affordably priced for mid-sized llists, and becomes a great deal for bigger ones. EmailNow is owned by Network for Good, which is a nonprofit itself and is committed to the nonprofit sector.
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Emma
in 4 toolboxes
add to my toolboxEmma is a good solution for those who want to send good looking formatted emails without messing around with HTML. You can install a custom template (designed by you, a consultant, or by Emma themselves) and then easily change the text and images for each newsletter. It has solid reporting tools. It’s $30/month for up to 1000 emails, $45/month for up to 2500, and so on through a number of levels, reaching $600/month for 100,000 emails.
tagged: blast, blaster, communication, design, email, list, mail, mailing, marketing, mass-email, newsletter -
GraphicMail
in 3 toolboxes
add to my toolboxGraphicMail offers 5000 emails (in total) free to nonprofits (notable branding for GraphicMail is included in your emails in this free version; the branding can be removed for additional cost). Additional emails are about half a cent per email. The tool has solid editing and reporting tools, including a HTML editor that allows you to create your own templates.
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NPOGroups
in 27 toolboxes
add to my toolboxNPOGroups has perhaps more in common with tools like Yahoo Groups than the other services in this toolbox – it provides basic discussion group or mass emailing services. It does not, however, show ads on your emails like Yahoo Groups, and offers a bit more control over the list. It doesn’t easily support HTML formatting. It is priced on a sliding scale, starting at $10/month for 2500 subscribers, and $5 per extra 5000.
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Topica
in 1 toolbox
add to my toolboxIn addition to its well known free service, Topica offers a solid paid option. The tool offers sophisticated website integration, lots of custom fields, and powerful list segmentation tools as well as the standard newsletter template and report functions. It’s $50/month for up to 5000 subscribers (ask about an additional nonprofit discount), but goes up quickly from there: the next level is $250/month for up to 25,000 subscribers.
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WhatCounts
in 2 toolboxes
add to my toolboxWhatCounts offers premium email blasting software worth considering if you have a large list and are serious about investing in your email communications: it starts at $600/month for up to 50,000 emails. Emails are sent from an IP address dedicated to your organization, which eliminates the problems of being blacklisted for other people’s emails, and they offers several different APIs to allow you to integrate your email list with other constituent databases.
tagged: appliance, ASP, blasting, blog, blogging, bulk, deliverability, email, enterprise, marketing, newsletter, publishing, sms, survey
