Welcome back to #AutomationApril! This week we'll be discussing integrating your chorus's donor management and email marketing platforms.

Why You Should Sync Your Chorus's Donor Data to Your Email Marketing Platform

1. Email marketing is an effective fundraising tool. Syncing your donor data to your email marketing platform allows you to take advantage of the opportunity to engage your donors through email and increase donations.
2. Having your donor data available in your email marketing platform allows you to segment your donors for specific fundraising campaigns or exclude them from non-relevant emails. This helps your marketing and/or development team send the most relevant emails at the right time making them much more effective.
3. Depending on the integration available, data from your email marketing platform may sync back to your donor management platform/CRM. That way, you can see how engaged your donors are via analytics such as click-through rates. Using this data, your development team can run reports for prioritizing individual follow-ups with the most engaged donors.

How to Sync Your Donor Data to Your Email Marketing Platform

So then, how do you actually sync the data? There are many ways to sync over your donor information to your email marketing platform.

Direct Integrations

Some donor management platforms/CRMs already have direct integrations with popular email marketing platforms. Direct integrations are a good option because they limit the risk of potential data loss between the two systems. Here are a few known direct integrations:

• Artful.ly & MailChimp
• Arts People & Constant Contact
• CiviCRM & Mailchimp
• DonorSnap & Constant Contact
• DonorPerfect & Constant Contact
• Kindful & MailChimp
• Kindful & Constant Contact
• Kindful & Emma
• Little Green Light & Mailchimp
• Little Green Light & Constant Contact
• Salesforce & MailChimp
• Salesforce & Vertical Response
• Salesforce & Emma

Integrations with Automation Software

Automation tools like Automate.io, IFTTT, Outfunnel, Workato, and Zapier can help integrate thousands of applications that don't offer direct integrations. (Note: Automation tools sometimes come with their own subscription fee.)

Here are a few integrations you can make using automation tools:

• SalesForce > Zapier > Constant Contact
• SalesForce > Zapier > Emma
• SalesForce > Automate.io > Constant Contact
• DonorPerfect > Apiant > Mailchimp
• DonorPerfect > Apiant > HubSpot
• DonorPerfect > Apiant > Constant Contact
• DonorPerfect > Apiant > Vertical Response
• DonorPerfect > Apiant > Emma

Third-Party Apps with Purchase

There are also third-party app integration solutions built by developers in the marketplace. These solutions cost money but, if they work, can save your Chorus Manager/Executive Director plenty of time.

• eTapestry & MailChimp via SideKick Solutions
• Blackbaud/Raiser's Edge & Mailchimp via Chimpegration
• SalesForce & Constant Contact via AppExchange

Built-In Email Marketing

Many donor management platforms do offer some type of built-in email marketing solution capable of segmenting lists of donors and sending blast emails. However, third-party email marketing services can offer more functionality and features to help market to these contacts. Whether you choose to use a built-in marketing system or a third-party is up to your organization! Either way, remember to automate, automate, automate.