Free email marketing for nonprofits sounds like the obvious choice when every dollar should go to the mission. Free plans do work for very small lists. But each one has a ceiling: a contact cap, a sending cap, vendor branding in your emails, or missing automation. This guide sets out what the main free plans include as of November 2026, what Google Workspace for Nonprofits can and cannot do for bulk email, and how to tell when free has started costing you more than a paid tool would.
Key takeaways
- Free plans are small: Mailchimp Free and MailerLite Free each cap you at 250 contacts or subscribers as of November 2026. Brevo Free caps sending at 300 emails per day.
- Branding stays: Mailchimp and MailerLite free plans keep the vendor's badge or logo in your emails.
- Automation is thin: Welcome series and donor journeys are limited or missing on free tiers.
- Gmail is not an email marketing tool: Google Workspace for Nonprofits is free, but Gmail sending limits and missing unsubscribe handling make it unsuitable for newsletters.
Free email marketing for nonprofits: plans compared
All figures below come from each vendor's official pricing or plan pages, checked in November 2026. Free plans change often, so confirm before you commit.
| Plan | Contact limit | Sending limit | Branding | Automation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp Free | 250 contacts | 500 per month, 250 per day | Branding removal not included; referral badge required | Marketing automation flows not included |
| MailerLite Free | 250 subscribers | 2,500 emails per month | MailerLite logo removal is a paid feature | 3 active automations, 5 steps each |
| Brevo Free | See Brevo's pricing page | 300 emails per day | See Brevo's plan details | See Brevo's plan details |
Two other details matter. Mailchimp Free includes 1 seat and 1 audience, and email support only for the first 30 days. When you hit a limit on Mailchimp Free, the pricing page says "sending will be paused." MailerLite Free locks campaigns and automations if you go over 250 subscribers.
What "free" really includes
Contact caps
A 250-contact cap fits a newly founded group or a single program list. It does not fit an organization with a few years of donors, volunteers and event attendees. Most nonprofits outgrow it with their first year-end appeal.
Sending caps
Daily caps shape your schedule. With 300 emails a day on Brevo Free, a 1,200-person newsletter takes four days to go out. That is awkward for time-sensitive messages like a Giving Tuesday reminder or an event update.
Vendor branding
Mailchimp Free requires its referral badge, and removing the MailerLite logo is a paid feature. It is a small thing, but in a donation appeal every element should point toward your cause, not toward a software company.
Automation gaps
Automation is where nonprofits get the most value from email: a donor welcome series, a thank-you after a first gift, a lapsed-donor reminder. Mailchimp Free does not include marketing automation flows. MailerLite Free allows three active automations with five steps, which is enough for one basic welcome series.
Support and seats
Free plans usually come with limited support and one or two users. If your development director and comms manager both need access, check seat counts.
Google for Nonprofits and Workspace: the realities
Many nonprofits already have Google Workspace through Google for Nonprofits. As of November 2026, Google lists the Google Workspace for Nonprofits edition at $0 per user per month, with discounted Business Standard and Business Plus editions. It is an excellent deal for staff email, documents and calendars. It is not a bulk email tool.
Google's Gmail sending limits include, as of November 2026:
- 2,000 messages per user per day (500 for trial accounts)
- 1,500 per day when using mail merge
- Up to 3,000 external recipients per day
Even within those limits, sending newsletters from a staff Gmail account means no unsubscribe management, no bounce handling, no campaign reports and real risk to the reputation of the address your staff use every day. Mail merge is fine for personal thank-you notes to a few dozen major donors. For anything resembling a newsletter, use a dedicated email marketing tool.
When free stops being free
Free email marketing for nonprofits starts costing money, directly or indirectly, when:
- You exceed the cap. Sending pauses or locks, often right before an appeal goes out.
- You split lists to stay under the limit. Running two free accounts or deleting donors to stay under 250 loses history and creates compliance headaches.
- Staff time grows. Manual workarounds for missing automation, such as sending each welcome email by hand, cost hours every week.
- Appeals underperform. No segmentation or testing means everyone gets the same message. See our nonprofit email marketing guide for what good segmentation looks like.
- You need branding removed for a polished major campaign.
What a low-cost paid setup looks like
Once you pass the free tier, the next step does not need to be expensive. As one example, eMailBase Starter is $4.99 per month for up to 5,000 contacts, 5 automation workflows and 1 user, with a 7-day trial and no credit card. You pay your sending provider separately. Amazon SES lists $0.10 per 1,000 emails on à la carte pricing as of November 2026 on its pricing page (new accounts start on the $0.16 Essentials plan unless you switch), so 5,000 contacts emailed four times a month is about $2 in delivery (about $3.20 on Essentials). The catch is setup: you need a sending provider account and DNS records. If nobody on your team can do that, a paid all-in-one plan with a nonprofit discount may be the better step. MailerLite lists 30% off for nonprofits and Mailchimp 15%, as of November 2026.
| If you are... | Good fit |
|---|---|
| Under 250 contacts, sending monthly | A free plan from Mailchimp or MailerLite |
| Over 250 contacts, sending a few times a month, no technical help | Brevo Free (if 300/day works) or a nonprofit-discounted paid plan from MailerLite or Mailchimp |
| Over 1,000 contacts with a technical volunteer | Low-cost BYO, such as eMailBase Starter with Amazon SES |
| Writing personal notes to a handful of major donors | Gmail or Workspace, sent individually |
For a full comparison of paid options, start with our guide to the best Mailchimp alternatives for nonprofits, then see the cheapest email marketing for nonprofits with large lists.
Frequently asked questions
Is there truly free email marketing for nonprofits?
Yes, for small lists. Mailchimp and MailerLite both offer free plans for up to 250 contacts or subscribers, and Brevo offers a free plan with 300 emails per day, as of November 2026. Larger lists need a paid plan.
Does Mailchimp have a free plan for nonprofits?
Mailchimp's Free plan is open to everyone, not just nonprofits, and covers up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month. Verified nonprofits can get 15% off paid Marketing plans.
Can we send our newsletter from Google Workspace for Nonprofits?
Not well. Gmail allows 2,000 messages per user per day and has no unsubscribe or bounce management for bulk mail. Use Workspace for staff email and a dedicated tool for newsletters.
Do free plans include automation?
Limited. Mailchimp Free does not include marketing automation flows. MailerLite Free includes three active automations with five steps each.
What happens if we go over a free plan's limit?
Usually sending stops. Mailchimp pauses sending on the Free plan, and MailerLite locks campaigns and automations until you reduce your list or upgrade.
Free email marketing for nonprofits is a good starting point, not a long-term plan. Use a free tier while your list is small, keep consent records and tags clean so you can move easily later, and keep staff Gmail for personal notes. When you hit the contact cap, need a real welcome series or want your own branding, compare the cost of upgrading with the time you are losing to workarounds. A low-cost paid tool usually wins sooner than expected.
