The Mailchimp nonprofit discount is real, but it is smaller than many teams expect. Mailchimp gives verified nonprofits and charities 15% off a Marketing plan. Because Mailchimp bills by contacts, that 15% shrinks in practical terms as your donor list grows. This guide explains what the discount covers, how to apply, which contacts you pay for, and how to work out what you will actually pay at 10,000, 50,000 or 100,000 contacts.
Key takeaways
- The discount: 15% off a Mailchimp Marketing plan for verified nonprofits, as of November 2026. It is not applied retroactively, so request it before you buy.
- The real driver: Your bill follows your contact count. Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count toward your plan limit; cleaned and archived contacts do not.
- Biggest saving: Archiving inactive and unsubscribed contacts often cuts more than the discount itself.
- When to look elsewhere: If your list is large but you email it only a few times a month, a per-send or bring-your-own-sending model can cost much less.
What the Mailchimp nonprofit discount includes
According to Mailchimp's help article About the Nonprofit Discount, Mailchimp "offers a 15% discount to verified nonprofit organizations and charities." As of November 2026, these are the key terms:
- Who qualifies: Verified nonprofits and charities. US organizations add their EIN to the account first, and Mailchimp may ask for a copy of the 501(c)(3) determination letter. Organizations outside the US include a link to their website, and Mailchimp may ask for more information.
- What it applies to: Your Mailchimp Marketing plan. The help article does not say whether add-ons or transactional email are covered, so ask the billing team if you use them.
- Timing: Mailchimp states it "can't provide retroactive discounts or refunds on past purchases." Create the account, request the discount, and only then buy a paid plan.
How to request it
- Create a Mailchimp account on the Free plan and add your EIN (US) or website details.
- Go to Mailchimp's Contact page and choose Billing as the topic.
- Select Non-profit Discount Requests (US) or (Int'l).
- Open the contact form and submit your request. Billing may reply asking for documents.
- Upgrade to a paid plan only after the discount is confirmed on your account.
How contact-based pricing scales
Mailchimp's paid plans are priced by contact tier. As of November 2026, the Mailchimp pricing page lists these starting prices, each for the smallest tier:
| Plan | Starting price | Monthly send limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 500/month, 250/day | Up to 250 contacts; sending pauses at the limit |
| Essentials | From $13/month | 10x your contact tier | 3 seats; flows up to 4 steps; overages billed |
| Standard | From $20/month | 12x your contact tier | Fuller automation and segmentation |
| Premium | From $350/month (12-month 10K+ offer) | 15x your contact tier | Large lists can require a sales call |
Those starting prices cover only the smallest contact tier. Each time your audience crosses into the next tier, such as 10,001 to 15,000, the monthly price steps up. Mailchimp shows the exact figure for your tier in its pricing calculator, and for very large lists it asks you to call sales. We have not listed tier prices here because Mailchimp does not publish them as a fixed table and they change. Check the calculator on the day you budget.
Overages
Mailchimp's plan comparison states that on Essentials and above, "Overages apply if contact or email send limit is exceeded." A spring appeal that pulls in a batch of new event sign-ups can push you into a higher tier and an overage charge before anyone notices.
What counts as a contact (and what doesn't)
This is where many development teams overpay. Mailchimp's About Your Contacts article lists which statuses count toward your monthly contact limit:
| Contact status | Counts toward limit? |
|---|---|
| Subscribed | Yes |
| Unsubscribed | Yes |
| Non-subscribed (e.g. imported donors or event attendees who never opted in to marketing) | Yes |
| Cleaned (hard-bounced) | No |
| Archived | No |
| Pending / deleted | No |
So if you sync every donor from your CRM, including lapsed donors who never opted in and everyone who unsubscribed over the years, you pay for people you cannot email. Mailchimp notes that legacy plans may follow different rules, so check your own account.
Worked cost examples as your donor list grows
Because tier prices are only shown in Mailchimp's calculator, use this worksheet with the number you see there. "P" is the listed monthly price for your tier and plan.
| Billable contacts | Mailchimp list price | With 15% nonprofit discount | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | P from calculator | P × 0.85 | P × 0.85 × 12 |
| 50,000 | P from calculator | P × 0.85 | P × 0.85 × 12 |
| 100,000+ | Calculator or sales quote | Quote × 0.85 | Quote × 0.85 × 12 |
Two things stand out when you run your own numbers. First, the discount is a percentage, so the dollar saving grows with your list, but so does the bill it is applied to. Second, the biggest lever is usually the contact count itself. Archiving 15,000 unsubscribed and long-inactive contacts can drop you several tiers, which often saves more than the 15%.
A comparison point: bring-your-own sending
For contrast, here is what the same list sizes cost on eMailBase, where you pay a software subscription and pay email delivery directly to Amazon SES. SES lists $0.10 per 1,000 outbound emails on à la carte pricing as of November 2026 on the AWS SES pricing page (new accounts start on the $0.16 Essentials plan unless you switch), with extra charges for attachment data and optional dedicated IPs. These examples assume four sends to the full list per month, monthly billing and à la carte SES (on Essentials, delivery would be $6.40, $32 and $96):
| Contacts | eMailBase plan | Emails/month | SES delivery | Approx. total/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | Growth $9.99 | 40,000 | $4.00 | About $14 |
| 50,000 | Pro $19.99 | 200,000 | $20.00 | About $40 |
| 150,000 | Business $34.99 | 600,000 | $60.00 | About $95 |
That is not a like-for-like comparison. Mailchimp includes sending infrastructure, a large template library and many integrations. With a BYO tool you set up a sending account and DNS records yourself. eMailBase also has no nonprofit discount, though billing every 6 months saves 20% and annual billing saves 35%.
Ways to lower your Mailchimp bill
- Request the nonprofit discount before upgrading. It cannot be applied to past purchases.
- Archive unsubscribed contacts. They count toward your limit and you cannot email them. Archiving keeps their history while removing them from billing.
- Stop syncing non-subscribed contacts. If your CRM integration pushes every donor, filter the sync to people who opted in to email.
- Run a re-engagement campaign, then archive. Contacts with no opens or clicks in 12 months or more cost money and can hurt deliverability. Our guide to donor retention emails includes re-engagement ideas.
- Use one audience with tags instead of several audiences. A person in two audiences counts twice.
- Choose the lowest plan you really use. If you mostly send a monthly newsletter and an appeal, you may not need Standard's features.
- Consider prepaying only if Mailchimp offers a discount for it on your account, and only after cleanup so you are not locked into a tier you did not need.
When to consider alternatives to the Mailchimp nonprofit discount
Mailchimp remains a good fit if your team values an all-in-one tool, uses its integrations, and has a list size where the bill is comfortable. Look at alternatives when:
- Your list is large but you send infrequently, so you pay for contacts far more than for activity.
- You need deeper automation than your current plan allows, and the next plan up is a big jump.
- Another vendor's nonprofit offer is larger. MailerLite, for example, states that nonprofits get 30% off its paid plans on its pricing page (as of November 2026).
- You have a technical volunteer or agency who can set up a sending provider, which makes a BYO email setup realistic.
Our pillar guide to the best Mailchimp alternatives for nonprofits compares the main options side by side, and the cheapest email marketing for nonprofits article models costs at larger list sizes. If you decide to switch, see how to migrate your donor list from Mailchimp.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mailchimp offer a nonprofit discount?
Yes. As of November 2026, Mailchimp offers 15% off its Marketing plans to verified nonprofits and charities. You request it through the Billing section of Mailchimp's Contact page.
Can I get the Mailchimp nonprofit discount on a plan I already paid for?
No. Mailchimp says it cannot provide retroactive discounts or refunds on past purchases. Request the discount before you buy, or as soon as possible so future invoices are discounted.
Do unsubscribed contacts count toward my Mailchimp bill?
Yes. Unsubscribed and non-subscribed contacts count toward your plan's contact limit. Cleaned and archived contacts do not, so archiving is the usual way to reduce billable contacts.
Is the discount available outside the United States?
Yes. International nonprofits submit a request with a link to their website, and Mailchimp may ask for more documentation.
Is 15% off Mailchimp the cheapest option for a large list?
Not always. With a large list and a few sends per month, per-send pricing or software plus your own sending provider can cost much less. You trade some convenience for more setup work.
The Mailchimp nonprofit discount is worth claiming, but it will not change the shape of your bill: you pay for contacts, and the bill rises with every tier you cross. Request the discount before you upgrade, archive the contacts you are paying for but cannot email, and check the pricing calculator against your real list size each year. If the numbers still do not work as your donor list grows, compare a model that charges for sending rather than storing contacts.
