Mailchimp VS Substack

Mailchimp and Substack help you send emails and newsletters, but they charge fees that eat into your fundraising budget. Zeffy gives you email tools plus donation forms, event ticketing, and donor management — all with zero fees so every dollar stays with your mission.

Zeffy is trusted by 100,000+ nonprofits

Substack

Mailchimp VS Substack

Mailchimp VS Substack: What nonprofits should know before choosing.

Email Marketing Features

Easy Email Campaign Builder (Drag & Drop)

Ready-to-Use Newsletter Templates

Contact List Management

Email Personalization (First Name, etc.)

Email Automation (One-off & Follow-ups)

A/B Testing

Advanced Segmentation

Email Open & Click Tracking (Analytics)

Drip Campaigns

Mobile-Optimized Emails

Sign-Up Forms for Email Collection

Pricing

N/A.

Monthly fees plus email limits

10%.

10% platform cut plus card fees

Processing fees

2%.

transaction fee + Stripe processing fees

2.9% + $0.30.

per transaction + 0.7% billing fee for recurring payments (0.5% for creators who enabled payments before July 2024, until June 30, 2025)

Platform fees

N/A.

No separate platform fees - platform access is included in monthly plan fees

10%.

of all paid subscription revenue

Monthly fees

$0.

Free plan — 500 contacts, 1,000 emails/month

$0.

No monthly fees for creators (free to publish)

Value for money

4.4.

450+ reviews on Capterra. All-in-one fundraising, zero fees, unbeatable value.

N/A.

No pricing information available

Features

4/5.

Powerful email marketing, but needs extra tools for fundraising and donations.

N/A.

Great for newsletters, but lacks fundraising, ticketing, and donor management features.

Donations

No donation forms or payment processing. Mailchimp focuses on email marketing, not fundraising transactions.

Substack doesn't offer donation tools. You'd need to direct supporters to external platforms and manually track contributions.

Ticketing

No event ticketing system. Mailchimp can promote your events via email but can't sell or manage tickets.

No ticketing features available. You'd have to promote events through newsletters and use separate ticketing platforms.

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

No peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. You can send emails about fundraising but can't create supporter-led campaigns.

No peer-to-peer fundraising tools. Supporters can't easily create their own fundraising campaigns for your cause.

Auctions

Mailchimp doesn't offer auction tools. You'll need a separate platform to run silent auctions or live bidding events.

Substack doesn't support auction functionality. You'd need separate auction software and manual bidder communication.

Raffles

No raffle management tools. You'll handle ticket sales and winner selection through other platforms or manual processes.

Substack lacks raffle functionality. You'd need third-party tools and manual winner selection processes.

Online store

Basic e-commerce through Mailchimp Stores, but limited nonprofit-specific features and higher transaction fees.

No built-in store capabilities. You'd have to link to external e-commerce platforms and manage inventory separately.

Memberships

Mailchimp offers basic audience segmentation and tagging, but lacks dedicated membership management tools for nonprofits

Substack offers paid subscriptions and community features, but lacks nonprofit-specific membership tools like volunteer tracking or board management that nonprofits need.

Donor Management/CRM

Basic contact management and segmentation, but missing nonprofit-specific donor tracking and relationship tools

No donor management or CRM capabilities. Substack focuses on subscriber relationships, not donor cultivation, stewardship, or fundraising tracking.

Emails & Newsletter

Strong email marketing platform with templates, automation, and analytics designed for businesses and marketers

Strong newsletter platform with writing tools, scheduling, and subscriber management. Built for content creators rather than nonprofit communication needs.

Payment Processing

No built-in payment processing - requires third-party integrations like Stripe or PayPal with additional fees

Payment methods

Email marketing only — no payment processing

Newsletter subscriptions only — no donation tools

Credit Card Payments

Not supported - Mailchimp is designed for email marketing, not for receiving payments

Limited - Only supports subscription payments for paid newsletters, not general donations

Apple Pay & Google Pay

Not supported - Mailchimp is designed for email marketing, not for receiving payments

Not supported - No mobile wallet integration available

ACH / Bank Transfers

Not supported - Mailchimp is designed for email marketing, not for receiving payments

Not supported - Substack focuses on newsletter subscriptions, not direct payment processing

Tap to Pay App

Not supported - Mailchimp is designed for email marketing, not for receiving payments

Not supported - No in-person payment capabilities

Customer Support

4.0/5.

N/A.

Unlimited Support

Mailchimp limits support based on plan tier - higher plans get priority support

Substack offers limited support primarily through email and help documentation

Phone Support / Office Hours

Mailchimp offers phone support only for premium and higher-tier plans

Substack does not offer phone support or scheduled office hours for users

Webinars

Mailchimp offers regular training webinars and educational sessions for users

Substack offers occasional creator workshops and community events for publishers

Help Center

Mailchimp has an extensive help center with guides and tutorials

Substack maintains a basic help center with articles and FAQs for common questions

Mailchimp provides live chat support during business hours for paid plans

Substack does not provide live chat support for users

Nonprofit-Focused Support Team

Support access depends on plan — priority help and phone calls for top-tier users only

Platform designed for individual creators, not nonprofits — email-only support with no phone help

Zeffy is 100% free, always.

Calculate savings

How is Zeffy free?

Why Zeffy over Mailchimp and Substack?

Why choose Zeffy over Mailchimp and Substack if you're a nonprofit

💸

Keep 100% of your donations

Mailchimp and Substack charge monthly fees plus transaction cuts. Zeffy charges zero fees, so every dollar raised goes directly to your mission.

🧰

All your fundraising tools in one place

Skip the patchwork of PayPal, Eventbrite, and spreadsheets. Zeffy handles donations, events, raffles, and donor management without the platform juggling.

🤝

Built for real nonprofit teams

While Mailchimp focuses on businesses and Substack serves publishers, Zeffy understands small nonprofits need simple tools that work on the first try.

Frequently asked questions

Why choose Zeffy over Mailchimp for nonprofit email campaigns?

Zeffy combines email marketing with donation processing at zero fees, while Mailchimp charges monthly fees plus requires separate payment tools. You get newsletters and fundraising in one platform without losing money to transaction costs.

Can Zeffy handle both newsletters and donations unlike Substack?

Yes, Zeffy offers complete nonprofit tools including newsletters, donation forms, and event ticketing with zero platform fees. Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue and lacks donation capabilities, forcing you to use multiple platforms.

How does Zeffy save money compared to email marketing platforms?

Zeffy charges zero platform fees on all transactions, while competitors like Mailchimp charge monthly fees plus require costly payment integrations. Donors can leave voluntary contributions to support our platform instead of mandatory fees.

How does Zeffy's email marketing compare to Mailchimp for nonprofits?

Zeffy offers email marketing with zero platform fees, while Mailchimp charges monthly fees plus requires separate payment tools for donations. You get newsletters and fundraising in one place without losing donor money to transaction costs.

Why choose Zeffy over Substack for nonprofit newsletters?

Zeffy provides newsletters plus donation forms and event tools at zero fees. Substack takes 10% of subscription revenue and lacks donation capabilities, forcing you to juggle multiple platforms for basic nonprofit needs.

Looking for a better option?

Zeffy was built for nonprofits like yours

focus on what matters

Built for small teams with big missions.

Zeffy is the fundraising platform that cuts out the fees, clears up your tech mess, and puts your cause first — so your team, even if you're a small team wearing many hats or a one-person show, can focus on what really matters.

Start your nonprofit

ZERO-FEE

Keep 100% of every dollar.

No platform fees. No processing fees. No catch. We know it sounds too good to be true, but it's not. Every penny goes straight to your mission, while competitors take 2-3% off every donation.

Start your nonprofit

ALL-IN-ONE PLatform

Ditch the tech mess.

Stop bouncing between MailChimp, Eventbrite, and all those spreadsheets. Now you can handle donations, ticket sales, memberships, raffles, and all your donor info in one spot.

Start your nonprofit

plug-and-play

Get going, fast.

Built for teams like yours — whether you're volunteer-led or have limited staff. Set up donation forms, sell tickets, and launch campaigns without needing a tech wizard. It's super easy, and you'll be up and running in minutes.

Start your nonprofit

mobile-first

Fundraise from every device, anywhere.

From QR codes on flyers to Tap-to-Pay on a phone, Zeffy makes it easy to accept donations on the go. Mobile-optimized and offline-ready, so no donor slips through the cracks.

Start your nonprofit

No turnover

Never lose a donor to volunteer transition.

Centralize supporter relationships, automate thank-you messages, and preserve institutional knowledge when board members rotate out.

Start your nonprofit

100% free forever.

100,000+ nonprofits trust Zeffy — and keep their fees at $0.

For 7+ years, Zeffy has supported nonprofits with free, user-friendly fundraising tools.

As a startup nonprofit with only two members, and no funding (yet) we’d need something with low (or no) fees. Zeffy was a dream come true.

Masey, Loose Ends.

Read the full story

“We were incurring a ton of fees for our past fundraising platform and Zeffy has helped us receive so much more of our donations.”

Zeffy has been invaluable in helping me track our donors, sales, events, and revenue in one spot. The coolest thing about Zeffy is it really is free!

Everything about Zeffy suits us starting with (of course, NO fees) but also the ease of use and customer experience as well as their client support!!

Zeffy is very easy to use and ensures that every dollar quickly gets into our account.. A huge help to our work!

Zeffy is very simple, allows for a lot of customization and seamlessly integrates into our website. The fact that all of this is free is still wild to me.

We couldn't believe there was a free payment platform for our Girl Scout group. Zeffy took ZERO fees from us, which is huge when you run on very small amounts of money.

We were ready to sell tickets in less than 30 minutes. The reporting capabilities were better than some other paid-for sites.

Since using Zeffy, our conversion rate of donations has skyrocketed. It's an easy platform to use. Plus customer support has always been responsive and helpful!