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Which AI Should Power Your Emails? ChatGPT vs. Gemini vs. NotebookLM

May 6, 2026 / Email Basics, Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Choosing the right AI email marketing tool can feel as overwhelming as staring at a massive coffee shop menu. Everything looks great, but what are the real differences between ChatGPT, Gemini, and NotebookLM? These three tools are some of the most valuable AI options for DIY and nonprofit email marketers. Let’s break down the differences between them!

ChatGPT: The Creative Wordsmith

ChatGPT (by OpenAI) is the tool that started our current AI era. For many, it remains the gold standard for drafting conversational, engaging copy. It’s best for drafting email body copy, quickly generating subject line variations, and chatting through ideas.

ChatGPT also offers custom GPTs, which can be tailored to your specific nonprofit’s mission or your small business’s tone of voice, so you don’t have to re-explain it every time.

Pros:

Warm Writing Style: It often sounds the most “human” and is great at mimicking a specific brand voice.
Easy to Use: The interface is extremely simple, like a text conversation.
Strong Free Version: Free “mini” models are fast and capable for basic drafting.

Cons:

Hallucinations: ChatGPT will sometimes invent facts out of thin air. This is why it’s so important to keep a human in the loop.
Generic Tones: Without a specific prompt, ChatGPT can default to sounding a bit “salesy.”

Google Gemini: The Google Power-User

Gemini is Google’s AI email marketing tool. Its biggest strength is its ability to integrate with other Google Workspace tools and adapt to Gmail updates without manual adjustment. Gemini can easily reference info from Google Docs, Sheets, Meets, or Gmail, which makes it a great time-saver for organizations working with Google Workspace.

Pros:

Real-Time Info: Gemini is excellent at pulling in current events—perfect for adding industry news to your newsletters.
Workspace Sync: If you’re already drafting in Docs, Gemini can be a huge time-saver by updating directly in your document.
Multimodal: Gemini handles images and data analysis very smoothly, allowing for easy wireframe and design creation

Cons:

Safety Filters: Gemini has sensitive safety filters and will refuse to draft content that falls outside of them.
Cold tone: Some users find Gemini’s writing style a bit more “matter-of-fact” than ChatGPT’s creative flair.

NotebookLM: Your Personalized Research Assistant

NotebookLM has a much more specified scope compared to Gemini and ChatGPTl. Instead of searching everything on the internet, NotebookLM will only reference what you give it. This makes it very helpful for staying on-brand. You can upload past newsletters, annual reports, and webpages to NotebookLM, and use them to draft future content. You can also rest assured that the AI will not hallucinate information outside of what’s provided.

Pros:

No Hallucinations: Because NotebookLM has to cite your sources, it’s generally more accurate for niche topics.
Research-Minded: NotebookLM is built to reference, compare, and combine resources you provide. This makes it great at summarizing impact reports!
Audio Overviews: It can turn your documents into a “podcast-style” conversation to help you hear your ideas in a new way.

Cons:

Less Creative: NotebookLM better at summarizing and explaining than it is at writing from scratch, which can make it less effective for drafting copy.
Manual Setup: You have to take the time to upload your documents (PDFs, Docs, etc.) to make it useful.

Which AI tool should you choose?

Ultimately, the choice between ChatGPT, Gemini, and NotebookLM depends on your AI email marketing needs. Choose ChatGPT if you need a creative partner to help you write catchy, conversational emails. Choose Gemini if you want a tool that lives inside (and references) your Google Workspace. Choose NotebookLM if you need simple, factual emails that only draw on the information you give it.

Whichever tool you choose, remember that AI is a starting line, not a finish line. Always give your drafts a human pass and thoroughly test emails for deliverability and dark mode compatibility.

Overwhelmed? Pure Firefly is Here to Help

Writing the email is only half the battle. An experienced expert in your marketing platform is the best way to take your campaigns to the next level. Pure Firefly can help your small business or nonprofit shine with email marketing services for Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Hubspot, and more!

Contact Pure Firefly today to level up your email marketing program!

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Do’s & Dont’s: Using AI in Nonprofit Email Campaigns

October 15, 2025 / Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Using AI in nonprofit email campaigns can transform how your organization connects with supporters. AI can save time and improve engagement, but it’s not foolproof. A few simple do’s and don’ts can help you make the most of this technology and avoid its pitfalls.

Why Use AI for Email Marketing?

AI can be a powerful lever in your nonprofit email strategy. Especially for small nonprofits lacking a dedicated content team, AI helps reduce the time and cost of an effective email strategy. Even just by generating the first draft of an email, nonprofits can save hours on monthly newsletters or fundraising campaigns.

Along with its ease of use, a key benefit to AI is its data-backed creativity. Depending on the prompt used, copy can be tailored for your audience, including for specific donor segments. AI tools can also reference email marketing data to optimize your campaigns.Tools like Mailchimp’s “Write with AI” draw on years of campaign data to generate content backed by evidence.

With all of its benefits, AI can certainly be a gamechanger. But it isn’t magic – AI needs the appropriate prompt and references to deliver results. Here’s how to make it work for your organization.

Writing an AI Prompt

The quality of an AI’s output depends on a high quality prompt. Here are a few tips to build prompts for nonprofit email campaigns, with examples you can use:

Be specific & contextual: Provide specifications for your email’s content, length, goals, CTAs, and brand voice in order to get the best results.
1. Example: “Write a 200–300 word fundraising appeal email to lapsed donors (those who haven’t donated in 18 months). Tone: warm, encouraging. Focus on the impact of our free community classes. Include a CTA to donate now.
Include examples: You can paste a past email and ask for a quick re-write, or provide a bullet-point outline and let AI fill in the blanks
1. Example: Write a 4-part email with the following sections: Intro, problem, solution, CTA). Each section should be no longer than 100 words and must start with a subheading.
Use follow-up prompts: Working with AI is like a conversation. Once the AI responds to your request with a draft, follow up with further prompting to refine the result.
1. Example: Good start! Condense this email’s length by 30%, make the tone more conversational, and add our tagline “Making waves in wellness.”
Repeat your successes: Before you start a draft of your next email, paste in a few previous campaigns and results. Then, ask the AI to reference what’s working in your next campaign.
1. Example: Our last 3 emails to monthly donors are pasted below. All of them had open rates around 18%, and the Giving Day email had a very high click rate of 5%. Based on those results, write a draft email in our brand voice that our audience is likely to click on.
Reference industry best practices: AI tools are generators, not dictionaries. Always remind the model to align its language with strategies already shown to boost engagement.
1. Example: Search for 10 reliable online sources that give a detailed list of data-backed email marketing best practices… Now, use those best practices to create a draft of this email.

If you take all these suggestions into account, you may find that the prompt is longer than expected. This is nothing to panic about! As you continue to use an AI model, it will build a memory of what you’ve already asked. Then, you can always reference a previous prompt again to have the AI generate a similar response.

Refining AI-Generated Content

Once you have an AI draft, you’ll need to give it a quick polish so it’s ready for your supporters. Here are a few suggestions for nonprofits that want to get their email perfect.

Check factual accuracy: AI is known to make assumptions, or even hallucinate false information. Review your content for any false assertions.
Align voice and tone: Overly-promotional language is a common complaint among AI users. Make sure the language reflects your nonprofit’s mission and personality. If you write in a warm, humble tone, tweak phrasing to match that rather than letting the AI sound overly promotional.
Inject human details: Add stories, real names, and quotes manually to give your email a heartfelt, human touch.

Some of these steps must be taken manually in your email marketing software, while others can be done using follow-up prompting with AI. In either case, be sure to give the email a final proofread before it goes out.

When AI Goes Wrong

AI is powerful, but it has risks. Knowing the pitfalls helps you avoid costly mistakes. Here are a few examples we’ve run into, plus tips to address them:

Hallucinations & fabrications: AI sometimes confidently states false facts, names, or data. This is easiest to catch and refine with a human eye.
Tone or messaging drift: Without strong prompts, AI may produce copy that’s salesy, too casual, or off-brand. Follow-up prompting can ensure you won’t alienate your donors.
Deliverability issues: Occasionally, AI can generate text that is likely to trigger spam filters. See our Deliverability Troubleshooting Guide for more tips on how to land in the inbox.

Just like a human coworker, AI can make mistakes. As you automate, keep robust proofreading procedures in place to ensure the quality of generated content. When things go wrong, a human touch is the best tool to fix them.

Generating Subject Lines with AI

Subject lines are a perfect use case for AI because they thrive on variety, brevity, and experimentation. Plus, AI can remember previous subjects you’ve generated in order to provide similar options.

Here are a few prompts you can try for your own AI email marketing strategy:

Generate 8 subject lines (5–7 words) for a donor reactivation email focused on community stories.
Suggest 10 subject line variations for a volunteer recruitment campaign. Include one with an emoji and one that asks a question
Our last subject line “Share Your Love” got a 47% open rate. Based on that success, suggest 10 new subjects for the email pasted below.

For the highest chance of success, ask for 10-15 options with varying styles. Specify strategies that you’d like the AI to use, like urgency, curiosity, or numbers. Having variety improves the likelihood that one of your subject lines will resonate strongly with your audience.

For more subject line inspiration, check out our list of 100 high-performing subject lines for nonprofits!

Leverage AI to its Full Potential with Pure Firefly

At Pure Firefly, we believe AI should amplify your creativity, not replace it. If you want help refining AI prompts, reviewing output, or building hybrid content workflows, our team is ready to guide you. Contact us today, and we’ll help you magnify your nonprofit’s impact with AI!

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How to Convert a Word Document into a Mailchimp Email

March 1, 2025 / Email Basics, Mailchimp How-To / Alex Gallagher

So, you’ve created an email in a Word document and need to send it through Mailchimp. You’re likely wondering how to transfer the content into a Mailchimp email without losing formatting. While Mailchimp doesn’t allow direct uploads of Word files, you can easily copy your text and images into a Mailchimp email template while keeping it clean and professional – Here’s how!

Why Convert from Word to Mailchimp?

Many new Mailchimp users assume they can upload a Word document and send it as an email directly, but this isn’t the case. Microsoft Word formatting doesn’t translate directly to email HTML. This can cause spacing issues, misaligned text, or other unexpected changes – Even deliverability issues! By properly copying your Word document into Mailchimp’s template builder, you ensure your email looks great on all devices and maintains a consistent style.

Pasting Text into Your Mailchimp Template

To transfer your content seamlessly, start by moving the email’s text into MailChimp. Follow these steps:

Divide your email text into sections. Use subheadings, bulleted lists, images, or signatures for guidance. You can have multiple paragraphs in one section, but make sure each paragraph is no more than 3 lines long.
Add your first text block. Locate the content blocks on the left side of Mailchimp’s template builder. Click on “Paragraph,” hold your mouse down, and drag the block into the preview on the right side of the page.
Copy in your text. Copy the first section of text from your Word document. Paste it into the text block without formatting (use Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows or Cmd+Shift+V on Mac).
Set your formatting. Use the top toolbar to add bullet points, italics, and bold text as needed. If the first section of text is a heading, set it to Heading 1. Set subheadings to Heading 2, and leave all body text set to Paragraph.
Repeat the process. Copy and paste all text from your .doc or .docx, working section-by-section to ensure clean formatting.

Adding Images to Your Mailchimp Email

If you have images in your email draft, you’ll first need to extract them from the Word document. You can follow this guide from Microsoft, or just screenshot each image if you’re in a pinch.

Add Image Blocks: In Mailchimp’s email builder, click “image” on the left side menu. Hold your mouse down and drag the block where you want the image to appear.
Insert Images: Click on the grey box where you’ve dragged an image block. Click “Add” to upload an image from your computer or Mailchimp’s content studio.
Adjust Appearance: Use the left side menu to alter the image size, alignment, borders, and more. Click “Styles” for even more detailed formatting options
Use Layouts: If you want to place images and text side-by-side, try adding a layout block. Click “Layouts” on the left side menu and drag in the block that most matches the appearance you’re looking for.

If you have large images in your email, be sure to optimize your files for proper delivery.

Refining Your Mailchimp Template Styles

Once text and images from your Word doc are in place, you’re ready to customize the email’s design. Click on your email’s grey background to pull up the content block options, then click “Styles” on the leftmost menu – Look for the paint bucket icon.

Text Styles: Use the Text Styles menu to determine how each text style appears. For example, you can have 16px black body text and 30px blue headings!
Background Color: Choose colors that complement your branding. Body color refers to the area where your text and images appear, while background color refers to the area around your email content (this is usually grey by default).
Mobile Styles: Preview and adjust the mobile version to ensure a responsive design. Pay attention to the padding settings, which have a major effect on how images appear for mobile viewers.

For more guidance on mobile style settings, check out this guide from Mailchimp’s help center.

Simplify Your Process with a Template by Pure Firefly

Converting a Word document into a Mailchimp email works, but it can be a lengthy process. For a truly polished and professional look, consider using a custom email template. At Pure Firefly, we design Mailchimp templates that streamline your email creation process and ensure brand consistency across platforms.

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