welcome series Archives

How to Use Mailchimp’s New Popup Builder

June 16, 2025 / Mailchimp How-To, Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Popup forms are one of the best ways to maximize email signups from your website. This month, Pure Firefly launched a new popup with Mailchimp’s brand new form builder. So far, it’s been a hit! Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make the most of the new popup tool.

Mailchimp’s New Popup Builder

In 2025, Mailchimp launched a brand new popup builder available on the standard plan and above. While their existing popup forms are still available, this new builder includes a wide range of improvements. The new popup builder features:

Over 80 free templates for various industries
Completely customizable layouts on mobile and desktop
Advanced logic and visibility settings
Detailed analytics like impressions and opt-in rate

With all the improvements, the new builder is worlds ahead of the previous one.

Developing a Lead Magnet Strategy

When you plan to launch a new popup, start by developing your lead magnet. In marketing, the lead magnet is the “lure” that gets new website visitors to sign up. It should be relevant to potential subscribers and ideally lead them towards purchasing or donating later on.

To develop your lead magnet, begin by thinking about what existing supporters enjoy and expect from you. Whether you deliver products, build tech solutions, or serve your community, make sure your lead magnet aligns with those core activities and values.

For businesses, a simple discount code is an easy way to get subscribers in the door. You can also consider providing a free whitepaper, introductory call, or video lesson for those who subscribe.
For non-profit organizations, consider sharing a report, a story from your founder, or a case study that demonstrates why your organization matters.

As an email marketing agency, Pure Firefly made our lead magnet a guide to email automations, which may be useful for our potential customers.

Starting a New Popup in Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s new popup builder is a little more complex than the original. Here’s how to get started:

Navigate to “Forms” within Mailchimp and click on “Create popup form”
Choose your incentive (AKA lead magnet), or click on “View all templates”
Click Preview on any templates that interest you. Once you’ve chosen a favorite, hit “Apply.”
Give the form an internal name you can easily remember, choose your Mailchimp audience, and select email, SMS, or both. Then, hit create form.

Once you create your draft form, you’ll be ready to start designing!

How to Design Your Mailchimp Pop-up

Mailchimp’s new pop-up builder is split into 3 columns.

a screenshot of mailchimp's new popup builder with steps on the left, preview at the top, and style on the right

Steps: On the left side, you can develop the form’s logic. Each Step can be thought of as a new version of the form design, which will show up if a user takes a certain action. For example…

Offer entices website visitors with your lead magnet.
Email capture displays your form fields.
Confirmation grants access to your lead magnet

Preview: The wide center column shows previews of your Mailchimp signup form at every step. Each step will have both a desktop and mobile preview available. You can click on any one of the previews to edit that step and section.

Style: The rightmost column is where you can edit the appearance of your Mailchimp popup. Here you can change colors, fonts, images, and text sizes. It’s split into two main sections:

Typography displays the fonts used throughout your form design.
Colors shows colors used throughout the popup.

To streamline the process, consider setting your default styles as soon as you create the pop-up. That way, you don’t have to change the styles at every step.

If you’re a less tech-savvy Mailchimp user, you may benefit from a quick training call before you build your first form. Pure Firefly’s Mailchimp experts are here to help!

Connecting a New Mailchimp Popup to Your Website

Once you’ve created your new popup form, select or add your website URL under “Where should it show?” Click to connect manually or via the Shopify integration.

To connect manually: Mailchimp will ask to confirm the URL and connected audience, then generate a snippet of code. Embed this code on your site to enable the new pop-up.

If you’re using a platform like WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix, look for settings that let you inject code into the header. You can also use a custom code block, which is often available in your site’s page builder.

Be sure to test the popup on both desktop and mobile to confirm it’s appearing correctly.

Setting Up a Welcome Journey

After someone subscribes via your popup, you’ll want to welcome them right away. Mailchimp makes this easy with Customer Journeys.

Navigate to “Automations” and choose “Build from Scratch.”
Create a new journey in the same audience your pop-up is mapped to.
Choose the starting point “Signs up for email” and click on “Filter who can enter this journey.”
Create the following filter: Signup Source – Was – Popup Form
Hit “Use segment” and “Save Starting Point.”
Click on “Add a journey step” and choose “Send email.”

Building emails in customer journeys is very similar to building standard scheduled campaigns. In the email, thank them for joining and include a clear link to download or view your lead magnet. To start new subscribers off on the right foot, make sure your welcome email follows best practices for email design.

How to Read Your Pop-Up Report

Mailchimp’s reporting tools make it easy to understand how your popup is performing. When you view your popup report, you’ll see several key metrics:

Site Visitors: The total number of people who visited your site during the reporting period.
Unique Impressions: How many individual visitors saw the popup. This filters out multiple views from the same person.
Email Opt-In Rate: The percentage of popup viewers who subscribed with their email. This is a key metric to evaluate how compelling your form and offer are.
SMS Opt-In Rate: If your form includes phone number fields for SMS marketing, this shows the percentage of people who also opted in to receive texts.

Review these numbers regularly to identify areas for improvement. Keep an eye on your welcome email’s standard engagement analytics too!

Need Help? Contact Pure Firefly

If you want help designing a high-converting popup, crafting an automated welcome email, or setting up your Mailchimp account, Pure Firefly is here for you. We offer custom popup designs, done-for-you automation builds, and one-on-one training calls to empower you to manage your own email marketing. Contact us to get started!

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nonprofit volunteer with an email list icon

Nonprofit List Building: Do’s & Dont’s

September 8, 2023 / Mailchimp How-To, Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Growing your email list is essential for spreading the word about your mission and connecting with your supporters. We’re here to help you expand your email list while avoiding common pitfalls. Let’s explore the list-building best practices that will help your nonprofit flourish in the email marketing world.

In need of more help? Contact Pure Firefly for training, strategy, and more.

Do Provide an Incentive

Whether you’re building a pop-up or collecting emails in person, providing incentives can significantly boost your opt-in rates. Offering a valuable lead magnet, like a free report or an informative video, encourages visitors to share their email addresses willingly. This tactic not only grows your subscriber list but also creates a positive impression of your brand. As a nonprofit, consider what drives website visitors to be interested in your work, and fuel that interest with a free resource or offer.

Don’t forget to follow up on the incentive with a well-crafted welcome email!

Don’t Spawn Too Many Popups

While popups are one of the most effective ways to get website visitors’ attention, excessive popups can lead to frustration and a negative user experience. At Pure Firefly email marketing, we recommend using only one strategically timed popup that matches your overall website design.

Asjust settings to prevent users from seeing the popup after they’ve already subscribed, or after visiting the site more than once.

Do Build Your Nonprofit List with Social Media

Social media platforms are powerful tools for nonprofit list building. Marketing experts agree that multichannel is the future, beginning with email and social media. Promote your email signup through engaging posts, stories, or even contests. Encourage your social media followers to join your email list and highlight all that your newsletter has to offer.

This integrated approach not only maximizes your reach, but also ensures that your most enthusiastic followers are connected with updates across platforms.

Don’t Gather Emails for No Reason

Collecting email addresses without a clear purpose can lead to disengaged subscribers and even legal issues. Plus, many email marketing platforms will charge based on the number of contacts you store, so there is little benefit to keeping contacts on file without emailing them.

Make it clear to every subscriber what they’re signing up for. Consider working with an email marketing expert like Pure Firefly to develop a welcome email that describes what kind of content subscribers can expect, and how often they will receive it. By setting clear expectations, you attract subscribers who genuinely want to hear from you. This will lead to higher engagement rates, lower unsubscribe rates, and a cleaner email list overall.

Do Import Contacts via API

Using API to import contacts is one of the best ways to keep your email marketing strategy cost-effective. API integrations can connect Mailchimp to your CRM, online store, or other online platforms. Integrations allow you to update your contact list automatically and ensure consistency across all your marketing streams.

Here are some tips to make your next Mailchimp integration a breeze:

Work with an Expert: If you’re not tech-savvy, work with a professional to help you set up your integration. Custom API development can be a complicated process, so don’t be afraid to reach out to an email expert like the ones at Pure Firefly.
Get Permission: When you use integrations to import new contacts, make sure they’ve all opted in to email marketing. Add an opt-out option or disclaimer to any service you’ll integrate with Mailchimp.
Check Your Fields: Make sure the information you’re collecting from your subscribers matches the fields in Mailchimp. For example, if you collect mailing addresses on your website, add an address field in Mailchimp.
Stay Updated: If you ever notice anything strange, like emails not going through or wrong information, reach out to someone who can help you troubleshoot. Keeping things updated and working smoothly is key.
Tag Contacts: If possible, it’s always ideal to tag contacts based on their signup source.

Don’t Buy a List, Build a List

Nonprofits looking to grow their Mailchimp audience should never be tempted by offers to buy an email list. Purchased lists often contain disengaged, uninterested, and invalid recipients, which can harm your deliverability and result in low open and click rates. It’s also against the terms of service for most email marketing platforms like Mailchimp.

Instead, invest in building a genuine, quality subscriber base that willingly opts in to receive your emails. If you’re having trouble with cultivating organic growth, try booking a strategy call with an email specialist to improve your subscription flow.

Build Your Nonprofit Email List with Pure Firefly

Pure Firefly is a full-service email marketing agency with years of experience in IT & design. Our dedicated specialists can help you develop your first lead magnet, welcome automation, or next year’s email program. Try a one-on-one strategy call to get familiar with Mailchimp, Klaviyo, or email marketing in general. Plus, we are one of the only Mailchimp Pro Partners who offer API development. Don’t wait – Contact us to start building your list like a pro!

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100 High-Converting Email Subject Lines for Nonprofits

August 17, 2023 / Marketing Strategy / Alex Gallagher

Quality email subjects for nonprofits can make a huge impact on donations, attendace, and overall engagement. In this guide, we’ve curated 100 high-converting subject lines designed specifically for nonprofits. From creating urgency to tugging at heartstrings, we’ve got you covered.

Need more help? Try a one-on-one call with one of our email experts.

Make Monthly Newsletters Pop

Monthly newsletters are one of the most popular forms of email. While many marketers are turning toward automations in recent years, monthly newsletters remain a common practice for a reason. These emails provide a space for any information you need to share, making them highly flexible. Plus, the infrequent sending schedule makes it highly unlikely that subscribers will be overwhelmed by a monthly newsletter. Here are 13 subject lines for your next monthly nonprofit newsletter:

Your [MONTH] Newsletter is Here!
What We’ve Achieved Lately
Be the First to Know
Our Monthly Roundup
What We Did Together in [MONTH]
Your [MONTH] Dose of Good News
Lets Connect: Impact, Updates, Events
Your [MONTH] Newsletter is Waiting
Writing New Chapters
[MONTH] Tales of Collaboration
[MONTH] Update: Government Engagements
Monthly [ORGANIZATION] Insider
Notes from the Frontlines

Write a Warm Welcome Email

Welcome emails are one of the most important steps in a new subscriber’s relationship with your organization. Set up welcome email automation to start your marketing off on the right foot and show new subscribers what they’ll be receiving. Here are 14 email subjects for nonprofits to help your welcome email attract a stellar open rate:

Welcome Home: Where Hope Lives
Your Journey Starts Here
Welcome to [ORGANIZATION]
Let’s Change the World Together
You’re Signed Up
Welcome to the Movement
You’re a Part of the Change
You’ve Taken the First Step
You’re Here – What’s Next?
Make an Impact Just by Joining
Your Support Means the World
Let’s Work Together
Together, We’ll Create a Brighter Future
Join Us, Change Lives

Still stumped? A tool like subjectline.com could help you generate even more ideas!

Share a Heartwarming Story

Showing the impact of your organization is a great way to keep people on board with your cause. Any nonprofit organization should make human stories a part of its email marketing strategy, either in its welcome series or through a scheduled email campaign. Here are 15 subject lines that tug on subscriber’s heartstrings:

A Story of Resilience
One Life Transformed
Lighting up Lives
The Power of Community Support
Change We Make Together
How My Life was Changed
Why I Work with [ORGANIZATION]
Barriers Broken, Lives Restored
The Ripple Effect
Life in a Turning Tide
A Lesson on Hope
[NAME] Shares their Story
A Study in Support
Follow [NAME]’s Journey
Why We do the Work

Event Invites are Everything

Many nonprofit supporters look forward to the next time they can engage with the causes they care about in person. To boost attendance at your next event, consider running a multiple-email campaign to generate excitement. Pure Firefly has helped several nonprofits boost event attendance and donations with email marketing. Here are 15 email subjects to help you do the same:

Join Us for a Night of Impact
Save the Date
You’re Invited, [NAME]
Will We See You Tonight?
Mark Your Calendars: [EVENT] Tonight!
Seats Are Filling Up
Last Chance to Register
Only 5 Tickets Left
Space is Limited
Make an Impact In Person
Let’s Make Miracles Happen
Music, Laughter, and Heartfelt Stories
Celebrate The Art of Giving
A Night to Remember
Bid, Win, Change Lives

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help

Donations are the backbone of many nonprofits’ funding, and soliciting them is a key element of a successful nonprofit email marketing strategy. To boost opens on your next call for donations, try using segmentation and one of these 14 subject lines:

Be a Champion for Change
Join Our Movement: Stronger Together
Stand Up for What Matters
Fuel Our Mission
Together We Thrive
Make an Impact Today
Why I Give
Make Your Voice Heard
Rally for Change: We Need You
Let’s Build a Better Future
Amplify Your Impact
Ignite Hope Around the World
Give Back, Gain Joy
Help Us Fight Hunger

Celebrate Your Successes

If you’re asking subscribers for support, don’t forget to show them what their support helps you accomplish. Sharing success stories can boost morale across your entire subscriber base, and shows that donations aren’t going to waste. Celebrate your achievements with these 14 engaging subject lines:

See Hope in Action
Making Dreams Possible
Impact Achieved: Thank You
Hearts Full, Mission Accomplished
Our Hearts Are Full
We Exceeded Expectations
We Did It!
Raising Over $1000 for Change
Bidding Wars: Remember Auction Night?
Looking Back on Cinematic Magic
School Built, Dreams Flourish
We Made an Impact Together
This is the Power of Unity
You Made It Happen

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Transactional emails are an often-overlooked part of nonprofit email marketing. When subscribers donate to your organization or attend an event, sending an immediate thank you message shows that you care. Many email platforms provide tools for setting up automated thank you’s, making this achievable for even the smallest nonprofit teams. Here are 15 email subjects for nonprofits to say thank you:

Thank You, [NAME]
You Just Made a Difference
Who Your Donation Helps
Your Support Matters
Endless Thanks
Your Donation Helps Us Change the World
You’re a Philanthropic Hero
We’re Grateful for Your Generosity
Our Gratitude Soars
Heartfelt Thanks
You Make Miracles Happen
Thanks for Changing Lives
You’re Supporting Progress for All
You Are Amazing
High-Five for Impact

Reach New Heights with Pure Firefly

There’s more to successful email marketing than a good subject line. To unlock email marketing that converts, consider working with an email expert like the ones at Pure Firefly. Our team is Mailchimp and Klaviyo certified, with over 10 years of experience in design & IT. Contact us anytime for a free consultation.

Plus, Mailchimp users can book a one-on-one call with an email specialist as little as 24 hours in advance.

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