Help centre / Giving & Gift Aid / Keep Mailchimp in step with consent
Keep Mailchimp in step with consent
On the Supporters page, connect Mailchimp with an API key, choose an audience, then select Sync now. Supporters who've agreed to email are subscribed. Anyone who's opted out or been suppressed is set to unsubscribed, so opt-outs recorded here reach Mailchimp too.
How the sync works
CharityControl keeps your supporter records and their consent. Mailchimp sends the newsletters. The sync pushes supporters into the Mailchimp audience you choose, and consent decides each person's status:
- Agreed to email and not suppressed: subscribed.
- Everyone else with an email address: unsubscribed. So when someone opts out here, the next sync switches them off in Mailchimp too.
- No email address on file: skipped.
Synced supporters are tagged "CharityControl" in Mailchimp, so you can tell them apart from people who joined your list another way. People already in your audience who aren't supporters here are left alone.
Set it up
- Go to Giving, then Supporters, and find the Mailchimp card.
- Select Connect.
- Paste an API key from your Mailchimp account (in Mailchimp, go to Account, then Extras, then API keys). The key is stored encrypted, and we check it works before saving.
- Choose the audience to sync into from the Choose audience list.
- Select Sync now.
After each sync you'll see a plain summary, for example "14 subscribed, 3 unsubscribed, 2 without email", and the card remembers when the last sync ran.
Common questions
When should I sync? Before you send a newsletter, and after you've updated anyone's consent. The sync only runs when you select Sync now, so changes here reach Mailchimp on the next sync.
What if someone unsubscribes in Mailchimp? Record it in CharityControl too: untick Email on their record, or suppress them if they want no contact at all. The consent records here decide who gets emailed, so it's worth keeping them right. See Add your supporters for how consent and suppression work.
Can I disconnect? Yes, from the same card, at any time. Disconnecting stops future syncs and deletes the stored key. It changes nothing in your Mailchimp audience.