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Initiating Mailchimp Automations or Supporter Journeys from Donorfy

How to start Mailchimp Classic Automations or Supporter Journeys from Donorfy using lists, tags, online donation pages, and triggers.

Cristina Gruita avatar
Written by Cristina Gruita
Updated this week

Overview

Donorfy can trigger Mailchimp email sequences (Classic Automations) and Supporter Journeys in several ways – for example when a constituent is added to a list, tagged, donates online, or meets the conditions of a Donorfy Trigger.

Mailchimp offers two relevant automation options:

  • Classic Automation (being phased out by Mailchimp).

  • Customer Journeys (Supporter Journeys).

Donorfy can work with either, depending on what is available in your Mailchimp account and how you choose to configure your flows.

Important Notes

Mailchimp plan and feature availability

  • The automation options you see in Mailchimp depend on your Mailchimp plan.

  • Mailchimp are in the process of sunsetting Classic Automations. This option is now only available to accounts that have previously created a Classic Automation.

  • If your Mailchimp account does not offer Classic Automations, use a Donorfy Trigger with a Supporter Journey instead.

Archived automations in Mailchimp
Donorfy is unable to obtain a list of Mailchimp automations if your Mailchimp account includes any archived automations.

  • Delete or unarchive any archived Mailchimp automations in Mailchimp

  • Then refresh/configure the Mailchimp automation settings in Donorfy again

Before You Start

  1. Check your Mailchimp plan.
    Make sure your plan supports the type of automation or journey you want to use (Classic Automation or Customer Journeys).

  2. Connect Donorfy and Mailchimp

    • You must first link Donorfy to Mailchimp using Donorfy’s Mailchimp integration.

    • Once connected, Donorfy can sync lists and tags to a Mailchimp Audience and trigger automations/journeys via the Mailchimp API.

  3. Choose the Mailchimp Audience

    • Decide which Mailchimp Audience will receive your Donorfy data.

    • All automations or journeys described below will be attached to a specific Audience.

Ways Donorfy Can Trigger Mailchimp Automations or Journeys

1. When a Constituent Is Added to a List

Mailchimp automation type: Classic Automation

You can start a journey sequence when a constituent is added to a List in Donorfy.

  1. In Mailchimp, identify the Audience you want to use.

  2. Create a Classic Automation for that Audience and set the trigger to “Signup to audience” (new subscriber joins the audience).

  3. In Donorfy, link the same Mailchimp Audience to your Donorfy List using the Mailchimp integration.

    • Constituents on that Donorfy List will sync to Mailchimp as members of the linked Audience.

  4. Run the Mailchimp sync from Donorfy (manually or via your regular sync schedule).

    • New additions to the Donorfy List will be added to the Mailchimp Audience and enter the Classic Automation sequence.

2. When a Tag, Channel, or Purpose Is Added

Mailchimp automation type: Classic Automation

You can start a journey sequence when:

  • A Tag is added to a Constituent in Donorfy.

  • A Channel is enabled.

  • A Purpose is enabled.

This uses mappings from Donorfy to Mailchimp Tags or Groups.

  1. In Mailchimp, create a Classic Automation and set the trigger to either:

    • Tag added to an Audience member, or

    • Audience member joins a Group

  2. In Donorfy, configure mappings from:

    • Donorfy Tags, Channels, or Purposes

    • to Mailchimp Tags or Groups for the same Audience

  3. When a Tag/Channel/Purpose is applied to a constituent and synced to Mailchimp, their Audience record will be updated with the mapped Tag/Group.

  4. Mailchimp will then start the Classic Automation for those audience members based on the Tag/Group rule you configured.

When you next sync your data to Mailchimp, any audience members who newly receive that Tag or join that Group will enter the automation. New sign-ups via Mailchimp forms who also get that Tag can also be included.

3. From a Donation via Online Transactional Pages

Mailchimp automation type: Classic Automation

You can start a supporter sequence whenever a donation is made via:

  • Web Widget

  • Donation Form (Form Element)

  • Campaign Donation Page

You can also optionally specify a Purpose and a corresponding marketing opt-in question (for Web Widgets and Campaign Donation Pages).

3.1 Prerequisites

  1. Link Donorfy to Mailchimp using the Mailchimp integration.

  2. Identify the Mailchimp Audience that will receive donor details.

  3. In Mailchimp, set up a Classic Automation using the API 3.0 trigger (see “Creating a Classic Automation for API / Trigger Actions” below).

3.2 Web Widget

  1. Open the Web Widget Settings in Donorfy.

  2. Find the Supporter Journey section.

  3. From the drop-down, select the relevant active Classic Automation.

  4. Optional:

    • Specify a Purpose.

    • Set a marketing opt-in question and define the text to display.

When a donation is made via this Web Widget and the rules are met, Donorfy will trigger the Classic Automation for that donor.

3.3 Donation Form

  1. Edit the relevant Form in Donorfy.

  2. Open the Donation Element.

  3. Go to the Processing tab.

  4. Find the Supporter Journey Settings section.

  5. Select your active Classic Automation from the drop-down.

  6. Optional: specify a Purpose.

When the Form is submitted with a donation, Donorfy will trigger the Classic Automation as configured.

3.4 Campaign Donation Page

  1. Open your Donorfy Campaign.

  2. Click on the Donation Page.

  3. Scroll to the Supporter Journey section near the bottom.

  4. Select your active Classic Automation from the drop-down.

  5. Optional:

    • Specify a Purpose.

    • Set a marketing opt-in question and define the text to display.

Donations via this Campaign Donation Page will then trigger the Classic Automation for eligible donors.

4. From a Donorfy Trigger

Mailchimp automation type: Classic Automation or Supporter Journey

Within Donorfy Triggers you can choose either of these actions:

  • Initiate Mailchimp Automation (uses a Classic Automation)

  • Initiate Mailchimp Journey (uses a Supporter Journey / Customer Journey)

This allows you to fire off Mailchimp sequences based on more complex conditions or timing logic in Donorfy.

Creating a Classic Automation in Mailchimp

You will configure different triggers depending on how Donorfy will start the sequence.

1. Classic Automation for Lists (Subscriber Activity – Welcome New Subscribers)

Use this when the automation is triggered by constituents being added to a Donorfy List that syncs to a Mailchimp Audience.

  1. In Mailchimp, go to Automations.

  2. Choose Classic Automation.

  3. Select Subscriber Activity.

  4. Choose Welcome new subscribers.

  5. Depending on your plan, select the relevant welcome-type option offered.

  6. Name your Campaign.

  7. Select your Audience from the drop-down.

  8. Click Begin.

  9. Build your automation (emails, timing, etc.).

When Donorfy next syncs data to Mailchimp, new additions to that Audience will be directed into this automation. Mailchimp sign-ups that add new subscribers to the same Audience will also be included.

2. Classic Automation for Tags

Use this when Donorfy is mapping Tags/Channels/Purposes to Mailchimp Tags or Groups, and you want the automation to begin when those Tags/Groups are added.

  1. In Mailchimp, go to Automations.

  2. Choose Classic Automation.

  3. Select Tags.

  4. Choose Email subscribers when they’re tagged.

  5. Name your Campaign.

  6. Select your Audience from the drop-down.

  7. Click Begin.

  8. Build your automation.

Once configured:

  • When Donorfy syncs and adds the relevant Tag to an Audience member, they will enter the automation.

  • Sign-ups via Mailchimp forms that receive that Tag will also be included.

3. Classic Automation for Online Transactional Pages or Trigger Actions (API 3.0)

Use this when:

  • A donation from a Web Widget, Form, or Campaign Donation Page should trigger the automation, or

  • You use the Mailchimp Automation Trigger Action in a Donorfy Trigger.

  1. In Mailchimp, go to Automations.

  2. Choose Classic Automation.

  3. Select the API category.

  4. Choose API 3.0.

  5. Name your Campaign.

  6. Select your Audience from the drop-down.

  7. Click Begin.

  8. Build your automation.

Donorfy will then:

  • Trigger the entire automation sequence using a single API call

  • When a donation is made or a Trigger fires (depending on where you configured it)

Before triggering, Donorfy checks:

  • The supporter has a valid email address, and

  • The supporter is not opted out of the Purpose specified in the Form/Widget settings (for those configurations).

Data sent to Mailchimp (Classic Automation + API 3.0)

  • Email address

  • First name

  • Last name

These details are added for contacts not already in the Audience.

Creating a Mailchimp Customer Journey (Supporter Journey)

Use this when you want to use the newer Supporter Journeys and Donorfy’s Mailchimp Journey Trigger Action.

  1. In Mailchimp, go to Automations.

  2. Choose Create Journey.

  3. Name your Journey.

  4. Click Start Building.

  5. Configure how a contact starts their journey:

    • Choose API & Integrations as the starting point.

    • Choose Customer Journey’s API as the trigger.

  6. Build out the Journey steps (emails, waits, conditions, etc.) as required.

  7. Save the Journey.

Connecting the Journey to a Donorfy Trigger

  1. In Mailchimp, open your Journey.

  2. Find the Contact Joins step that defines the API entry point.

  3. Copy the URL from the Contact Joins part of the Journey.

  4. In Donorfy, edit your Trigger and choose the Initiate Mailchimp Journey action.

  5. Paste the copied URL into the Mailchimp Customer Journey API URL field.

    • The Journey Id and Step Id will populate automatically.

  6. Save the Trigger.

When the Trigger conditions are met, Donorfy will call the Journey API and start the Journey for the supporter.

Email sending rules for Journey triggers

For a Mailchimp Journey Trigger Action, Donorfy will only trigger the Journey when:

  • The supporter has a valid email address.

  • The supporter is not opted out of the email Channel (email status is unknown or fully opted in).

⚠️Important:
The supporter must already exist in the Mailchimp Audience for the Journey Trigger action to succeed. To ensure this:

  • Consider using a delayed Trigger send in Donorfy.

  • Use a daily sync to Mailchimp so all new constituents are added to the Audience before the Journey is triggered.

Sending Only to Opted-In Supporters

If you want only fully opted-in email addresses to be sent into a Mailchimp automation or journey:

  1. Create or use a Donorfy List that reflects your opt-in preferences (e.g. only fully opted-in supporters).

  2. Use this List as the basis for:

    • A List-based automation (Classic Automation), or

    • A Trigger which itself references that List or filters by opt-in status.

This ensures that only supporters who meet your opt-in rules are included.

Monitoring Mailchimp Automations and Journeys

You can monitor progress and performance directly in Mailchimp:

  • Mailchimp shows the number of Audience members currently at each stage of an automation or Journey.

  • Use this to track how supporters move through your sequence and to troubleshoot if expected numbers are not progressing.

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