Wild Apricot Email Alternatives (2026)
Wild Apricot handles membership well but email is basic. Export contacts to Groupmail in 5 minutes for better newsletters. Free to start.
TL;DR: Wild Apricot handles membership management beautifully, but its email editor frustrates many association admins with limited templates, clunky formatting, and basic analytics. The solution isn't replacing Wild Apricot—it's adding a dedicated email tool alongside it. Export your contacts as a CSV (takes 2 minutes), import to a simple email platform like Groupmail, and send newsletters your members will actually enjoy reading. Keep Wild Apricot for what it does best; use a proper email tool for everything else.
If you're reading this, you probably love Wild Apricot for managing your association's membership database, events, and payments—but dread every time you need to send a newsletter. You're not alone. Thousands of associations use Wild Apricot for membership while quietly maintaining a second tool for email. Here's how to do the same, without the headache.
Disclosure: We're the team behind Groupmail—simple email software for organizations since 1996. We'll be upfront about where we fit and honest about alternatives.
Why Wild Apricot Users Look for Email Alternatives
Wild Apricot excels at membership management. The database, event registration, payment processing, and member portal are genuinely excellent. But email? That's where frustrations pile up.
The email editor has improved over the years, but users consistently report the same issues. Templates feel limiting and difficult to customize. Photo placement and spacing require multiple test sends to get right. The new drag-and-drop editor only works for manual emails—automatic membership emails still use the older, clunkier system. And compared to dedicated email tools, the analytics feel basic.
Browse the Wild Apricot community forums and you'll find years of feature requests for better newsletter capabilities. Common complaints include limited design flexibility, no email scheduling on some plans, and the inability to archive emails as web pages with permanent links.
💡 Tip: If you're spending more than 30 minutes formatting a simple newsletter, your tool is working against you—not for you.
The underlying issue isn't that Wild Apricot is bad at email. It's that Wild Apricot is membership software that happens to include email, while dedicated email tools are built from the ground up for newsletters. Different priorities, different results.
What Associations Actually Need from Email Tools
Before comparing alternatives, let's clarify what association newsletters actually require. This isn't marketing automation with lead scoring and conversion funnels. It's simpler than that.
Most associations need a straightforward editor that doesn't fight them on formatting. They need reliable delivery so emails reach member inboxes rather than spam folders. Basic open and click tracking helps understand what content resonates. Scheduling lets them prepare newsletters in advance. And simple list management keeps contacts organized without complexity.
Notice what's missing from that list: behavioral triggers, A/B testing for subject lines, dynamic content personalization, landing page builders, e-commerce integrations. Those features are valuable for businesses running marketing operations, but they add complexity that most association admins don't need—and often can't use effectively anyway.
3 Email Tools That Work with Wild Apricot
The good news: pairing Wild Apricot with a dedicated email tool is straightforward. Export your contacts as a CSV file, import them to your email tool, and you're ready to send. Here's how the main options compare:
| Feature | Groupmail | MailerLite | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 10 min | 15 min | 20 min |
| Free plan contacts | 500 | 1,000 | 500 |
| Nonprofit discount | 30% | 30% | 15% |
| CSV import | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Human support | ✓ | Email/Chat | 30 days (free) |
| Learning curve | Minimal | Moderate | Steeper |
Groupmail focuses on simplicity for organizations. The editor is intentionally straightforward—no marketing automation complexity to navigate around. The 30% nonprofit discount applies to all paid plans, and support comes from real people, not chatbots. It's purpose-built for associations, churches, schools, and nonprofits sending member updates rather than marketing campaigns.
MailerLite offers more features at similar pricing, including landing pages and websites. Their nonprofit discount matches Groupmail at 30%. The interface is clean and modern, though the feature depth means a steeper learning curve. Good choice if you want room to grow into more sophisticated email marketing.
Mailchimp is the best-known name in email marketing, with the most integrations and templates. But it's also grown complex, with features most associations won't use. The nonprofit discount is lower at 15%, and the free plan has become increasingly limited—just 1,000 emails monthly with Mailchimp branding. Pricing scales quickly as your list grows.
Key Takeaway: For associations that want simplicity and value, Groupmail offers the best fit. For those who might eventually want marketing automation features, MailerLite provides more room to grow. Mailchimp works if you need specific integrations, but expect more complexity and higher costs.
How to Export Contacts from Wild Apricot
Exporting your member list from Wild Apricot takes about 2 minutes. Here's the process:
Step 1: Navigate to Contacts
Log into your Wild Apricot admin account. Click on Contacts in the left navigation menu. You'll see your full contact database.
Step 2: Filter Your List (Optional)
If you want to export specific members rather than your entire database, use the search filters at the top. You might filter by membership level, status (active members only), or contact groups. For most newsletters, you'll want active members who haven't opted out of communications.
Step 3: Export as CSV
Click the Export button (usually appears as a download icon or "Export" link above your contact list). Select CSV format. Choose which fields to include—at minimum you'll want email address, first name, and last name. Click Exportor Download.
Step 4: Save the File
Your browser will download a CSV file, typically named something like "contacts-export.csv" or with the current date. Save it somewhere you can find it—your Downloads folder or desktop works fine.
Key Takeaway: You now have a CSV file with all your contacts ready to import. The whole process takes 2-3 minutes once you've done it once.
Simple Email for Organizations
Send updates to your members without the marketing complexity.
Set up in 10 minutes. No credit card required.
Trusted since 1996 · Human support · 30% nonprofit discount
How to Import Contacts to Groupmail
With your CSV file ready, importing to Groupmail takes just a few minutes.
Step 1: Sign Up for Groupmail
Visit groupmail.io and create your free account. No credit card required. The free plan includes 500 contacts—enough for many smaller associations to get started without paying anything.
Step 2: Go to Contacts
Once logged in, click on Contacts in the main navigation. You'll see options for managing your contact list.
Step 3: Upload Your CSV
Click Import or Add Contacts, then select Upload CSV. Choose the file you exported from Wild Apricot. Groupmail will show you a preview of your data.
Step 4: Map Your Fields
Match the columns from your CSV to the right fields in Groupmail. Email address is required; first name and last name help personalize your newsletters. Most fields map automatically if you used standard names when exporting.
Step 5: Complete the Import
Click Import to finish. Your contacts are now in Groupmail, ready to receive your first newsletter. The whole process takes about 5 minutes for a first-time import.
💡 Tip: Your contacts are now ready. Send yourself a test newsletter to see how much easier the editor is compared to Wild Apricot's built-in email.
Using Both Tools Together
The key insight: you're not replacing Wild Apricot. You're adding a specialized tool for one specific task—email newsletters—while keeping Wild Apricot for everything else it does well.
Keep using Wild Apricot for membership management, dues collection, event registration, your member directory, and automated membership emails (renewal reminders, welcome emails, etc.). Use Groupmail for your regular newsletter, event announcements to the full membership, donor updates, and any communication where formatting and design matter.
This division of labor means each tool does what it's built for. Wild Apricot manages your members. Groupmail communicates with them effectively.
Keeping Your Workflow Simple
Managing two tools sounds like more work, but it doesn't have to be. Most associations export from Wild Apricot once per month to catch new members who've joined since the last export. This takes 2 minutes and ensures your email list stays current.
Some associations export only when they're about to send something important, rather than on a fixed schedule. Others set a calendar reminder for the first of each month. Find the rhythm that fits your organization's communication frequency.
If your membership changes frequently—say, you're running a campaign that brings in many new members at once—do an export before any major send. For associations with stable membership, quarterly updates might be sufficient.
The American Society of Association Executives regularly covers technology best practices for associations, including how to evaluate and integrate different tools for different purposes. The consensus: using the right tool for each job beats forcing one platform to do everything.
What You Get with Groupmail
For associations specifically, Groupmail offers several advantages worth highlighting.
The editor is built for simplicity. No training needed—if you can use a basic word processor, you can create a newsletter. Formatting works the way you expect it to, without the spacing and image placement frustrations common in Wild Apricot's email editor.
The 30% nonprofit discount applies to all paid plans, making the Starter plan $17.50/month ($175/year). That stays well under the typical $500 board-approval threshold many associations work within.
Support comes from real humans who respond personally—not chatbots or endless knowledge bases. When something isn't working, you can talk to someone who helps you fix it.
And Groupmail has been around since 1996, nearly 30 years. That longevity means you're not risking your member communications on a startup that might disappear or pivot away from serving organizations.
Conclusion
Wild Apricot is excellent membership management software. But asking it to also be excellent email newsletter software is asking one tool to be two different things. The limitations you've experienced with Wild Apricot's email editor aren't failures—they're the natural result of email being a secondary feature in membership-focused software.
The solution is simple: keep Wild Apricot doing what it does best, and add a dedicated email tool for your newsletters. Export your contacts, import them to a tool built for newsletters, and spend your time writing content instead of fighting with formatting.
Ready to send newsletters your members will actually enjoy? Try Groupmail free—set up in 10 minutes, no credit card required. Built for organizations, not marketers.
