How to format fundraising emails to increase donations

In the world of email marketing, personalization is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. According to a study by Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened, while segmented email campaigns can generate up to a 760% increase in revenue. Considering these resounding analytics, it’s clear that sending the right message to the right audience at the right time is critical to your email marketing success.

But how do you go beyond just inserting someone’s first name into an email? 

The answer lies in leveraging tools like conditional merge tags, which are available in sending platforms like Mailchimp, and combining them with tools that can handle sophisticated email logic, like Beefree. 

These tools allow marketers to create hyper-targeted email experiences that speak directly to each recipient’s needs, preferences, and behaviors. 

Let’s walk through how you can design beautiful, personalized emails for Mailchimp using Beefree.

Understanding Mailchimp’s capabilities and limitations 

With over 11 million users, Mailchimp has established itself as a leading marketing platform that empowers marketers to deliver targeted and timely campaigns effectively. Among its robust features, its automation and segmentation capabilities stand out.

Mailchimp’s advanced segmentation tools allow you to target users based on behaviors, tags, or custom data, ensuring your messages reach the right audience. Meanwhile, its automation features make it easy to set up workflows, enabling you to deliver the right message at the perfect moment.

However, Mailchimp does have some limitations. Many users encounter a steep learning curve, and the platform's higher price point can be a concern. More importantly, users often find its design capabilities somewhat lacking, which can hinder their ability to create visually compelling and truly personalized campaigns.

This is why many choose to use Beefree in conjunction with Mailchimp. This easy integration allows marketers to leverage Mailchimp’s powerful segmentation tools to categorize subscribers based on various criteria such as demographics, purchase history, or engagement levels. They then use Beefree to design personalized emails that align with each group's preferences and behaviors.

Thanks to Beefree’s seamless integration with Mailchimp, users can easily export their emails and utilize Mailchimp’s automation features to trigger these personalized messages. This synergy between Beefree's design capabilities and Mailchimp's automation and segmentation features maximizes engagement and conversion rates while enhancing the overall customer experience.

How to personalize mailchimp emails in Beefree

The foundation of a successful personalized email campaign is a well-designed email that adapts to different audience segments. Beefree makes this process simple with its drag-and-drop editor.

Step #1: Start from a template 

If you’re not sure where to start in creating a personalized campaign, Beefree offers an extensive library of Mailchimp-compatible templates.  

Begin by selecting a template that aligns with your campaign's objective, whether it’s a promotional email, newsletter, or seasonal message. You can then leverage Beefree’s modular editor to infuse your brand into the emails and add content blocks and interactive elements that are specific to different audience segments. 

Within the editor, tailor your email to offer unique experiences for mobile viewing using Mobile Design Mode.

Step #2: Add merge tags 

Merge tags are placeholder text that gets replaced by subscriber-specific data when the email is sent. Here’s how to use them in Beefree:

1. Choose the section of content where you want to insert a personalized element. For example, you can add a placeholder for the recipient’s first name.
   
   
2. Insert the Merge Tag – In Beefree, select an existing MailChimp merge tag or create a new one. You can select or add the |FNAME| tag for the recipient’s first name. This turns a generic greeting into something more personal. “Hi |FNAME|” becomes “Hi Jane” when Jane receives the email.

You can refer to Mailchimp’s Merge Tag Cheat Sheet to find additional merge tags you can easily copy and paste into Beefree to customize your email.

Step #3: Apply display conditions for personalized rows

You can set up rows of content that display only to certain segments of your audience using Mailchimp’s conditional merge tags.

These tags are snippets of code that control whether a section of content should appear based on specific data, such as whether someone is a VIP or a new subscriber.

Here is an example scenario: You want to show a special offer to VIP customers and a different one to new subscribers. To achieve this, you’ll use the following before and after logic in Beefree for the row containing the content for VIP customers:

*|IF:VIP="yes"|*
Hey *|FNAME|*, as a VIP, you get 20% off!
*|END:IF|*

For new subscribers, you’ll use the following before and after logic in Beefree for the row containing the content for new subscribers:

*|IF:VIP="no"|*
Welcome, *|FNAME|*! Get 10% off your first purchase.
*|END:IF|*

This logic ensures that only VIP customers see the first row, while new subscribers see the second one.

Implementing Display Conditions in Beefree

Display Conditions in Beefree apply to entire rows, allowing you to show different rows to different groups of recipients. This feature is incredibly useful for dynamically personalizing content at scale.

Here’s how to apply this logic in Beefree:

1. Select the row that contains the personalized content.
2. Set the Display Conditions – In the settings for that row, click “Display Conditions.” Copy and paste your Mailchimp logic (as shown above) into the condition box to control who will see the content.
3. Repeat for other rows – If you have multiple rows with different offers or content for different segments, repeat the process, applying the appropriate logic for each row.

Optional: Multilingual designs 

Beefree’s Multilingual Designs enable users to design emails in multiple languages effortlessly. This is particularly beneficial for brands targeting international markets or diverse communities. 

Designing for multiple languages in Beefree:

1. In the editor, click on the globe icon on the top bar
2. Select a primary language from the drop-down menu
3. Select the number of additional language (this varies by plan)

Once you add your Primary and Additional languages to your Multilingual Settings, you can add your translated content to each language design. The fastest way to translate your emails is by using Beefree’s AI Assistant. 

Step #4: Exporting your design to Mailchimp

Now that your email is designed with dynamic and personalized content, it's time to export it to Mailchimp, where you’ll handle audience segmentation and send the email.

1. In Beefree, click “Export” and choose Mailchimp as the destination.
2. Link your Mailchimp account – If it’s your first time, you’ll need to link your Mailchimp account to Beefree.
3. Review in Mailchimp – Once the design is exported, log in to Mailchimp and check the email. Use Mailchimp’s preview tools to ensure your Merge Tags and Display Conditions are functioning correctly.

Ready to create more personalized emails?

Beefree and Mailchimp provide marketers with the perfect blend of design flexibility and powerful automation, enabling them to craft visually stunning emails that resonate with your audience. 

Start harnessing the full potential of your email campaigns today with Beefree. 

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I can hardly believe it’s been a decade since Beefree’s humble beginnings. 

The first version of Beefree launched on October 18, 2014. We shared our excitement on Hacker News, and to our complete surprise, 20,000 people visited our minimalist-looking website in the first weekend. I remember thinking, “What??? We’re famous!!” 

A few days later, the hype died down, and we realized that no one had signed up for anything. For some back story, when Beefree first launched, we envisioned it as a growth marketing experiment for MailUp, an Italy-based email marketing platform.

We thought, "We’ll provide marketers with a free email builder and pitch them MailUp after they finish designing their email: many of them will sign up!" Except… nope. While people loved our email builder, they were loyal to the platforms they were using to send their emails. It’s safe to say that the experiment failed. 

But this was the start of bringing something to the market that many were in dire need of. In fact, we got a ton of unexpected feedback. One comment on Hacker News stood out: “Any chance of Beefree being embeddable, either as a service or open source?" 

From that comment came our first sale of “Beefree” for the license of an embeddable version of our email editor. 

10 years later, our content builder, Beefree SDK, is embedded in over 1,000 SaaS applications worldwide, including some of the biggest names in tech. Roughly half a million people per month, across all of those applications, use Beefree to design a massive amount of emails, landing pages, and other digital content. 

While our product has always been key to our growth, we wouldn’t be where we are today without a truly passionate group of people who deeply care about their work. In ten years, the team has grown from 6 to over 100, spanning Europe and the United States. 

So what better way to celebrate this important milestone, than to hear from the very voices of the amazing people that have been sharing in this adventure?

To you who are reading—thank you for being a part of this wonderful evolution. We can’t wait to see what’s next.

Massimo Arrigoni
Beefree Founder & CEO

Reflecting on a decade: 8 employees share about their time at Beefree

#1:  The power of teamwork is priceless 

As we celebrate a decade of innovation and growth, I can’t help but marvel at the journey. When I joined 7 years ago, there were just 9 of us, fueled by passion and vision. Now, we’ve grown into a dynamic team of over 100, each one of us playing a vital role in this success story.

My path to this company was anything but ordinary. After years of freelancing, launching businesses, and even co-founding a startup, I took a leap of faith to join this team—and I haven’t looked back. The greatest reward? Realizing that nothing compares to the thrill of achieving a goal as a team. The collective energy, shared ambition, and that moment of victory together—it's simply unbeatable.

Being part of this journey, with a team that’s constantly evolving, always aiming higher, and embracing every challenge, has been an incredible adventure.

Here’s to the next chapter of us pushing boundaries, breaking new ground, and doing it all together.

“The greatest reward? Realizing that nothing compares to the thrill of achieving a goal as a team.”
- Matteo Santagata, Full Stack Engineer Associate Manager

#2:  Build something that matters

Saying I’ve been working on Beefree SDK for 7 years feels totally normal to me. But every now and then, someone reminds me that it's actually rather extraordinary in the tech world. Some engineers switch roles every couple of years, trying them on like new pairs of shoes. Not too long ago, at a trade show, a young sales engineer looked at me, astonished, and said, “You must really love the work.” I just smiled, took a moment to reflect, and simply nodded, “Yes, yes, I really do.”

It wasn’t exactly a grand revelation, but it gave me pause. We’ve all heard the saying, "If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life." It’s cliché for a reason, but that was the first time it clicked for me: Seven years doesn’t feel like seven years.

It’s hard to point to just one reason why.

It’s a mix of so many things—the culture of trust, the tangible impact of the features we build, like improving accessibility so someone can create content on their own for the first time. It’s all of those experiences combined that make the journey worth it. And honestly, I can easily see myself saying the same thing at our 20-year anniversary, still feeling like it all started yesterday.

“It’s a mix of so many things—the culture of trust, the tangible impact of the features we build, like improving accessibility so someone can create content on their own for the first time.”
- Matt Weber, Senior Software Architect

#3: Building community and growing across borders

I started working at Beefree in 2014, and it has been an incredible journey that I feel grateful to reflect on today. My time here has been filled with learning, growth, and some unexpected turns—most notably my move from Milan to Denmark in 2016. What could have been a challenging transition was made seamless by the company’s support, allowing me to continue working remotely from my new home.

Living in Denmark for the past years has profoundly shaped me. Denmark is a country built on the values of equality, trust, and community—principles that resonate deeply within Danish culture. One fun cultural aspect I encountered is “janteloven”, or “the law of Jante”, a Nordic philosophy that emphasizes humility and equality, discouraging any form of boasting or thinking of oneself as superior. It’s a reflection of how strongly Danes value the collective over the individual.

What I found most surprising was how these learnings from living in Denmark paralleled my experience at Beefree. Just like Denmark’s culture, Beefree emphasizes a sense of community and the importance of trust. This has taught me how critical teamwork is, and how much more enriching it is to celebrate successes as a team rather than just as individuals. There is something truly special about being part of a team where mutual trust and shared values create an environment where everyone can thrive.

Over the past decade, I’ve learned that both in work and in life, the real magic happens when people come together. The experience has taught me that no matter how far we are from each other geographically, a strong sense of community and shared purpose can keep us connected. As I look forward to the future, I am excited to keep building on these values with my colleagues at Beefree, growing together, one step at a time.

“I’ve learned that both in work and in life, the real magic happens when people come together.”
- Cinzia Tavernini, Senior Account Manager

#4:  Embrace change 

The idea of celebrating our tenth anniversary feels almost surreal. Has it really been ten years since we launched beefree.io?

Breaking down this journey into years, months, or days is hard. Looking back, I vividly recall the excitement and nervous energy as we launched the beta version, reaching out to connect with people around the globe. We called out, “We’re here to help you and learn with you,” hoping to serve others. Trying to visualize everything that’s happened since then feels like watching a fast-forwarded movie, where the number of people and the depth of relationships continually grow.

If there’s one constant since we began, it’s continuous change—fueled by constant learning and guided by the curiosity of explorers embarking on their first journey.

Perhaps that’s why it seems strange that ten years have passed—when you’re immersed in a journey like this, time loses its significance. We’re traveling with no fixed destination; what matters most is the act of traveling together.

This extraordinary journey has only been possible because of the remarkable people who have come together, united by strong principles and a shared purpose. I know this is a privilege, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has been part of this.

As we look ahead, I’m excited about the possibilities that await us. Here’s to continuing the journey, embracing the unknown, and discovering new horizons together.

“If there’s one constant since we began, it’s continuous change.”
- Guillermo Padilla, Head of Product

#5: Embrace the complexity of remote 

As I reflect on my journey with Beefree, leading People & Culture at a global company with roots in Italy and a dynamic business in the U.S. has been an adventure shaped by innovation and transformation.

Beefree has been running as a remote-first company for 10 years. At first, I thought leading remotely meant simply managing from a distance—overcoming time zone challenges while balancing flexibility and risk. But I quickly realized it’s far more complex. Remote work isn’t just about geography; it blurs boundaries between ‘nowhere’ and ‘everywhere.’ Without the right mindset and cultural mapping artifacts, it can be isolating and overwhelming. 

We are uncovering new ways of working to transform this challenge into an opportunity, fostering a culture of clear communication, empathy, and self-care. It’s a journey of continuous improvement—one I’m excited to keep learning from every day.

“It’s a journey of continuous improvement—one I’m excited to keep learning from every day.”
- Enrica Lipari, People & Culture Director

#6: 100 employees is complicated – and it is a treasure

Think of hosting a BBQ with 100 people. Or going on vacation with 100 people. Or how about throwing a birthday party for your little one with another 100 little ones? 100-people anything is complicated. How can it not be? I’m complicated. You’re complicated. How about 100 of us???  

Companies are this somewhat random mix of complicated human beings that get together to build things for other complicated humans. How cool is that? And yes, messy too. But as long as there’s a positive, respectful, caring cultural foundation that makes it (mostly) work, relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy daily new discoveries. That’s what building a company is ultimately all about.

“Companies are this somewhat random mix of complicated human beings that get together to build things for other complicated humans. How cool is that?”
- Massimo Arrigoni, CEO

#7:  It’s the People 

With apologies to Mars Blackman and Michael Jordan... it's not the shoes; so it's gotta be the PEOPLE! 

Like any sports organization, a business is made up of individuals working together for a common purpose (you know - a team). I've worked at many different companies over the years, and not a single one has come close to replicating the trust and passion found among my colleagues at Beefree... and I'm extremely grateful to be a part of this 10 year birthday celebration!

“I've worked at many different companies over the years, and not a single one has come close to replicating the trust and passion found among my colleagues at Beefree.”
- Cedric Adams, Business Development Manager

#8:  Growing together on an exciting journey

Being part of this project from day one has been an extraordinary journey, one that has shaped both my career and my perspective on teamwork and innovation. I started as a full-stack developer, diving into the code, shaping the first iterations of what would become a powerful tool for creativity. Today, I have the immense honor of leading a development team that has grown beyond what I could have imagined. Watching this team evolve growing in size, talent, and ambition—has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

What truly stands out is the growth of the people. Over the years, I’ve witnessed colleagues take on new challenges, step into leadership roles, and push the boundaries of what we can achieve together. Every individual contribution has played a vital role in our collective success, and it's been a privilege to be part of such a collaborative and passionate group.

This journey, however, isn’t limited to our team alone. I’ve seen other departments flourish alongside us, each playing a crucial part in driving the project forward. Together, we’ve navigated challenges, celebrated victories, and pushed the envelope of what’s possible in our industry.

It's been an honor to stand on the front lines of this initiative, helping to create a platform that empowers people to express their creativity through successful newsletters.

As we look to the future, I’m filled with excitement for what’s to come. I couldn’t ask for a better team to embark on this journey. I’m excited to see what the future holds and to continue growing alongside the whole team.

“I've worked at many different companies over the years, and not a single one has come close to replicating the trust and passion found among my colleagues at Beefree.”
- Loris Cabrini, Head of Engineering

Happy birthday, Beefree!

While we’ve grown a lot, recently passing $15m in annual recurring revenue, a lot has also stayed the same. 

We’re still anchored in the same values and operating principles that have allowed us to maintain a 97% employee retention rate–really high for the tech industry.

True today as it was on October 18, 2014, our core job-to-be-done is the same: providing users with an accessible design tool that frees them up to do their best work. Anyone can start designing with Beefree: no questions asked, no form to fill out, no email address to submit, nothing. No friction. All sorts of businesses use it to design all kinds of emails and landing pages. 

To them, and to our past, present and future customers, thank you!

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In a rapidly evolving digital landscape where algorithms and user preferences change at the speed of light, BlueprintNYC reminds us that email should be fun.

BlueprintNYC is an award-winning agency based in New York City that pairs “art and science to design experiences that engage hearts and minds to incite action.” As for all agencies, scalability, ease of use, and seamless integration with their clients’ ESPs are the key factors that enable real success from email campaigns. 

Today we bring Nicolas “Nico” Bogdan, Sr. Comms & Engagement Producer at BlueprintNYC to share how they transformed their email program from a time-sucking machine to a well-oiled collaborative effort. 

What follows are excerpts from our conversation with Nico Bogdan at BlueprintNYC, edited for readability and engagement. 

Struggling with design, collaboration, and deliverability issues

When we design emails, it’s not just for clients but also for our internal communications. These emails vary depending on what's happening in the company, but one of our regular practices is sharing weekend highlights. Every Monday, team members share what they did over the weekend—whether it’s something fun, personal milestones, or volunteer work—and we transform these into a quick-hit Monday afternoon culture & company news update called “THE WEEKENDER!”

This weekly email and our monthly newsletter became our creative playground. We experiment with layouts, different formats, spacing, and graphics. It was all about pushing the boundaries and having fun. But our old tool started holding us back. It was more of an email distribution platform than a true design tool. 

It lacked the flexibility we needed for customization and collaboration, not just for our emails but for our clients. As a team, it was difficult to work together efficiently, and design became frustrating instead of inspiring.

The tipping point came when we discovered that our emails weren’t just missing the mark visually—they were sometimes ending up in spam folders or being blocked entirely, depending on our client’s email suite. That’s when we knew we needed something more robust and reliable to keep up with our creativity and our clients' requests.

An unexpected, happy solution 

Beefree came to us by chance almost two years ago. One of our clients was using it, and it was really easy for us to design and push communications wherever they needed them. 

It took us a little while to finally create our own account, but once we did, it was seamless. 

Nothing changed for our clients, only fewer issues the ease of integrating our emails for distribution to their teams. We went straight to creating workspaces and folders to organize our comms plans and events of all sizes. 

The best part is, if clients have any changes, we can bring another teammate from a different department.They can be trained easily on Beefree because there really isn’t a learning curve once you understand the basics. 

"The collaboration on Beefree is also so much better than our previous ESP. It's really easy and accessible. Multiple team members can work on the communications simultaneously, so that's ideal."

The new standard for email production

I enjoy creating engaging internal campaigns with Beefree, and I love that it gives our team complete control over the visual elements across all our communications. 

Our email production process has become 25% faster, thanks to the use of standardized templates, Saved Rows, and more streamlined collaboration tools. This new approach allows us to cut down on repetitive tasks and focus more on creativity and execution.

Before, the process was tedious and full of unnecessary steps—we had to manually inspect HTML, import it into builders, and move it between platforms before sharing it with clients. This opened up countless opportunities for errors and wasted time.

Now, with a structured, efficient system in place, the quality of our work has increased by 50%, and we have a lot more fun designing, setting a new standard for email production within our team.

Wrap up

Using Beefree, the BlueprintNYC team experienced a significant transformation in their communication processes. The collaborative tools, improved asset management, and significant time savings all contributed to their success. BlueprintNYC’s success story demonstrates the importance of choosing the right platform to enhance communication efficiency. Read more about their success story with Beefree here.

To try first hand how Beefree can transform your organization's communications, create a free account and get started now!