All five offer text messaging, but they differ widely in how well they support donor and student lifecycle automation, like event reminders, urgent alerts, and donation appeals. 10DLC compliance support and pricing structure vary, too, and so does whether SMS comes bundled with email or gets added on separately.
Some platforms are self-serve and let you start sending the same day, while others require a demo and a sales call before you see pricing at all. Below, we compare all five side by side, then break down pricing, nonprofit and education fit, and limitations for each so you can find the right match for your organization's budget and workflow.
How we compared these platforms for nonprofits & education
We looked at each marketing tool for nonprofits and education through the lens of what organizations actually need. Here's the criteria we used:
- Donor/student lifecycle automation: Whether the platform supports the kind of automated messaging nonprofits and schools rely on, like event reminders, urgent alerts, and donation appeals.
- Nonprofit discount programs: Whether the platform offers a formal discount or dedicated plan for nonprofits.
- 10DLC compliance support: Whether the platform helps with the registration and compliance work required to send SMS at scale.
- Pricing transparency and signup model: Whether pricing is published and self-serve, or whether it's gated behind a sales call.
- Bundled vs. standalone SMS: Whether SMS comes bundled with email or has to be purchased as its own product.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is more than just an email marketing tool. You can now bundle SMS as an add-on to any paid Email plan, letting nonprofits and schools text supporters or students without adopting a separate tool. It's fully self-serve, so there's no sales call standing between you and your first campaign.
Pricing
- SMS is an add-on to any paid Email plan; credits from $20/mo (1K) to $2,500/mo (450K); no extra platform fee
- Self-serve from $13/mo; sign up and start sending SMS the same day, no sales call required
Nonprofit/education fit
- Best for: Nonprofits that want SMS bundled with email in a familiar, self-serve tool.
- Self-serve signup: Sign up and start sending SMS the same day, with no sales call required.
- Shared inbox: Email and SMS live in the same shared inbox, so lean teams can manage both channels without adding a separate tool.
- Low unsubscribe rate: Mailchimp's SMS marketing for nonprofits carries an average unsubscribe rate of just 1.3%1, a sign that recipients generally don't find the messaging intrusive.
Limitations
- SMS costs extra: SMS credits are a separate line item on top of the base plan price.
- No built-in fundraising tools: Donation tracking & receipting happen in a connected platform, such as Donorbox or Kindful, rather than in Mailchimp.
Klaviyo
Klaviyo pairs SMS with the same segmentation engine used on its email side, which could appeal to nonprofits that already lean on donor segmentation for their campaigns. Beyond email and SMS, the platform also supports WhatsApp and its own B2C CRM, called Customer Hub, along with predictive analytics and AI agent support built into that hub.
Support is more limited than some competitors, though it's 24/7 email and weekday chat only, with phone support reserved for accounts spending $5k or more in monthly recurring revenue.
Pricing
- Email + SMS plan from about $35/mo (500 profiles); SMS credits scale with volume on top
- Bills on active profiles, so cost scales with list size regardless of send volume
Nonprofit/education fit
- Best for: Nonprofits that want SMS tied to the same donor segmentation used on Klaviyo's email side.
- Donor segmentation carries over: Klaviyo's email side already has a direct nonprofit donor-segmentation feature, so SMS taps into that same data engine instead of starting from scratch.
- Room to grow into more channels: Beyond SMS, Klaviyo also supports WhatsApp and its own B2C CRM, Customer Hub, for nonprofits that want to expand beyond email and text down the line.
Limitations
- Active-profile billing: Because billing is based on active profiles, costs can climb as a donor list grows even without sending more messages.
Brevo
Brevo prices SMS per message rather than folding it into a flat add-on, which could suit nonprofits with lower or more occasional sending volume. The platform also supports WhatsApp alongside email and SMS, and offers an AI data analyst and AI segmentation tool called Aura, though those features are gated to the Professional plan and up.
Pricing
- SMS billed per message (roughly $0.01 to $0.05), on top of Starter from $9/mo
- Dedicated nonprofit email plan with 10,000 free emails/month per independent review; SMS is billed separately on top
Nonprofit/education fit
- Best for: Nonprofits already on Brevo's nonprofit email plan that want to add SMS for event reminders or urgent appeals.
- SMS built into the nonprofit plan: Brevo's dedicated nonprofit email plan already includes SMS, so there's no separate tool to adopt for event reminders or urgent appeals.
- Multichannel by default: Email, SMS, and WhatsApp are all available on the same plan, giving nonprofits more than one way to reach supporters.
Limitations
- Automation gated: Marketing automation, including donor lifecycle flows, is gated behind the Business plan and isn't available on the Free or Starter tiers.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact treats SMS as an add-on across most of its plans, folding it in fully only at the top tier. Behavioral automation isn't available until you reach the Standard plan, though the platform recently added an AI Campaign Builder that can draft a full email, social, and SMS campaign from a single prompt.
Pricing
- SMS add-on from $10/mo (500 messages) on Lite/Standard; included on Premium ($80/mo)
- Lite from $12/mo, Standard from $35/mo, Premium from $80/mo (all at 500 contacts, price rises steeply with list size)
Nonprofit/education fit
- Best for: Nonprofits already using Constant Contact's nonprofit-focused email content who want a simple SMS add-on.
- Dedicated nonprofit guide: Constant Contact publishes its own dedicated nonprofit content on the email side, which can help a first-time or volunteer-run team get oriented faster.
- AI campaign builder: The new AI Campaign Builder drafts a full email, social, and SMS campaign from a single prompt.
Limitations
- SMS costs extra: SMS is an add-on on Lite & Standard, and Premium includes the first 500 messages a month.
Attentive
Attentive is built as an SMS-first platform for ecommerce brands. It has since expanded beyond texting into email, RCS, and push notifications, all tied to unified customer profiles, though it doesn't offer a shared inbox the way some competitors do.
On the automation side, it already offers a full suite of shipped AI tools, including Concierge AI, AI Campaigns, Predictive Analytics, a Reporting Agent, and Brand Voice 2.0. Support comes through an Account Manager and Onboarding Specialist, reflecting its higher-touch, enterprise-scale model.
Pricing
- Pricing is quoted through a custom Order Form & a sales conversation, though Attentive offers free trials to qualified brands.
- Plus $750/mo for a short code; demo-gated, rates sit behind a sales call rather than a public pricing page
Nonprofit/education fit
- Best for: Large nonprofits or university systems with enterprise budgets & a high-volume SMS program.
- Full AI suite already live: Concierge AI, AI Campaigns, Predictive Analytics, a Reporting Agent, and Brand Voice 2.0 are all shipped today, not still in development.
- High-touch support: Every account gets an Account Manager and an Onboarding Specialist, matching the platform's enterprise-scale model.
Limitations
- No self-serve signup: Pricing requires a custom Order Form and a sales call before you can start sending.
- Skews enterprise: The quarterly minimum and short-code fee make it a poor fit for most individual nonprofits or schools.
- Ecommerce-first design: Attentive's positioning is built around online retail, which doesn't map as naturally to donor or student communication as a platform built with nonprofits in mind.
Picking the right SMS platform for your nonprofit or school
A few factors are worth weighing before you decide on the best SMS marketing platform for your nonprofit:
- Budget: Whether a nonprofit discount matters to you and how each platform's pricing fits your budget.
- Signup model: Whether you'd rather sign up self-serve or don't mind a sales-gated process.
- Compliance tooling: Whether you need donor-fundraising-specific compliance tooling or would rather have a simpler bundled add-on.
Reach more supporters with Mailchimp SMS
Mailchimp lets you add SMS to your existing email plan and start reaching supporters and students the same day, no sales call required. See how bundled email and SMS can simplify your next campaign.
Disclaimers
- SMS Marketing unsubscribe rate: Based on the average weekly rate of SMS Marketing messages sent by Mailchimp users from 10/27/24 to 10/12/2025.