Mailchimp integration
Sync your ChurchLinker contacts with Mailchimp so your audience is always up to date for email campaigns.
What the Mailchimp integration does
Why connect Mailchimp?
ChurchLinker has a built-in email broadcaster for congregational communications. Mailchimp is for churches that also want advanced campaign tools: A/B testing, automation sequences, branded newsletter templates, detailed engagement analytics or segmentation beyond what ChurchLinker's broadcaster offers. The integration keeps your Mailchimp audience up to date without any manual exporting.
What gets synced
All active contacts in your ChurchLinker database who have an email address are synced. For each contact, ChurchLinker sends the email address, first name, last name and mobile phone number. Contacts are upserted, meaning existing Mailchimp subscribers are updated and new ones are added. No contacts are deleted from Mailchimp during a sync.
What does not get synced
Contacts without an email address are skipped. Inactive (archived) contacts are not synced. Giving history, pastoral notes, group memberships and attendance records are never sent to Mailchimp.
Which plans include it
Mailchimp sync is available on the Thrive plan and above. If you're on Seed, Sprout or Grow and want to use Mailchimp, upgrade your plan from Settings then Billing.
Connecting Mailchimp: step by step
Step 1: get your Mailchimp API key
Log in to your Mailchimp account. Click your account name in the top right, then go to Account & billing, then Extras, then API keys. Click Create A Key, give it a name like 'ChurchLinker' and copy the key. It looks like a long string of letters and numbers followed by a data centre code, for example: abc123def456-us1.
Step 2: paste it into ChurchLinker
In your ChurchLinker dashboard, go to Settings then AI & integrations. Scroll down to the Mailchimp section. Paste your API key into the input field and click Connect. ChurchLinker pings the Mailchimp API to verify the key before saving it. If the key is wrong or expired you'll see an error straight away.
Step 3: choose your audience
Once connected, a dropdown loads all your Mailchimp audiences (also called lists). Select the audience you want to sync your church contacts into. If you only have one audience in Mailchimp, it's selected automatically.
Step 4: run your first sync
Click Sync now. ChurchLinker will fetch all eligible contacts and send them to Mailchimp in batches. When it finishes, the settings card shows the sync date and how many contacts were synced. For most churches this takes under 10 seconds.
Keeping contacts up to date
How often should I sync?
ChurchLinker does not sync automatically on a schedule. Run Sync now whenever you want to push new or updated contacts across, for instance after a membership drive, after importing a batch of new members or before sending a Mailchimp campaign. Most churches sync once a week or before major communications.
Is re-syncing safe?
Yes. Every sync uses upsert logic: if a contact already exists in Mailchimp their details are updated, if they're new they're added. Running sync multiple times has no negative effect.
What if someone unsubscribes in Mailchimp?
ChurchLinker does not override Mailchimp's unsubscribe status. If someone unsubscribes from your Mailchimp list, re-syncing will not resubscribe them. Mailchimp protects unsubscribed contacts from being re-added. Their contact record in ChurchLinker is not affected.
What about GDPR?
You are the data controller for your congregation's contact data. Syncing contacts to Mailchimp means you are transferring personal data to a third-party processor. Make sure your Privacy Notice mentions Mailchimp as a processor and that you have a lawful basis for sending marketing emails (typically consent). ChurchLinker's GDPR tools let you record and track email consent per contact.
Troubleshooting
"Could not connect with that API key"
Double-check you've copied the full key including the data centre suffix (e.g. -us1 at the end). Keys generated in Mailchimp are only shown once, so if you've lost it generate a new one.
Fewer contacts synced than expected
Only active contacts with an email address in ChurchLinker are synced. Check whether the missing contacts have an email address on their record and whether they're marked as active. You can filter by these fields in the People section of your dashboard.
Audiences list is empty
This means your Mailchimp account has no audiences yet. Log in to Mailchimp and create an audience first, then come back and refresh the settings page.
I disconnected by mistake
Disconnecting removes the API key from ChurchLinker but does not affect your Mailchimp account or any previously synced contacts. Simply reconnect with your API key and select your audience again.
Ready to connect?
Head to your Settings, scroll to the Mailchimp section under AI & integrations and paste your API key to get started.