Before we dive in, let's make sure terms like "group" and "audience" don't get confused during the process. Here's an overview of some terms we'll be using throughout this article:

Each group created in Novi is a segment of the database. The resulting group can then be synced to Mailchimp. The sync automatically includes Email, First Name, Last Name, and Company. For companies, the name syncs over to the First Name field and the Last Name is blank. You can optionally set up other fields to sync in your Association Settings.

Each audience in Mailchimp represents a list of contacts (i.e. recipients or subscribers). All Novi Groups sync to one Mailchimp Audience (which is called "Novi AMS" by default, but it can be re-named).

Mailchimp allows you to create multiple audiences within your account, but it's generally recommended to use a single audience and organize contacts using groups, tags, and segments. This approach helps avoid duplicate contacts, simplifies billing, and streamlines automations and reporting.

Within each Mailchimp Audience, contacts can be segmented by Interest Group. Each Novi Group that synced to Mailchimp will be represented within one Interest Group in the Novi AMS Audience (which is called "Novi AMS Interests" by default, but can re-name).

Within the Mailchimp Interest Groups there are Mailchimp Groups. Think of these as sub-groups under the Interest Group. These correspond directly to synced Novi groups, committees, and events.

Mailchimp Tags are customizable labels created for contacts based on what’s important for the association to know. Tags can be created and assigned to contacts using batch actions in Novi Groups, Event Attendee lists, Committee lists, and Email Sync lists.

Tags created in Novi sync as a one time batch action to Mailchimp; tags do not continue to sync from Mailchimp to Novi. Tag management must be done directly in Mailchimp.

Mailchimp Tags are often used for tracking attributes that don't change. Example: Tag attendees of a specific event, after the event happens, so you don't have to keep a group syncing over.

At the very core of the integration, here's what happens:

NOTE: This step was likely completed during onboarding unless you are switching from Constant Contact to Mailchimp after onboarding.

If you are newly using Mailchimp, connect Novi to your Mailchimp account by following these steps:

1. Generate an API Key in Mailchimp and copy.

2. In the admin side of Novi, click the gear icon in the top right corner and select Association Settings.

3. Click on the Integrations tab and go to the Email Marketing section.

4. Paste your API Key in the Mailchimp API Key field.

5. Click the Save & Close button.

6. We also highly recommend double-checking your default "From Address" in Mailchimp. If Novi & Mailchimp were synced before you listed a "From" email address in Novi, that email in Mailchimp may be a default Novi email address.

Member system fields and custom fields can be synced from Novi to Mailchimp to use as merge fields in Mailchimp. Four fields will always be included in the sync:

You can select up to 17 additional member system or custom fields to sync. Available fields include:

To add a field to the Mailchimp sync:

After navigating to Association Settings > Integrations tab

To remove a field from the sync, click the Remove button next to the field.

When a field is added to or removed from the list, Novi will initiate a full sync of all records with that field, currently syncing to Mailchimp (See Getting Novi & Mailchimp to Start Syncing below.) Any time a synced field is updated on a member record, the field will be updated in Mailchimp, in real time.

Items to Note:

Members won't automatically sync to Mailchimp until admins sync a Novi Group, Committee, or Event. 

To sync a Novi Group to Mailchimp, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Members > Segments > Groups in Novi.

2. Find or create the Novi Group to be synced to Mailchimp. 

3. Move to the Integrations tab and toggle the Sync to Mailchimp setting to ON. 

4. Click the Save button. The contacts in the Novi group will sync to Mailchimp.  

>> Note: The initial sync time varies. Contact us if the initial sync takes more than an hour or so.

To sync a Novi Committee to Mailchimp, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Members > Segments > Committees in Novi.

2. Find or create the Novi Committee to be synced to Mailchimp.

3. Move to the Integrations tab and toggle the Sync to Mailchimp setting to ON.

4. Click the Save button. The contacts in the Novi Committee will sync to Mailchimp.

>> Note: The initial sync time varies. Contact us if the initial sync takes more than an hour or so.

To sync a Novi Event to Mailchimp, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Events in Novi.

2. Find or create the Event to be synced to Mailchimp.

3. Move to the Settings tab and toggle the Sync to Mailchimp setting to ON.

4. Click the Save button. The registrants of the Event will sync to Mailchimp.

>> Note: The initial sync time varies. Contact us if the initial sync takes more than an hour or so.

When there are multiple customer records with the same email address, Novi will choose one of those records to associate with the email over in Mailchimp and Constant Contact. Learn more about how Novi chooses which record "wins" in this article.

1. In Mailchimp, go to the Audience section.

2. Click the More Options button

3. Select Groups from the drop-down.

4. Click View Groups on the right next to Novi AMS Interests.

Once Novi contacts are syncing over to Mailchimp, you can create a campaign.

We recommend checking out this Mailchimp article about Creating a Regular Email if you're new to Mailchimp.

Novi's sync comes into play while you are selecting the Segement of who to send your email to.

1. Click To to open the settings and determine who should receive your email.

2. Click the Send to drop-down and select (3) Target segment

4. The Segment Builder will open. Choose Novi AMS Interests.

5. A secondary drop-down will display. This is where you'll build out your conditions to include or exclude certain Novi Groups, Committees, and Events.

6. Once your conditions look right, click Review Segment in the top right.

7. After spot checking and previewing the recipients of this email, click Use Segment.

Further audience segmentation of Mailchimp audiences is made possible by using Novi Batch Tags to create Tags in Mailchimp. These batch actions are possible with group members, event attendee lists, committee members, and Email Sync List.

To use this functionality, select the people you would like to apply the tag. Select "Mailchimp Batch Action" from the Batch Actions dropdown. In the modal that pops up, check the number of email addresses to be tagged and name the tag. This will add the tag to the contact in Mailchimp. A notification will appear in the Alert Center with a CSV file showing which show which emails were tagged and which were not tagged.

Note: Added tags must be managed from Mailchimp. Also, Contacts must already exist in Mailchimp for the tags to be applied.

Mailchimp Tags are often used for tracking attributes that don't change, unlike Groups based on conditions. Example: Tag attendees of a specific event, after the event happens, so you don't have to keep a group syncing over.

If a subscriber is no longer included in any of Novi Groups, Committees, or Events syncing to Mailchimp they are archived from the Novi AMS audience in Mailchimp. This will keep mailing lists clean and updated. Note, this does not remove the person or their information from Novi.

If the contact re-syncs, it unarchives the existing record in Mailchimp.

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​(This is rare...) If subscribers are manually imported lists/groups within the Novi AMS audience Novi will still "clean up" the audience, so if a subscriber is removed from ALL groups in the Novi AMS audience, they will be archived automatically by Novi.

An important fact to note is that Mailchimp will only accept active, useable email addresses. Their algorithm determines whether or not emails fit these standards or if they are at risk of being flagged as spam. Email addresses in your database that do not meet these guidelines run the risk of having to go through a process to be reconfirmed in Mailchimp at their discretion. 

Change the email address in the "Setup" portion of the campaign builder in Mailchimp. This will show recipients that the email is coming from the chosen address and if subscribers respond, it will be sent to that email. This is a good technique if the email campaign is specific to a project or event a specific staff member is working on. The form to change the email address looks like this:

The "From Name" can also be edited. This is great for messaging that is coming from a specific person - like the President of the Board or even from a department within your organization such as, ABC Association Events. When changing the From Name, consider keeping the From Email as the association so replies are sent to staff.

Un-syncing a Novi group will remove the Mailchimp Group.

A Novi group will always override manual adds or removals to the Mailchimp Groups that didn't come directly from Novi, which is something to heavily consider before utilizing the Mailchimp preferences link.

Our recommendation is to utilize Novi's custom fields and groups to allow users to set their preferences via their Member Compass, that way, you can customize your segmented lists right in Novi, before sending them to Mailchimp. Users can also update these at the same time they're updating their profile.

When going this route, include a "Update my Preferences" link in the footer of your emails that links to that custom field.