Frontline Tech

Category: Share Information Through Email Mailing Lists

Common free tools to create broadcast email newsletters to send messages to Newcomers about services, and other information.

  • Groups.io

    Description

    Groups.io is a privacy-focused group email list/web discussion tool. You can use announcement-only/broadcast, moderated, or restricted groups, or groups with other combinations of settings.

    Current known uses in the sector

    • Groups.io can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools, Pre-Arrival as an group communication and discussion tool with clients and communities.

    Video overview

    Pricing

    Their free account allows for groups up to 100 members. Paid versions have more features, including additional collaboration tools (such as Polls, Calendar, Chat, Database, Photos, Files, Wiki).

    Ease of use & Accessibility

    Easy to set up and use. If accessed through email by group members, easy and accessible.

    Mobile friendly

    Most users will access through email after signing up. However, the site and additional tools/features can be accessed on any device through the web browser.

    Privacy/security features, including data security and message encryption

    Groups.io has customizable privacy settings.

    Multilingual capabilities

    Additional resources

  • Google Groups

    Description

    Google Groups is a group email list/web discussion tool. You can use announcement-only/broadcast, moderated, or restricted groups, or groups with other combinations of settings.

    Current known uses in the sector

    • Google Groups can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools, Pre-Arrival as an group communication and discussion tool with clients and communities.

    Video overview

    Pricing

    Google Groups is free for personal/individual use. According to Google, “There are two versions of Groups – the free version for everyone, and a version for organizations (work, school, and so on). The tasks you can do and features you can access depend on which version you have. If you’re signed in with a work or school account, the tasks and features available to you are customized by your administrator.”

    Ease of use & Accessibility

    Easy to set up and use. If accessed through email by group members, easy and accessible.

    Mobile friendly

    Most users will access through email after signing up. However, the site and additional tools/features can be accessed on any device through the web browser.

    Privacy/security features, including data security and message encryption

    Google Groups has a variety of privacy settings that can be customized by Group owners/moderators.

    Multilingual capabilities

    You can choose different languages to be used for system-generated information such as notifications and email footers that come with each group email.

    Additional resources

  • Mailchimp

    Description

    Mailchimp is an email mailing list/newsletter tool you can use to manage mailing lists and create email marketing campaigns.

    Current known uses in the sector

    • Used mainly as an email newsletter tool for organization information, donation/fundraising, and marketing purposes.
    • Mailchimp can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools, Pre-Arrival as an group communication and discussion tool with clients and communities.

    Video overview

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKcNRbeALN8

    Pricing

    Mailchimp has a free account that allows you to add 2000 email addresses and send up to 10,000 messages per month. They have a number of other paid plans with more features. Mailchimp offers a 15% discount to nonprofits and charities.

    Ease of use & Accessibility

    Mailchimp is easy to use and fairly intuitive for mailing list/newsletter creators. Mailchimp has a number of information articles and tutorials about accessibility.

    Mobile friendly

    Mailchimp is designed to be mobile-friendly, they also have mobile apps you can use to manage your account and send messages.

    Privacy/security features, including data security and message encryption

    Mailchimp Privacy FAQs – Learn about Mailchimp and Intuit privacy. Mailchimp Data Security and Privacy – Details on Mailchimp’s data security and privacy policy.

    Multilingual capabilities

    The Mailchimp web account – where you manage your audience and marketing content – is currently only available in English. However, their Guides & Tutorials are currently available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German. Find out more.

    You can use different languages in your email signup forms and messages. Find out more.

    Additional resources