Email Marketing Service and MailChimp

By Charles M. Pickett

As the VFW New Haven has grown, it has outgrown Gmail for our bulk emailing. We have been using MailChimp to send out the monthly newsletter and draft minutes to our members for over a year and a reminder meeting and event email.

Here is how I send out the monthly mailing:

1. Go to Mailchimp.com (VFWNewHaven)
   1. Click Lists and find the “VFW New Haven Members”
   2. Click “˅” on the far right menu and click “import”
2. Go to VFW.org and log in
   1. Go to Memstats
   2. Click on Reporting > Post Query (may be QM only)
   3. Under Post Counts (members in good standing) click on the number under Total
   4. Click on “Download” to get a fresh CSV file
3. Go back to Mailchimp tab
   1. Radio Button: Use settings from last import > click “Next” (bottom right)
   2. Import from CSV file: Click Browse (select the fresh CSV file) > click “Next” (bottom right)
   3. Just click “Next” (bottom right) [unless there is a desire to change import options]
   4. Verify “Subscribed” and “Auto-update my existing list” are selected: click “Import” (bottom right)
4. Stay at MailChimp
   1. Click Campaign and click “replicate” from last campaign (use as template)
   2. Change fields (Campaign Name, Subject) > click “Next” (bottom right)
   3. Edit Minutes Button (upload PDF to MailChimp, change to current month)
   4. Edit Newsletter Section
   5. Edit Promotion Sidebar
   6. Edit Header Section
   7. Send campaign
   8. Done.