Case Study: DonorsChoose achieves higher donations and engagement with Twilio SendGrid

How DonorsChoose grows teacher philanthropy with Twilio SendGrid

DonorsChoose, a nonprofit that connects teachers with donors for classroom resources, needed a more effective way to engage supporters and boost fundraising through email. After using Twilio SendGrid for transactional messages, the team wanted more control over promotional emails, including automation, segmentation, and personalization, without relying heavily on engineering support.

Twilio helped DonorsChoose unify its email program with Twilio SendGrid’s Email API, enabling customized automated campaigns for teachers and donors. As a result, email fundraising grew from about $10 million a year to over $25 million annually, with transactional open rates reaching 60–70% and promotional open rates rising to 30% from 18–20% before the switch.

DonorsChoose

Jasmine Penny

Email Program Manager