Using Zapier to keep MailChimp updated with emails from Populi

Note: The Zapier integration requires an invite link from us before it will show up for you in their web interface. If you would like us to turn this feature on for your school, please contact Populi Support.

Disclaimer: Populi has limited ability to debug any issues you may have with Zapier's service. The instructions provided here ensure that you can set up your Zapier integration correctly on the Populi side, but if you have any problems with Zapier, you'll need to consult their help resources.

If your school doesn't have its own in-house developers, you can use Zapier to build integrations between Populi and other platforms. While Zapier lets you build your own custom webhook listeners and API calls, we recommend using our official Zapier integration, which will do most of the heavy lifting for you.

This article describes one method to configure Zapier to update email addresses in MailChimp with fresh data from Populi. In this example, we will create a "Person Updated" trigger handler in Populi that will fire a webhook to Zapier whenever a person with a particular tag is updated. This will send the updated person's email address to Zapier, which will in turn pass it on to your MailChimp account to update your contacts there.

Step 1: Create a new Zap

For the event, tell Zapier to listen for a "Person Updated" webhook from Populi.

As part of this step, Zapier will provide you with a custom webhook URL. Copy this URL.

Step 2: Tell Populi what to do

Tell Populi to send a webook to Zapier whenever a Person in Populi with the "MailChimp" tag is updated.

Step 3

Back in Zapier, set the action to "Add/Update Subscriber" in MailChimp. Set the relevant email fields to pull the data from the Populi webhook, which will be named something like "Data Person Email Addresses Email".

Step 4

Publish everything and test it. Find a person in Populi and give them the MailChimp tag. About 10-20 seconds later, you should see them show up as a contact in MailChimp—or if they were already there, then you'll see their updated email address.