Give Wild Apricot members an email discussion list
Gaggle Mail's Wild Apricot integration syncs your membership levels and member groups into email discussion lists automatically. Members reply to each other from their inbox — no logins, no forums. The sync runs daily, one-way from Wild Apricot, so your membership data stays exactly where it is.
Membership levels
& member groups
Email discussion
lists
members@
board@
- Sync direction
- One-way
- Runs
- Daily
- Setup time
- ~5 min
The missing piece
The email discussion list your members have been asking for
Wild Apricot is excellent at what it was built for: membership records, renewals, event registration, and your organisation's website. Most associations that run on it have no reason to leave — and shouldn't.
But there is one thing it doesn't do: member-to-member email discussion. Wild Apricot's email is one-way — admin-to-member blasts, newsletters, and automated system messages. Members cannot start or reply to a conversation by email. The forums are web-only: notification emails default to a daily digest, and there is no way to reply to a Wild Apricot forum post by email, so responding means remembering a password and posting on the website.
The consequence is predictable, and Wild Apricot's own customers describe it best: members won't log in to a website to have a conversation, so discussion goes quiet.
Reply-by-email has been on the Wild Apricot wishlist since 2011 — and it's still not built.
- Wild Apricot
- handles your members
- Gaggle Mail
- gives them a discussion list
Connected.
How it works
How the sync works
The Gaggle Mail Wild Apricot integration is a read-only Wild Apricot API integration: it connects to your account with an API key you can revoke at any time. Once connected, it keeps your groups in sync with no manual imports.
- One-way, always
- The sync is one-way: Wild Apricot is the source of truth, and Gaggle Mail never writes back to Wild Apricot.
- Runs daily
- The sync runs every day on its own. You can also trigger a sync manually at any time from Gaggle Mail.
- Map levels & groups
- Map Wild Apricot membership levels and member groups to Gaggle Mail groups — the "Active Members" level feeds
members@, the "Board" group feedsboard@. - Kept up to date
- New members in Wild Apricot are added to the matching group on the next sync; lapsed or removed members are removed. Every group stays current with no manual imports.
- Respects unsubscribes
- Members who have unsubscribed from a Gaggle Mail group are never re-subscribed by the sync.
- Read-only & revocable
- Access uses a read-only API key stored encrypted in Google Secret Manager. Revoke it from Wild Apricot at any time to cut off access instantly.
Each mapping keeps one Gaggle Mail group in sync with a Wild Apricot member group or membership level.
Quick to connect
Set up in five minutes
Connect Wild Apricot to Gaggle Mail once, choose what to sync, and you're done — the rest is automatic. And if you'd rather not do it alone, our support team is available 24/7 and happy to walk you through every step.
-
1
Create your free Gaggle Mail account. New to Gaggle Mail? Start here — just tell us your Wild Apricot account name and we'll set up your organisation.
-
2
Generate an API key in Wild Apricot. Go to Apps → Integration → Authorized applications and create a server application (setup guide).
-
3
Paste the key into Gaggle Mail and choose which membership levels and member groups to sync. The first sync runs immediately, then daily (mapping guide).
Don't pay until you're happy
We're so confident you'll love Gaggle Mail that we'll let you prove it first. Set the whole thing up and run it live on your free 30-day trial — connect Wild Apricot, sync your members, put it through its paces. You only start paying when you're genuinely happy. No card up front, no pressure.
Compare
Blasts vs forums vs discussion list
Wild Apricot gives you two ways to communicate with members out of the box. Here is how they compare with a Gaggle Mail discussion list connected through the integration.
| Capability | Wild Apricot email blasts | Wild Apricot forums | Gaggle Mail + integration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members can reply by email | No — one-way only | No — replies happen on the website | Yes |
| Members can start a topic by email | No | No | Yes |
| Immediate delivery | Yes — good for announcements | Notifications default to a daily digest | Yes |
| Works in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail | Yes — receiving only | No — web browser required to take part | Yes |
| No login required for members | Yes — receiving only | No — posting requires a website login | Yes |
| Searchable archive | No | Yes — on the website | Yes |
| Moderation controls | Not needed — admins send | Yes | Yes |
| Membership stays in sync | Yes — native | Yes — native | Yes — daily sync from Wild Apricot |
Who it's for
Built for associations and clubs
If you need an email discussion list for members that stays in sync with your membership database, the integration fits these patterns:
Professional associations
Committee lists and chapter lists that keep member discussion where members already are: their inbox.
Member societies
A whole-membership discussion list, synced from your "current members" level so it is always accurate.
Clubs and chapters
Day-to-day conversation between members without asking anyone to log in to a website.
Community organisations
Volunteers and organisers coordinating by email, with membership managed in Wild Apricot.
"Overall technical execution and ease-of-use make Gaggle Mail the best option in the market."
Why Gaggle Mail
The leading modern group email platform
Gaggle Mail has run reliable group email discussion lists for over ten years. We serve professional associations, clubs, nonprofits, schools, faith groups, and community organisations of every size — from a committee of ten to a membership of tens of thousands.
It's built to be simple. There's nothing to host, patch, or maintain: members email a single address, everyone gets the message, and replies flow to the whole group. It works in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail — no apps, no logins, no training.
And it's built to be reliable. Getting every message delivered is the whole job, so that's what we obsess over — alongside searchable archives, moderation, digests, and a modern API for when you need them.
- Running since
- 2015
- Communities
- 8,700+
- Members
- 945K
- Messages / month
- 2.2M
FAQ
Common questions
Have a different question and can't find the answer you're looking for? Our support team is available 24/7 and always happy to help — just send us an email and we'll get right back to you.
- Does the integration overwrite or change my Wild Apricot members?
- No — the sync is strictly one-way, and Gaggle Mail never writes to Wild Apricot. The integration reads your membership levels and member groups through the Wild Apricot API and updates your Gaggle Mail groups to match. Your membership database stays exactly where it is.
- What happens when a member lapses or is removed in Wild Apricot?
- They are removed from the synced Gaggle Mail group on the next daily sync. Membership levels can be set to sync only current members, so lapsed memberships drop off automatically without any manual list maintenance.
- What happens if a member unsubscribes from the Gaggle Mail group?
- They stay on your roster but stop receiving list email. The sync never re-subscribes someone who has opted out — honouring an unsubscribe is a legal requirement (CAN-SPAM) and good deliverability practice, so the integration treats it as standing until the member opts back in themselves.
- Is my Wild Apricot API key secure?
- Yes — the key is stored encrypted in Google Secret Manager, used read-only, and never written to our database or logs. You can revoke it from Wild Apricot at any time, which immediately cuts off the integration's access.
- Does Wild Apricot have a built-in listserv?
- No. Wild Apricot offers one-way email blasts and web-only forums; reply-by-email discussion has been an open wishlist request since 2011. The Gaggle Mail Wild Apricot integration adds a real email discussion list alongside Wild Apricot's membership management.
- How much does the Wild Apricot integration cost?
- The integration is included with Gaggle Mail Pro at no extra charge. You pay for your Gaggle Mail plan as normal — see current prices on the pricing page — and paid plans start with a 30-day free trial, no credit card required.
Keep Wild Apricot. Add the email discussion list.
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