How Renaissance Sri Lanka keeps its community informed without a communications department.

The challenge

The tools worked. They were also in the way.

Renaissance Sri Lanka has been running projects for over six years: building resilient communities in the Mannar District, helping women in the Badulla District start dry food businesses, training women in agroecological farming across the Northern Province.

Work like that produces exactly the kind of news a supporter list is for. Reaching that list, though, meant using software built for a different job. Chairperson Ashinsa Bopearachchi, who also coordinates the organization's communications, describes what that was like.

“In the past, we’ve used some of the more established email marketing tools, but they often felt unnecessarily complicated, especially for those new to email communication.” Ashinsa Bopearachchi, Chairperson

That last line explains the rest. The people who write to this organization's supporters are the people running its projects. There is no communications department, and no budget to staff one. Whoever has the story writes it, so software built for a marketing specialist means extra work on every update.

The solution

A tool the whole team could pick up.

Bulletin is built for organizations that need to keep people informed rather than run campaigns: create the message, choose the recipients, send. No automation builders, no funnels, no per-seat fees. Unlimited contacts, unlimited teammates, and a bill based only on the emails that actually go out.

For Renaissance Sri Lanka, the test was not whether the software could do more. It was whether people new to this kind of work could use it on the first try.

“Bulletin was different from the start. Our collaborators, including some who were relatively new to this kind of work, adopted it very quickly because the interface is so intuitive.” Ashinsa Bopearachchi, Chairperson

That is the bar we build to: no training rollout, no internal expert whose job becomes explaining the platform to everyone else, and no long trial period before people trust the send button.

The result

More than a newsletter, and only billed when it goes out.

What goes out covers more ground than that: project updates and stories from the field, but also announcements and messages whose only job is to stay in touch.

“For us, it’s not just about sending newsletters. Bulletin makes it much easier to keep our supporters, partners, and wider community informed about our activities.” Ashinsa Bopearachchi, Chairperson

Those messages keep different rhythms, and contact-based pricing charges the same either way. Paying per send means the quiet months cost nothing, and the busy ones are not rationed against a monthly allowance.

The organization's own summary of the change is about the team rather than the software, which is the part that matters.

“As someone who coordinates our communication activities, I really appreciate how easy Bulletin makes things for the whole team. People don’t need to be marketing specialists to produce something that looks good and gets the job done.” Ashinsa Bopearachchi, Chairperson

Support is the other half of that. Onboarding and migration help come with the account rather than with a higher tier, and we answer our own support inbox. Renaissance Sri Lanka has put that to the test: whenever they have a question, Bulletin's customer service “responds quickly and provides clear, helpful answers.”

If this sounds like you

Bulletin for nonprofits.

Donor updates, fundraising appeals, volunteer calls, and impact stories. Unlimited contacts, unlimited teammates, and migration help when you move your list across.

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