Superhuman
Drowning in donor emails, board communications, grant correspondence, and stakeholder follow-ups—spending 3+ hours daily just keeping up with your inbox? Superhuman is an AI-native email client that helps you fly through email twice as fast with Auto Drafts that write responses in your voice, Auto Labels that organize everything automatically, and keyboard shortcuts that eliminate mouse clicks. Nonprofit leaders report saving 4+ hours weekly, transforming email from a productivity drain into a strategic advantage.
What It Does
Ever end your workday with 200+ unread emails and the sinking feeling that you've missed something important—a donor inquiry, a board member's question, a grant deadline reminder buried under newsletter promotions? Or spend your mornings context-switching between donor CRM, email client, and calendar, losing precious minutes to the friction of disconnected tools?
Superhuman replaces your inbox with an AI-powered email experience built for speed. It loads emails instantly (no more Gmail loading screens), uses 100+ keyboard shortcuts to eliminate mouse clicks, and deploys AI to handle the cognitive load of email management. Auto Drafts write follow-up emails in your voice before you even think to write them. Auto Labels categorize every incoming email without you creating rules. Split Inbox separates your team's messages from newsletters, tools, and cold outreach—so urgent donor communications never get lost in promotional noise.
For nonprofit executives and development directors who receive 50-150+ emails daily from board members, major donors, partner organizations, and grant officers, Superhuman transforms email from a reactive time sink into a proactive communication tool. The AI learns your writing patterns and relationship contexts, helping you respond faster while maintaining the personal touch that makes nonprofit relationships work. Users consistently report reaching "inbox zero" in half the time, with one study showing professionals save an average of 4 hours per week after adopting Superhuman.
Best For
Organization Size
- Mid to large nonprofits with high email volume
- Organizations where leaders manage external relationships
- Teams using Salesforce or HubSpot for donor management
Best Use Cases
- Managing donor and board member correspondence
- Coordinating grant applications and funder communications
- Executive-level stakeholder relationship management
- High-volume partnership and vendor correspondence
Ideal For
- Executive Directors and CEOs managing diverse stakeholders
- Development Directors cultivating major gift prospects
- Grant writers coordinating with multiple foundations
- Power users who embrace keyboard shortcuts
Key Features for Nonprofits
Auto Drafts
AI writes email responses in your voice before you ask
Superhuman's AI analyzes your past emails to learn your writing style, then automatically generates draft responses for incoming messages. When a board member asks about the Q4 budget, a draft reply with your typical tone and sign-off is waiting. You edit and send in seconds instead of composing from scratch—crucial when managing 50+ daily donor and stakeholder emails.
- Learns your tone, formality level, and common phrases
- Adapts writing style based on recipient relationship
- Reduces response time from 5 minutes to 30 seconds
Auto Labels & Auto Archive
AI automatically categorizes and prioritizes every email
Every incoming email is automatically classified into categories: newsletters, marketing, notifications, and actual human correspondence requiring attention. Cold outreach and promotional emails get auto-archived, so your inbox shows only messages that matter. Custom Auto Labels let you create AI-powered filters using natural language (e.g., "emails about grant applications" or "messages from board members").
- Separates important donor emails from newsletter noise
- Creates custom categories without complex filter rules
- Auto-archives marketing emails so they don't clutter inbox
Split Inbox
Organized sections for different email types
Split Inbox divides your email into customizable sections: Team (internal colleagues), VIPs (board members, major donors), Tools (Google Docs, Notion, Slack notifications), and more. Instead of a single overwhelming stream, you see prioritized categories—address urgent board requests first, batch-process tool notifications later, and never miss a major donor reply buried under Mailchimp reports.
- Prioritize board and major donor communications
- Batch-process tool notifications separately
- Customizable sections for your workflow
Blazing Speed & Keyboard Shortcuts
100+ shortcuts to eliminate mouse clicks entirely
Superhuman's core promise is speed. Emails load in under 100ms (Gmail often takes 3-5 seconds). Every action has a keyboard shortcut: archive with "E", reply with "R", remind me later with "H". Power users process 50 emails in the time it takes to handle 10 in Gmail. For nonprofit leaders switching between tasks constantly, this speed compounds into hours saved weekly.
- Sub-100ms load times (Gmail averages 3-5 seconds)
- Process entire inbox without touching mouse
- Snooze, remind, and schedule send with single keystrokes
Read Receipts & Insights
Know exactly when and how often emails are opened
See when recipients open your emails and how many times they've read them. For development officers sending major gift solicitations, this intel is invaluable—you'll know if a prospect has opened your proposal five times (signal of interest) or hasn't opened it at all (time for a follow-up call). Time your outreach based on actual engagement data rather than guesswork.
- Track major gift proposal engagement
- Time follow-ups when prospects are actively engaged
- Identify cold emails that need different approach
CRM Integration
Salesforce and HubSpot data in your inbox sidebar
On Business plan, Superhuman shows CRM contact details, donation history, and recent activities directly in your inbox sidebar. When a major donor emails, you instantly see their giving history, last interaction, and any open opportunities—without switching to Salesforce. This context helps development officers respond more personally and strategically.
- View donor giving history without leaving email
- Integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive
- Log emails to CRM with one click
How This Tool Uses AI
Superhuman underwent a major AI transformation in October 2025, adding comprehensive AI features throughout the email experience. Here's what's actually powered by AI versus standard features:
What's Actually AI-Powered
Auto Drafts & Voice Adaptation
Type of AI: Large language model (LLM) fine-tuned on your email history
What it does: Analyzes your sent emails to learn your writing patterns—sentence length, formality level, common phrases, sign-offs. Then generates draft responses for incoming emails before you open them. The AI also adapts tone per recipient based on your historical correspondence with them (more formal for board members, casual for close colleagues).
How it learns: Continuously improves by observing which drafts you accept, edit, or discard. After 2-3 weeks of use, drafts typically match your voice well enough to send with minimal edits.
Practical impact: Instead of composing 30 emails from scratch daily, you review and edit AI drafts—turning a 5-minute task into a 30-second review. For development officers sending personalized donor follow-ups, this preserves relationship quality while dramatically reducing time investment.
Auto Labels & Classification
Type of AI: Classification model trained on email metadata and content
What it does: Automatically categorizes every incoming email into types: newsletters, marketing/promotional, transactional (receipts, confirmations), human correspondence, automated notifications, and cold outreach. No manual rule creation—the AI understands context and patterns.
How it learns: Pre-trained on millions of email patterns. Refines categorization based on your corrections—if you move an email to a different category, the AI learns that sender/pattern belongs elsewhere.
Practical impact: Your inbox only shows emails requiring attention. Newsletters and marketing emails are auto-labeled and optionally auto-archived, so you see board member and donor communications first—not buried under 50 promotional emails.
AI Search & Summarization
Type of AI: Natural language understanding (NLU) + semantic search
What it does: Lets you search your inbox using natural language queries like "emails about the Smith Foundation grant from last month" or "conversations where I promised to follow up." Also summarizes long email threads into digestible bullet points, highlighting key decisions and action items.
How it learns: Uses semantic understanding rather than keyword matching. The AI understands that "grant application" and "funding proposal" are related concepts, finding relevant emails even when exact terms don't match.
Practical impact: When preparing for a donor meeting, search "all communications with John Smith about capital campaign" and get a summary of the relationship history in seconds—instead of manually scrolling through months of fragmented email threads.
What's NOT AI (But Still Useful)
- Keyboard shortcuts: 100+ shortcuts are engineering, not AI—they're just fast
- Read receipts: Pixel tracking technology, not AI
- Snooze & reminders: Standard scheduling features, not AI-powered
- CRM integration: API connections, not AI—data sync is straightforward
- Calendar integration: Standard calendar API, not AI scheduling
AI Transparency & Limitations
Data Requirements
Initial setup: Auto Drafts work immediately but improve significantly after 2-3 weeks as the AI learns your voice from sent emails. Best results come after 6+ months of email history.
Email volume: AI features show most value at 50+ emails/day. If you receive fewer than 20 emails daily, the productivity gains may not justify the cost.
Language: AI features work best in English. Non-English emails may have lower-quality auto-drafts and classification.
Human Oversight Still Required
Sensitive communications: Auto Drafts for major gift solicitations, board member updates, or delicate HR matters should always be reviewed carefully. The AI captures your voice but not the nuance of specific situations.
Relationship context: AI doesn't know that a donor just lost their spouse or that a board member is upset about a recent decision. You bring the relationship intelligence; AI handles the mechanics.
Accuracy: Auto-classification occasionally miscategorizes emails. Important messages from new contacts may be labeled as "cold outreach" initially—check your archived emails regularly during the first month.
Data Privacy & Security
SOC 2 Type II Compliance: Superhuman meets enterprise security standards with third-party audited controls.
Email storage: Your emails stay on Google/Microsoft servers. Superhuman accesses via OAuth—it doesn't store your email content on its own servers.
AI processing: AI features do process email content to generate drafts and classifications. Review Superhuman's privacy policy to ensure this aligns with your organization's data governance requirements, especially for sensitive donor communications.
Encryption: All data encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256).
Bottom Line: When Superhuman's AI Adds Real Value
Genuinely useful AI:
- Auto Drafts save 5-10 minutes per hour of email time for high-volume users
- Auto Labels/Classification eliminates manual filtering and rule creation
- AI Search finds emails you couldn't locate with keyword search
AI that's nice but not essential:
- Auto Summarize (useful but ChatGPT can do this separately)
- Instant Reply suggestions (good but you'd write them anyway)
When you don't need Superhuman's AI:
- If you receive under 30 emails/day, Gmail's native features may suffice
- If you don't use keyboard shortcuts, Superhuman's speed advantage is wasted
- If budget is extremely tight, free tools like Gmail + ChatGPT for drafting works (just slower)
Real-World Nonprofit Use Case
Development Director Managing Major Gift Portfolio
A regional children's hospital foundation's Director of Major Gifts was struggling to maintain personalized relationships with 150 donors while handling 100+ daily emails from internal teams, vendors, and board members. She spent 3 hours daily just processing email—time that should have been spent on donor cultivation calls and meetings.
After implementing Superhuman, her workflow transformed. Split Inbox separated major donor emails into a priority section, so communications from $25K+ donors appeared immediately at the top. When a board member emailed about a prospect introduction, Auto Draft generated a response in her voice—she reviewed, added one personal sentence, and sent in 30 seconds instead of composing for 5 minutes. Read receipts showed which gift officers had opened her proposal for a $500K naming opportunity (four times in 48 hours—a buying signal that prompted an immediate follow-up call).
The CRM integration with Salesforce displayed each donor's giving history and recent interactions directly in her inbox sidebar. When answering a question from a major donor about a specific program, she could see their full engagement history without switching applications—enabling a more informed and personal response.
Results: Email processing time dropped from 3 hours to 90 minutes daily. She reinvested that saved time into three additional donor meetings per week—directly contributing to a 15% increase in major gift revenue that fiscal year. The foundation calculated an ROI of approximately 50x on the Superhuman subscription based on attributed giving increases.
Pricing
Starter Plan
For individual professionals
Or $300/year ($25/month with annual billing)
- All AI features (Auto Drafts, Auto Labels, AI Search)
- Split Inbox & keyboard shortcuts
- Read receipts & insights
- Scheduled send & reminders
- Gmail & Outlook support
Best for Executive Directors and senior leaders who need personal productivity gains.
Business Plan
For teams needing CRM integration
Or $396/year ($33/month with annual billing)
- Everything in Starter
- Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive integration
- Contact sidebar with CRM data
- One-click CRM logging
- Team collaboration features
- Admin controls & analytics
Best for development teams who need donor data accessible in their inbox.
Free Trial
7-day free trial available for all plans. No credit card required to start. The trial includes full access to all features including AI capabilities, so you can evaluate whether Superhuman's speed and AI drafting genuinely saves time for your workflow before committing.
Note: Pricing information is current as of January 2026. Verify current pricing directly with Superhuman.
Nonprofit & Education Pricing
Superhuman doesn't publicly advertise nonprofit discounts, but special pricing is available on request. Reports indicate nonprofit and education pricing as low as $10-15/user/month (60-70% off standard rates).
How to Request Nonprofit Pricing:
- Email [email protected] from your nonprofit domain
- Include your organization's 501(c)(3) determination letter
- Describe your nonprofit's mission briefly
- Request nonprofit pricing options
What to Expect:
- Response typically within 3-5 business days
- Discount varies based on organization size and mission
- Education pricing ($10/month) may be available for education nonprofits
Estimated Savings: If standard Business plan is $40/month and you negotiate $15/month nonprofit pricing, that's $300/year saved per user. For a 5-person development team, that's $1,500+ annually.
Learning Curve
Requires commitment to learn keyboard shortcuts; basic use takes 1-2 hours, proficiency takes 2-3 weeks
Time to First Value
- Setup: 15-30 minutes (connect email, import settings)
- Basic use: 1-2 hours to learn core shortcuts
- Proficiency: 2-3 weeks for full speed benefits
- AI adaptation: 2-4 weeks for Auto Drafts to match your voice
Technical Requirements
- Gmail or Outlook email account
- Willingness to learn keyboard shortcuts
- Desktop for best experience (web, macOS, Windows)
- No coding or technical expertise needed
Support Available
- Personalized onboarding call for new users
- In-app keyboard shortcut training (Cmd+K for command palette)
- Responsive email support (typically within 24 hours)
- Video tutorials and help center documentation
Honest Assessment: Superhuman's speed benefits only materialize if you commit to using keyboard shortcuts. If you prefer clicking buttons and menus, you won't achieve the productivity gains that justify the premium price. Give yourself 2-3 weeks of dedicated use before deciding if it's worth it.
Integration & Compatibility
Email Providers
- Gmail (personal and Google Workspace)
- Microsoft Outlook (personal and Microsoft 365)
- No support for other email providers (Yahoo, iCloud, etc.)
CRM Integration (Business Plan)
- Salesforce (native integration)
- HubSpot (native integration)
- Pipedrive (native integration)
- Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, etc.: Via Zapier only
Calendar & Conferencing
- Google Calendar (inline availability)
- Outlook Calendar (inline availability)
- Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams links
Platform Availability
- Web app (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
- macOS desktop app
- Windows desktop app
- iOS app
- Android app
Data Portability
- No lock-in: Your emails remain on Gmail/Outlook—Superhuman doesn't store email content
- Easy exit: If you cancel Superhuman, your email continues working normally in Gmail/Outlook
- Superhuman-specific data: Snoozes, reminders, and labels are stored in Superhuman—they don't sync back to Gmail
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely faster: Sub-100ms load times and keyboard shortcuts create measurable speed gains (users report 2x throughput)
- AI that works: Auto Drafts and Auto Labels genuinely save time after 2-3 weeks of learning
- Beautiful, distraction-free design: Minimalist interface reduces cognitive load
- Excellent customer support: Personal onboarding and responsive help
- CRM integration: Donor context visible directly in inbox (Business plan)
Cons
- Premium pricing: $30-40/month is 2-5x more expensive than alternatives
- Steep learning curve: Requires commitment to learn keyboard shortcuts—won't work for click-oriented users
- No unified inbox: Can't combine multiple accounts in one view
- Limited nonprofit CRM integrations: No native support for Bloomerang, Little Green Light, etc.
- No free tier: Only 7-day trial—must commit to paid plan to continue
Alternatives to Consider
Shortwave
$7-14/month | Best for: Gmail users wanting AI assistance at lower cost
Shortwave offers similar AI email features (AI assistant, smart inbox organization, thread summaries) at 50-80% lower cost. The AI assistant is arguably stronger than Superhuman's for complex queries. However, it only works with Gmail (no Outlook), has fewer keyboard shortcuts, and the interface is less polished. Choose Shortwave if budget is primary concern and you're Gmail-only.
View all AI tools →SaneBox
$7-36/month | Best for: Filtering without switching email clients
SaneBox isn't an email client—it's an AI layer that works with your existing Gmail or Outlook. It automatically filters unimportant emails into a "SaneLater" folder, surfaces important messages, and learns from your behavior. If you like your current email client but want better filtering, SaneBox is the answer. However, it doesn't offer AI drafting, speed improvements, or keyboard shortcuts.
View all AI tools →Gmail + ChatGPT
Free-$20/month | Best for: Budget-conscious users who can handle manual workflows
If Superhuman's price is prohibitive, you can replicate some functionality manually: use Gmail's native filters for organization, ChatGPT to draft email responses, and Google Calendar for scheduling. You won't get the integrated speed or automatic features, but at $0-20/month total, it's a viable alternative for nonprofits with extremely tight budgets. Expect to spend 30-60 minutes extra per day compared to Superhuman.
View ChatGPT guide →Why choose Superhuman instead: If you handle 50+ emails daily, value keyboard shortcuts, need CRM integration, and can justify $30-40/month for productivity gains, Superhuman's speed and AI quality are worth the premium. The time savings typically pay for the subscription in recovered hours.
Getting Started
1Start Your Free Trial (15 minutes)
Sign up at superhuman.com with your Gmail or Outlook account. The 7-day trial includes all features. No credit card required initially. During setup, Superhuman imports your email and begins learning your patterns.
2Complete the Onboarding Call (30 minutes)
Superhuman offers personalized onboarding with a customer success representative. Book this call—they'll teach you the essential keyboard shortcuts (E for archive, R for reply, H for remind me, J/K for navigation) and configure Split Inbox for your workflow. This 30-minute investment dramatically accelerates your learning curve.
3Set Up VIPs and Split Inbox (15 minutes)
Add board members, major donors, and key stakeholders to your VIP list—their emails will appear in a dedicated section. Configure Split Inbox to separate Team, VIPs, Tools, and Other. This ensures critical nonprofit communications never get lost in the noise.
4Commit to Keyboard Shortcuts for One Week
The first week will feel slower as you build muscle memory. Resist the urge to click—press Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K) to see all available commands. Force yourself to use J/K to navigate, E to archive, R to reply. By day 5, you'll notice the speed difference. By day 14, you won't want to go back to Gmail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Superhuman free for nonprofits?
Superhuman doesn't offer a free tier, but nonprofit pricing as low as $10-15/user/month is reportedly available on request. Contact [email protected] with your 501(c)(3) documentation to inquire. All users get a 7-day free trial to evaluate the platform.
What AI features does Superhuman have?
Superhuman's AI capabilities include Auto Drafts (AI writes follow-up emails in your voice), Auto Labels (automatic email categorization), Auto Archive (marketing emails auto-archived), Voice & Tone adaptation, AI Search (natural language inbox queries), Auto Summarize, and Instant Reply suggestions. These features launched in October 2025.
Is Superhuman worth $30/month for nonprofits?
Superhuman's value depends on email volume and workflow. At $30/month, it's worth it if you receive 50+ emails daily, value keyboard shortcuts, or need CRM integration. Users typically save 4+ hours weekly—if your time is worth $20/hour, that's $320/month in recovered productivity. For under 20 emails daily, simpler free tools may suffice.
Does Superhuman work with Gmail and Outlook?
Yes, Superhuman works with both Gmail and Microsoft Outlook accounts, including Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Your emails stay on Google or Microsoft servers—Superhuman accesses them via OAuth. Changes sync bidirectionally between Superhuman and your native email app.
What CRM integrations does Superhuman support?
Superhuman integrates natively with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive on the Business plan. For nonprofit-specific CRMs like Bloomerang, Little Green Light, or DonorPerfect, you'll need Zapier to create automations—native integrations aren't available.
Is Superhuman secure for donor information?
Superhuman is SOC 2 Type II certified with bank-level encryption. Your emails stay on Google/Microsoft servers—Superhuman accesses via OAuth without storing email content. AI features do process email content for drafting and classification. Review their privacy policy for compatibility with your data governance requirements.
Need Help with Implementation?
Setting up a new email system can feel overwhelming, especially when you're managing donor relationships and stakeholder communications. If you'd like expert guidance getting started with Superhuman—from negotiating nonprofit pricing to configuring Split Inbox for your workflow—we're here to help.
One Hundred Nights offers implementation support for nonprofit technology, from quick setup assistance to comprehensive onboarding and training for your team.
Contact Us to Learn More