By default, Kindful sends transactional emails from [email protected]. Transactional emails include automatic email receipts, acknowledgement emails, and registration form receipts. If you’d like, you can use an email address from your organization's domain instead. For example, if your organizations owns the example.org domain, you can send transactional emails from [email protected] instead of [email protected]. You might do this so your emails come from a domain that your supporters recognize.
If you change your email address in Kindful, that change applies to only transactional email messages. Kindful continues to send system email messages, like password reset messages, from [email protected]. Kindful also continues to send event registration success emails from [email protected].
This article explains email delivery concepts and links to detailed instructions.
Important Considerations
If you use a custom sender address from your organization’s domain, you must:
Set up required email authentication settings (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC). Google and Yahoo policies now require these settings for bulk senders.
Actively monitor your spam complaint rate. Your organization must be compliant with email service provider standards.
For detailed information about Google and Yahoo requirements, read Google and Yahoo Requirements for Bulk Senders.
In this article:
Email Delivery Definitions
To help you understand email delivery concepts, here are some definitions for terms in this article:
Domain name — The example.org part of www.example.org
Domain name provider — A company from which you buy the rights to use a specific domain name.
Email service provider — This is a company that provides your email service, which might be different from the email client you use.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) — An email authentication method that designates authorized mail servers for your domain. With SPF, your messages are more likely to be delivered and less likely to be marked as spam.
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) — An email authentication method that adds a digital signature to your email messages. The signature verifies the origin of email messages. With DKIM, your messages are more likely to be delivered and less likely to be marked as spam.
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) — This is a protocol that tells email server providers how to handle email messages that fail authentication checks.
Google and Yahoo Requirements for Bulk Senders
As of February 1, 2024, Google and Yahoo require bulk senders to follow new email authentication requirements. To comply, your organization must follow all of these requirements:
If you send emails from Kindful, and your sender email address is from your organization's domain, set up both Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).
If you email 5,000 or more Gmail or Yahoo addresses on any day, and your sender email address is from your own domain, set up DMARC. DMARC isn’t required if you send fewer than 5,000 emails each day, but we still recommend it as a best practice for email deliverability.
Keep your spam complaint rate below 0.3% (three or fewer complaints for every 1,000 emails sent).
If you don’t set up SPF and DKIM, Google and Yahoo might bounce or even block some emails you send to Gmail or Yahoo addresses. If you previously set up SPF and DKIM, you don’t need to change your existing SPF or DKIM records to comply with the new requirements.
Requirements from Other Email Service Providers
Other email service providers might have different thresholds for:
How many emails you can send daily before you must set up DMARC
The spam complaint rate
SPF
If you send emails from Kindful, and your sender email address is from your organization's domain, you must set up an SPF record in the DNS settings for your organization’s domain. An SPF record is part of the DNS records for your domain.
For instructions, view Kindful | Set Up SPF and DKIM for Email Delivery.
DKIM
If you send emails from Kindful, and your custom sender email address is from your organization's domain, you must set up a DKIM record in the DNS settings for your organization’s domain. This record includes the cryptographic key used to sign your emails. A DKIM record is part of the DNS records for your domain.
For instructions, read Kindful | Set Up SPF and DKIM for Email Delivery.
DMARC
If your sender address is from your own custom domain, and you email more than 5,000 recipients in a day, you must set up DMARC for your domain. DMARC isn’t required if you send fewer than 5,000 emails each day, but we still recommend it as a best practice for email deliverability.
For instructions, read Kindful | Set Up DMARC.
Spam Rate
Emails you send from Kindful are transactional, like automatic email receipts, acknowledgement emails, registration form receipts, and password resets. Your customers are less likely to mark transactional emails as spam.
If you send non-transactional bulk email (like newsletters) from another tool, we recommend you monitor your spam complaint rate as a general best practice. When recipients mark your emails as spam, your spam complaint rate is affected.
As of February 1, 2024, Google and Yahoo require senders to keep their spam rate reported in Google Postmaster Tools below 0.3%. For more information about spam rates, read Monitor Your Spam Complaint Rate.