CiviCRM email delivery: The default settings aren't good enough

Besides bounce tracking configuration (covered in yesterday’s email), there's another important step in configuring CiviCRM to ensure your outbound email makes it to your recipients' inboxes:

Using a reputable outbound email service.

Why does this matter?

By default, CiviCRM will try to send emails directly from your server.

That's better than nothing, but it won't be enough to get your email through to most of your recipients.

The problem is that inbox providers have become much stricter about who they trust.

These days, services like Gmail, Yahoo, Apple, and Microsoft expect email to come from systems that follow modern sending standards and maintain a reputation as legitimate senders.

That's where an email delivery service comes in.

Services like SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Amazon SES, and others specialize in getting email delivered reliably.

Instead of sending email directly from your website, CiviCRM hands the message to the delivery service, which takes care of the rest.

For many organizations, the cost is minimal.
For lower volumes, it may even be free.

My usual recommendation is SendGrid paired with CiviCRM's AirMail extension, but there are other good options as well.

Whatever service you choose, don't stop at simply connecting it.

Take the time to follow the provider's setup instructions completely.

Especially the parts about domain authentication and bounce handling.

Because the difference between "email was sent" and "email was delivered" is often larger than people realize.

All the best,
A.