Gmail and Yahoo have announced new requirements that email senders must meet so their bulk email will be properly delivered.
Senders that don’t meet the new requirements will begin to experience errors occurring in the emails that are not compliant. These non-compliant emails may be sent to recipients’ Junk or Spam folders, or emails may be rejected outright by email service providers. The percentage of non-compliant emails that get rejected will start to increase over time and you may begin to experience a higher bounce rate unless you adhere to the new requirements.
New Requirements
- Email Authentication Settings
These are the requirements you will need to have in place:
- DMARC – Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance
- DKIM – DomainKeys Identified Mail Standard
- SPF – Sender Policy Framework
To verify that your authentication settings comply with the new requirements, you will need to check your DNS settings on your domain record (such as NameCheap or your domain host).
To send emails through Aplos and control what emails can be used for the sender, you will need to log in to Aplos and authenticate your email domain in the Aplos app. You can learn more about this subject in our resource on authenticating an email domain.
Here are instructions from Google on how to add or update your DMARC record with your domain host.
- One-Click Unsubscribe
If you are a bulk email sender, you will also need to include a one-click unsubscribe link on all bulk emails. Aplos is currently working on a one-click unsubscribe solution to keep senders in compliance with the new requirements.
Who the New Requirements Apply To
The authentication settings apply to all email senders.
The one-click unsubscribe requirement applies to bulk senders who send more than 5,000 emails to Gmail or Yahoo accounts within 24 hours from the same domain.
How to Ensure Your Email Is Delivered
The goal of DMARC is to prevent phishing, spoofing, and the delivery of fraudulent emails, so email platforms have implemented more stringent safeguards. However, DMARC policies may misclassify legitimate emails as fraudulent and reject them. This has become a concern more recently due to changes by free email providers.
Let’s say you use your email address “nonprofitorg@gmail.com” as the From email address for an email sent through Aplos (or any other third-party email system). When you send a donation receipt or email campaign to your members, it will look like you sent it from your gmail.com email address, even though it is sent by Aplos. But with Google’s new strict DMARC policy, your subscribers’ email servers will automatically reject anything that looks like it is from Gmail but was really sent from a third-party system.
The best way to avoid the consequences of DMARC policy is to use an email address with your own custom domain. For example, instead of using nonprofitorg@gmail.com, create an email domain that is specific to your organization like name@mynonprofit.org. If you don’t have an email domain to use, you’ll need to register one.
How to Check your DMARC, DKIM, and SPF Records
To verify that your DMARC, DKIM, and SPF records are compliant with the new requirements, you can use MxToolBox, which is a free tool to check your settings.
How to Check DMARC
You can check your DMARC configuration using MxToolBox.
If your DMARC is verified, you will see the green checkmark icons.
If there is no DMARC record, you will see a red “X” icon.
How to Add DMARC to Your DNS Settings
If you do not have DMARC on your DNS settings, you will need to add them to your DNS settings to comply with the new requirements. To add DMARC to your DNS settings, you will need to create a DMARC record.
About DMARC at Registered Domains
If you are still experiencing a large number of bounces at your domain, or a domain owned by your organization, check your DMARC policy to see if it’s strict or relaxed. It’s possible your DMARC policy is set up to tell receiving servers to reject emails that fail SPF or DKIM authentication.
You may be able to avoid certain delivery problems by updating your DMARC policy to accept emails sent through other servers on behalf of your domain. A relaxed DMARC policy also helps ensure that your subscribers will receive transactional emails such as sign-up or unsubscribe confirmations. The DMARC update process varies by domain service, so contact your email provider or IT department if you need more help to set it up.
How to Check DKIM
Our resource on authenticating an email domain has instructions on what to do whether you manage your own DNS or use Aplos to authenticate your domain.
How to Check SPF
You can check for your SPF record using MxToolBox.
Setting up Your SPF
Once you register your own domain, you can also improve the deliverability of the emails you send from Aplos by updating your SPF (Server Policy Framework). This will match the email’s “From” @domainname.com with the delivering server’s “From” @domainname.com.
If you have an SPF record set for your domain, you must add the following to your SPF record to allow Aplos to send on your behalf.
include:sendgrid.net
This text must be placed before the “all” in the SPF record. If you do not have an SPF record for your domain you must create a TXT record with the value:
v=spf1 include:sendgrid.net ~all
For instructions on setting up your SPF, you can go to our resource on authenticating your email domain or log in to Aplos and follow the directions in the Aplos app.
When You Need to Be in Compliance
- February, 2024
There will be no major penalties at the beginning. Bulk email senders will start to get errors on a small percentage of emails that don’t comply with the requirements. Email providers should notify the sender about the error and provide an error code. - April, 2024
Email providers will start to reject some bulk senders’ emails that do not comply with the guidelines and will slowly increase the rate at which they are rejected. - June 1, 2024
One-click unsubscribe must be present for bulk email senders.
What Happens If You Don’t Meet the Requirements
If your domain fails to comply with these requirements, you will start getting errors that will affect your bulk email, and if your email rejection rates increase, this will result in a higher bounce rate.
More Information About DMARC, DKIM, and SPF
- Overview of DMARC
- DMARC Frequently Asked Questions
- DMARC Specifications
- SPF Syntax
- DMARC Return Path
- SPF Record Validator
- DMARC Record Validator
- DKIM Record Generator
If you have other questions regarding these changes, contact our Support Team.
