Set Up a Domain to use with EveryAction Targeted Email
- Caitlin Lee |
- 23 steps
This guide will walk through a crucial step in setting up your domain to allow emails to be sent from Targeted Emails.
If your domain has not been correctly configured, you will likely see a warning stating "SPF Invalid" or "DKIM Invalid" when trying to send an email in Targeted Email.
You will also see an error message on the "Compose Message" page after entering an email in the "From Email Address" field if your domain has not been configured.
These errors are flagging a one-time set up of your domain that should be done before **any** emails are sent from Targeted Email.
The risks of not configuring SPF and DKIM are:
- Your emails sent from Targeted Email are marked as "spam" by the recipient's email provider.
- Your emails do not get delivered at all.
- It is easier for someone to send emails pretending to be your organization.
To learn more about the importance of email domain records for email deliverability, see the Bonterra video: [Tutorial: Configuring SPF/DKIM for Email Deliverability](https://help.everyaction.com/s/article/Tutorial-Configuring-SPF-DKIM-for-Email-Deliverability).
**What are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records?**
Below is an answer from a user on reddit when for explanations of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. CLC does not have any association with the question asker or responder. We just found this explanation helpful.
"**SPF:** These are the servers I will send from. If it says it's from me, but comes from somewhere else, it's likely fake
**DKIM:** This is my signature, if it's not on the email, it probably didn't come from my server.
**DMARC:** If you get mail that doesn't match the above, here's what I want you to do with it"
About Domain Hosts
There are numerous possible hosts for your domain, such as GoDaddy, Hubspot, and Squarespace.
Each of these hosts may make changes or updates at any time. For example, as of July 2024, all Google Domains were moved to Squarespace.
As a result, **the exact clicks for setting up your domain host may look slightly different from what is shown in this guide.**
The general process is *similar* across all hosts.
Check current status of domain set up and find text record details
Complete these steps to:
- check the current status of your set up (has it been done yet?)
- find the text record details that will be needed in the set up.
1
In Targeted Email click SETTINGS.
2
In the EMAIL DELIVERABILITY section, enter your email address in full or just the domain and click CHECK DOMAIN.
Your domain is what comes after the [[@]] in your email address.
For example, in the email "[email protected]," the domain is **clctoolbox.org**.
3
A red [[X]] next to SPF results or DKIM results indicate the set up has not been completed. You will need to proceed with setting it up.
When you go to set up your SPF and DKIM, you will need the values shown on this screen.
Keep this screen open in a separate tab for easy reference/to copy from later.
Set up DKIM record in Google Domains
In order to complete the following steps, you will need:
1. Administrative access to wherever your domain is hosted (Gmail, GoDaddy, Hubspot, Squarespace, etc)
1. If you do not have this access, or aren't sure, speak with whoever on the team manages your email addresses.
2. If you're not sure who manages your email addresses, ask around to find out who creates email accounts for new team members when they join.
3. Inform this person that you need to complete the SPF and DKIM set up for your domain to send emails from Every Action / Targeted Email. Consider linking to this guide to provide context if needed.
2. The Hostname and Text Record for DKIM set up. These can be found in your Targeted Email Settings. Complete the above section "Check current status of domain set up and find text record details" to get this information.
4
Sign in to your domain manager.
This is likely a website such as <https://domains.squarespace.com/>.
5
Click into the settings for the domain that you want to use in Targeted Email.
For example, if we want to send from [email protected] we would configure the **caitlinelee.com** domain.
If your organization uses multiple domains, such as for c3 and c4 branches, you will need to complete the set up once for each domain.
Once the domain itself is set up, any valid email addresses at that domain can be used as the sender in Targeted Email.
In other words, you will not need to repeat these steps if your team decides to change from sending emails from "**info**@yourdomain.com" to "**newsletters**@yourdomain.com" because **yourdomain.com** itself has been configured.
6
Navigate to where the DNS settings are.
