How Do I Set Up a Custom Email Sending Domain?

Virtuous Raise lets you authenticate your own domain so that donation receipts, acknowledgment emails, and other notifications are sent from your organization’s chosen email address instead of the Virtuous Raise default. This is sometimes called white labeling your sending domain. Authentication is powered by SendGrid and requires adding DNS records at your domain provider. This article will walk you through the one-time process to confirm all authenticate your domain.

Table of Contents

1. Before You Begin
2. Adding Your Domain
3. Embed Records in Web Host
4. Setting Your From Email Address
5. Managing Authenticated Domains

Before You Begin

To set up a custom email sending domain, you need the Account Settings permission set to View & Edit. You also need access to your organization’s DNS settings through your domain registrar or DNS provider (such as Cloudflare, Route 53, GoDaddy, or Namecheap).

Adding Your Domain

To get started adding your domain, navigate to Settings using the left-hand navigation, then select Email Settings. Then, choose the Domain Authentication tab. 

Select Add Domain to open the Add Email Domain panel. In the panel, complete the following fields:

1. Domain: Enter your root domain here— for example, yournonprofit.org. Do not include https:// or any subdomain prefix. This is the domain that appears in the From address your donors see.
2. Subdomain (optional) : If provided, the subdomain acts as a routing label used only for DNS record configuration;  it does not appear in the visible From address. Common choices are em, mail, or bounces. Choose a subdomain that does not already have DNS records at your provider, or leave this field blank to let the system assign one automatically.
3. Advanced Settings: Select Advanced settings to expand additional options:
   1. Use the Custom DKIM Selector field only if your IT team or another email vendor already requires a specific DKIM selector. Leave it blank in most cases.
   2. Enable automatic security is on by default and is recommended for most organizations. This generates modern CNAME-based DNS records that work with the majority of DNS providers. Disable this option only if your DNS host cannot host CNAME records at the chosen subdomain — disabling it produces TXT and MX records instead.

When finished, select Add Domain. The system registers your domain with SendGrid and immediately opens the DNS Records panel.

Embed Records in Web Host

After adding your domain, Raise has now generated a series of Domain Name System records for you to add to the DNS section of your web host. The panel displays the records you need to add at your provider. Each record includes:

• Type: the DNS record type (typically CNAME)
• Host: the name or label to enter in your DNS provider’s Name or Host field
• Value: the destination value to enter in your DNS provider’s Value or Points To field

Once you’ve created these CNAMES, you will need to embed these codes in your web host to establish the connection. Depending on the web host provider, this process may look different. Formatting details may vary depending on your specific domain. Select the copy icon next to each field to copy the value to your clipboard.

Depending on your configuration, you will see up to four records:

• Mail CNAME: routes outbound mail through SendGrid
• DKIM (1) and DKIM (2): prove your organization controls the domain and allow receiving servers to verify message signatures
• SPF:  may appear depending on your setup; specifies which servers are authorized to send mail on your behalf

Add all displayed records in your DNS provider before returning to verify. Refer to the list below for domain-specific guidance:

• GoDaddy: Do not include the .domain.com portion from the generated CNAME into the Host field in GoDaddy. GoDaddy automatically adds the domain name to the CNAME record, so entering the domain name in this stage would duplicate it and fail authentication.
  • Example: Instead of adding 1234.savetheunicorns.org from the CNAME into the GoDaddy Host field, simply add 1234. If you enter 1234.savetheunicorns.org, it will actually be added as 1234.savetheunicorns.org.savetheunicorns.org, which will lead to failed authentication.
• Cloudflare: When completing your authentication your DNS MUST be included or the record will fail. The screenshot below shows how this is displayed in Cloudflare.

After reviewing and embedding each of CNAMEs in your web host, navigate back to Raise and select the three-dot icon and then Verify.

Virtuous Raise checks each DNS record against your domain and displays the result. The DNS Records panel shows a pass or fail badge for each individual record (Mail CNAME, DKIM (1), DKIM (2), and SPF) along with a reason if a record fails. When all records pass, the domain’s status updates to Verified (green badge). Until then, the status shows as Pending (yellow badge). If verification fails, select Re-verify after correcting the DNS records.

Setting Your From Email Address

Once your domain is verified, navigate to the General tab in Email Settings to update your From email address to one at your authenticated domain.

Optionally, you may also enter a Reply To email address. If left blank, donor replies go to the From address.

Managing Authenticated Domains

The Authenticated Email Domains section lists all domains your organization has added, along with their current status. Your organization can authenticate a limited number of domains. If you reach the limit, a message indicates the maximum and prompts you to remove an existing domain before adding another. 

To remove an authenticated domain, select the three-dot icon to the right of the domain row and choose Remove. Confirm the removal in the panel that appears. The domain is deleted immediately and no longer appears in your domain list.