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Getting started: send your first broadcast

By the end of this guide, you’ll have configured your organization’s sending domain so emails come from your own address, created a reusable audience segment, and sent your first test broadcast to confirm everything is working.

This tutorial takes about 20–30 minutes. You need admin access to MapleGather and DNS access to your organization’s domain.

What you’ll need

Section titled “What you’ll need”
  • Admin access to your MapleGather organization, with the email:verify-deliverability, email:save-segment, email:send-blast (preview and send-to-me) and email:send (send now) permissions
  • Login credentials for your domain’s DNS provider
  • At least one active member in your organization (they can be a test account)
  • Your organization’s postal address saved in Settings → Organization settings — a marketing broadcast can’t be sent without it. See Add your organization’s postal address.

Step 1 — Set up your sending domain

Section titled “Step 1 — Set up your sending domain”

Before you send, add DNS records for your sending domain in two rounds. First, one record proves your organization controls the domain. Then three records let email providers trust mail MapleGather sends for it. Until all three verify, your emails send from a MapleGather fallback address rather than your own. [amended 2026-10-21, c21 track BQ]

  1. Go to Email deliverability (at /admin/email/deliverability).
  2. In the From address field, enter the email address you want members to see — for example, info@yourorg.org. It must be at a domain your organization owns. Select Set up.
  3. The page first asks you to prove you own the domain: a Prove you own card shows one TXT record (Host _maplegather-verify. followed by your domain, and a Value). Copy the Host and Value, add the record at your DNS provider, then select Check ownership — the open page also checks automatically. If it shows Not found yet, wait a few minutes and check again. Nothing is reserved for your organization until this passes; another organization that proves the domain first gets it. See Set up your custom From address and verify DNS. [amended pre-merge 2026-10-21, c21 track BQ]
  4. Once ownership is proven, the page shows three record cards: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, each with a Type, Host, and Value. For each one: a. Copy the Host and Value shown on the card. b. Log in to your DNS provider, add a new record of the Type shown on the card (CNAME for SPF, TXT for DKIM and DMARC), and paste the values. c. Return to MapleGather and select Verify all records. While you keep the page open it also re-checks automatically, up to 20 times per visit. [amended pre-merge 2026-10-20, c21 E panel-r2]

DNS changes can take a few minutes to an hour to propagate, and sometimes up to 48 hours.

Checkpoint: The ownership record was found, all three record cards show a green Verified badge, and the page says Sending from your domain.

Step 2 — Send yourself a test email

Section titled “Step 2 — Send yourself a test email”
  1. On the deliverability dashboard, find the Your email address box below the DNS record cards. It appears once at least one record is verified.
  2. Enter your email address and select Send test email. The box is replaced by “Test sent — check your inbox.”

Checkpoint: You receive the test email in your inbox, not spam. Once all three records are verified, it comes from your organization’s From address rather than the MapleGather fallback address.

If the test email lands in spam, your DNS records may not have fully propagated. Wait an hour and try again.

Step 3 — Create an audience segment

Section titled “Step 3 — Create an audience segment”

Segments let you target a specific group of members. The composer already offers a built-in All active members audience, so for this tutorial you’ll create a segment of your own — active members, to learn the builder; narrow it to yourself if you prefer (see step 19).

  1. Go to Saved segments (at /admin/email/lists) and select New segment.
  2. In the Include block, select + Add condition.
  3. Choose Member status from the first dropdown. This field captures the member’s active/inactive computed state — active means a current paid membership, inactive covers lapsed, pending, and archived.
  4. Choose equals from the operator dropdown.
  5. Select active as the value.
  6. Check the live count that appears — for example, “~12 recipients match.” If it shows 0, check that you have at least one active member in the system.
  7. Enter a name in the Segment name field — for example, “Active members — tutorial.” (If you name a segment exactly “All active members”, the composer lists it as “All active members (saved segment)” to tell it apart from the built-in audience.)
  8. Turn on Share with all admins so other admins can use this segment.
  9. Select Save segment.

Checkpoint: “Segment saved — ~N recipients” appears and your segment shows up in the segments list.

Step 4 — Compose and send your first broadcast

Section titled “Step 4 — Compose and send your first broadcast”
  1. Go to All blasts (at /admin/email/broadcasts) and select New blast.
  2. Enter a subject — for example, “Test broadcast from [your org name].”
  3. Write a short message in the body — something like “This is a test email from our new email system.”
  4. In the Send to field, choose the segment you just created. It is listed after the built-in All active members option, which reaches the same people without a saved segment.
  5. Check the recipient count. For this test, consider setting up a segment that targets just yourself (your test account), so real members don’t receive a test message.
  6. Select Preview to see how the email looks. Select Send to me in the preview panel to send a copy to your own inbox first.
  7. When you’re happy with how it looks, close the preview and select Send now.

Checkpoint: You see “Broadcast queued” and land on the send-detail page. The progress bar fills as the email sends. When complete, the status changes to Sent.

What you’ve set up

Section titled “What you’ve set up”
  • Your sending domain is verified — emails come from your organization’s address and are digitally signed, which helps them reach inboxes.
  • You have a reusable segment you can use in future broadcasts (and you know the built-in All active members audience needs none).
  • Your first broadcast is in the sent log with a per-recipient delivery report.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”