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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, and email:send-blast permissions
  • Login credentials for your domain’s DNS provider
  • At least one active member in your organization (they can be a test account)

Step 1 — Set up your sending domain

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

Before you send, add the DNS records that prove to email providers you own your sending domain. Without this step, your emails send from a generic MapleGather address and are more likely to land in spam.

  1. Go to Email > Deliverability in the sidebar.
  2. In the From address field, enter the email address you want members to see — for example, info@yourorg.org. Select Set up.
  3. The page shows three record cards: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. 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 correct type, and paste the values. c. Return to MapleGather and select Verify on the card.

DNS changes can take a few minutes to an hour to propagate. If Verify doesn’t confirm right away, wait 15 minutes and try again.

Checkpoint: All three record cards show a green Verified badge. The page changes from the wizard to the deliverability dashboard.

Step 2 — Send yourself a test email

Section titled “Step 2 — Send yourself a test email”
  1. On the deliverability dashboard, scroll to the Send a test email section.
  2. Enter your email address and select Send test.

Checkpoint: You receive an email from your organization’s From address (not a MapleGather address). It arrives in your inbox, not spam.

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. For this tutorial, you’ll create a segment that targets all active members.

  1. Go to Email > Segments 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, “All active members.”
  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 Email > All blasts 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 “All active members” segment you just created.
  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 for all active members that you can use in future broadcasts.
  • Your first broadcast is in the sent log with a per-recipient delivery report.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”