Understanding Email Sending Domains and how they are used in donor communications

Learn how BetterUnite decides which "From" address and sending domain to use for different types of emails, and how setting up your own custom sending domain changes what your donors and supporters see.

The Two Types of Sending Domains

Every email sent through BetterUnite comes from one of two places:

Tip: Setting up a custom sending domain is highly recommended. Emails sent from your own domain are more recognizable to your donors, less likely to land in spam, and build your organization's sender reputation over time.

Which Domain Is Used for Which Emails

The table below shows every type of email the platform sends, who receives it, and which sending domain is used.

Emails to your donors, guests, and supporters

These emails are sent on behalf of your organization. When you have a verified custom domain, they come from your domain. When you don't, they fall back to the BetterUnite platform domain — but the "From" name still shows your organization's name, and the Reply-To is set to your org's email so replies reach you.

Emails to fundraisers (peer-to-peer campaigns)

System notifications sent to you

These emails are sent to you and your team, not to your donors. They always come from the BetterUnite platform domain regardless of whether you have a custom domain set up — because they're platform notifications, not communications on your behalf.

Marketing Emails Require a Custom Domain

Marketing email campaigns (created in the email builder) are the one type of email that cannot fall back to the BetterUnite platform domain. If you try to send a marketing email without a verified custom sending domain, you'll see an error message:

"You must first register a verified sending domain. Please set up and verify your sending domain in Settings → Email & Domain."

This requirement exists to protect email deliverability. Bulk marketing emails sent from a shared platform address would risk being flagged as spam, which would hurt delivery rates for all organizations on the platform.

What Donors See When You Don't Have a Custom Domain

If your organization hasn't set up a custom sending domain, automated emails to your donors (receipts, event links, reminders, etc.) are sent from support@notify.betterunite.com. However, the system still personalizes these emails to represent your organization:

• From name: Shows your organization's name (e.g. "From: Springfield Animal Shelter")
• Reply-To: Set to your organization's email address, so if a donor replies, the message goes to you — not to BetterUnite

While this works, your donors may not recognize the betterunite.com address, and some email providers may display a notice like "sent via betterunite.com" or "on behalf of" next to your organization's name. Setting up your own domain eliminates this.

How to Set Up Your Custom Sending Domain

1. Go to Settings → Email & Domain
2. Enter your organization's domain name (e.g. yourorganization.org)
3. Add the required DNS records (DKIM and bounce CNAME) to your domain's DNS settings — the setup wizard will provide the exact values
4. Click Verify once the DNS records are in place
5. Configure one or more sender addresses (e.g. info@yourorganization.org, events@yourorganization.org) and mark one as your default

Once verified, all donor-facing emails will automatically start using your custom domain. No other changes are needed — the system picks up the new domain immediately for all email types.

Note: DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate, though most complete within a few hours. If verification fails on the first attempt, wait and try again.

Multiple Sender Addresses

Each custom domain can have multiple sender addresses. For example, you might set up:

• info@yourorganization.org — default sender for donation receipts and automated emails
• events@yourorganization.org — for event-related emails
• noreply@yourorganization.org — for system notifications

Each sender address has its own display name and reply-to address. The one marked as default is used for all automated emails (receipts, reminders, notifications). When composing a 1:1 email from the CRM, admins can choose which sender address to use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do some platform notifications come from different BetterUnite addresses?

You may notice that some notifications to your org come from notify.betterunite.com (like purchase alerts) while others come from betterunite.com (like data export notifications). This is intentional — different types of platform mail are separated to maintain good email deliverability.

Can I use my custom domain for platform notifications sent to me?

No. System notifications (purchase alerts, data export notices, etc.) always come from BetterUnite's own domain. These are platform messages, not communications from your organization.

What happens if my custom domain becomes unverified or compliance-blocked?

Automated emails (receipts, event reminders, etc.) will temporarily fall back to the BetterUnite platform domain until the issue is resolved. Marketing email campaigns will be blocked until the domain is restored. You'll want to check your DNS records and contact support if the issue persists.

Do replies from donors come to me or to BetterUnite?

Replies always come to you. Even when using the platform fallback domain, the Reply-To address is set to your organization's email. When using your custom domain, the Reply-To is set to whatever you've configured for that sender address.