GC Outreach Basics: Sending emails using your school's email domain

Setting up domain validation

To send emails from your own domain in GC Outreach (like @[yourschool.edu] instead of @[outreach.givecampus.com]), you need to validate your domain.

Steps to validate:

1. Navigate to School Dashboard > Settings > Domains
2. Enter your base domain (example: yourschool.edu)
3. Copy the three CNAME records provided
4. Share these CNAME records with your IT team to add to your DNS settings
5. After your IT team confirms they've added the records, return to the GiveCampus platform and click Verify

Once validated, you can set your sender email address to use your own domain.

Setting Sender Email Address After Domain Validation

Why Emails Still Come From GiveCampus After Validation

Domain validation enables the capability to send from your domain—it doesn't automatically change all outreach emails. Even after validation, emails continue coming from outreach@outreach.givecampus.com unless you set the sender email address for each outreach.

How to Use Your Validated Domain

For individual outreach emails:

1. Create or edit your outreach in GC Outreach
2. In the "Sender Email Address" field, enter your desired email address using your validated domain (e.g., yourname@yourschool.edu)
3. The email will now send from your domain instead of the default GiveCampus address

Important: You must set the sender email address for each outreach individually.

Troubleshooting Domain Usage

If emails still show the default sender after validation:

1. Check validation status: Go to School Dashboard > Settings > Domains and confirm your domain shows as "Verified"
2. Verify sender email field: Ensure you've updated the "Sender Email Address" field in each outreach
3. Revalidate if needed: Click "Verify" again on your domain if validation status appears unclear
4. Contact support: If validation shows complete but you can't use your domain, contact support

Benefits: Validating your domain significantly increases your daily email sending limit, so we strongly recommend completing this step before using GC Outreach at scale.

How domain validation works

GiveCampus uses SendGrid to deliver all outbound emails. When you validate your domain through CNAME records, SendGrid sends emails on your behalf using your validated domain.

Recipients will see mailed-by: {your domain} in their email headers, which tells receiving mail servers that your domain is the authorized sender for these emails.

Does domain validation include SPF authorization?

Yes. When you validate your domain through CNAME records, SPF (Sender Policy Framework) authorization is automatically included.

SendGrid handles both DKIM (domain signing) and SPF (sender authorization) through the CNAME-based authentication method. Receiving mail servers check the SPF records associated with your validated domain to confirm that GiveCampus emails are authorized to send on your behalf.

Your IT team does not need to add separate SPF records. The CNAME records handle both DKIM and SPF protection automatically.

For technical details, your IT team can reference SendGrid's domain authentication documentation.

DMARC alignment

DMARC is an optional authentication protocol. GiveCampus follows SendGrid's standard DMARC guidelines and does not require additional DMARC configuration.

Removing DNS records

DNS records remain under your institution's control and can be removed at any time.

To disconnect domain validation, your IT team simply removes the CNAME records from your DNS settings. Once removed, GiveCampus will no longer be able to send emails from your domain. No action is needed on the GiveCampus side.