Email Deliverability: Configuring SPF and DKIM for Soapbox – Soapbox Support Center

Overview

Soapbox Engage sends emails on behalf of your organization for activities such as donation confirmations, event registrations, and other app communications.

To help ensure these emails reach their intended recipients, it's important that your outbound email settings are configured correctly. If you choose to send email using your organization's domain, your domain should also be configured to authorize Soapbox Engage to send email on its behalf using SPF and DKIM.

This article explains the available outbound email configurations and how to configure and verify SPF and DKIM for your domain.

Recommended Email Configuration

Navigate to Account Settings in your Soapbox Engage administrator to review your organization's default outbound email settings.

There are two ways to configure the email address used to send email from Soapbox Engage.

Option 1: Use the Soapbox Engage Default Domain

The simplest configuration is to use:

noreply@picnet.net

for both the Default From Email and Envelope From Email.

Because Soapbox Engage sends email from servers associated with the picnet.net domain, this configuration does not require your organization to configure SPF or DKIM records for your own domain.

You can still customize the following settings to reflect your organization:

Default From Name
Default Reply-To Name
Default Reply-To Email

The Reply-To Email can use your organization's domain so replies are directed to an appropriate email address within your organization.

Option 2: Send From Your Organization's Domain

If you would like recipients to see an email address using your organization's domain as the sender, you can use your own domain for the From Email and Envelope From Email.

For example:

info@example.org

When using your organization's domain, you should configure SPF and DKIM to authorize Soapbox Engage's email servers to send email on behalf of your domain.

Follow the instructions below to configure both records.

Configure SPF

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) authorizes Soapbox Engage's email servers to send email on behalf of your domain.

Your organization's SPF record is managed through your domain's DNS settings. If you do not manage your organization's DNS, provide these instructions to the person or team responsible for your domain.

Add the following Soapbox Engage include to your existing SPF record:

include:_spf.soapboxengage.com

For example, if your organization already authorizes Salesforce to send email, your SPF record might look similar to:

v=spf1 mx a include:_spf.salesforce.com include:_spf.soapboxengage.com ~all

Important: If your domain already has an SPF record, do not create a second SPF record. Add the Soapbox Engage include to your existing SPF record.

Configure DKIM

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) provides an additional method of authenticating email sent by Soapbox Engage using your organization's domain.

Add the following two CNAME records to your domain's DNS settings:

Name / Host	Points To
`sbx1._domainkey.example.org`	`sbx1._domainkey.soapboxengage.com`
`sbx2._domainkey.example.org`	`sbx2._domainkey.soapboxengage.com`

Replace example.org with your organization's domain.

For example, if your organization's domain is myorganization.org, your first record would use:

sbx1._domainkey.myorganization.org

Your DNS provider may automatically append your domain to the host/name field. If you're unsure how your provider handles CNAME records, consult your DNS provider before adding the records.

Verify Your SPF and DKIM Records

If you're not sure whether SPF and DKIM have been configured, or you'd like to confirm that your records are publicly available, you can use What's My DNS to perform a DNS lookup.

DNS changes may take time to propagate, so newly created or updated records may not immediately appear from every location.

Verify SPF

Use What's My DNS to perform a TXT lookup for your organization's domain:

https://www.whatsmydns.net/#TXT/example.org

Replace example.org with your organization's domain.

Locate the TXT record beginning with:

v=spf1

Confirm that the record contains:

include:_spf.soapboxengage.com

What's My DNS displays results from DNS servers in multiple locations. Green check marks indicate that a TXT record was found, but you should also review the returned value to confirm that include:_spf.soapboxengage.com appears within the SPF record.

Verify DKIM

Use What's My DNS to perform a CNAME lookup for each of the following records, replacing example.org with your organization's domain:

https://www.whatsmydns.net/#CNAME/sbx1._domainkey.example.org

https://www.whatsmydns.net/#CNAME/sbx2._domainkey.example.org

Confirm that the first record resolves to:

sbx1._domainkey.soapboxengage.com

and the second resolves to:

sbx2._domainkey.soapboxengage.com

Green check marks indicate that a CNAME record was found. You should also confirm that the returned destination matches the appropriate Soapbox Engage DKIM record above.

If the SPF or DKIM records cannot be found or do not contain the expected values, contact the person or team responsible for managing your organization's DNS and provide them with the configuration instructions above.

Understanding Soapbox Engage Outbound Email Settings

Soapbox Engage provides site-wide email defaults as well as settings that can be customized for individual app pages.

Navigate to Account Settings in your Soapbox Engage administrator to review the site-wide defaults.

Setting	What It Controls
Default From Name	The sender name displayed to recipients.
Default From Email	The sender email address displayed to recipients.
Default Reply-To Name	The name associated with the address used when a recipient replies.
Default Reply-To Email	The email address that receives replies.
Envelope From Email	The sender address used by email servers to identify where the email originated. This address is not normally visible to recipients.

The Envelope From Email applies to all outbound Soapbox Engage email and cannot be customized on an individual app page.

App Page-Specific Email Settings

Most Soapbox Engage app pages allow you to override the site-wide defaults for:

From Email Name
From Email Address
Reply-To Name
Reply-To Email

When using an email address from your organization's domain as the From Email Address, that domain should be configured for SPF and DKIM as described above.

Emails That Always Use Account Defaults

Some Soapbox Engage emails use the default settings configured under Account Settings.

Donations Peer-to-Peer

The following emails use the account defaults:

Fundraising page creation notifications sent to fundraisers
New fundraising team member notifications sent to team captains
New fundraising page payment notifications sent to fundraisers

Events Scheduled Emails

Scheduled emails from the Events app use the Default From Email and Default From Name configured in Account Settings.

The Reply-To Name and Reply-To Email can still be customized for scheduled Events emails.

Portals

The following Portals emails use the account defaults:

New user verification emails
Forgot username emails
Forgot password emails

Still Having Trouble?

If you've configured your outbound email settings and verified your SPF and DKIM records but are still experiencing email delivery issues, submit a ticket and we'll be happy to help.

Please include the following information with your request:

Reference this Support Center article and confirm that you've completed the SPF and DKIM verification steps.
Include a link to the Soapbox Engage page or app sending the email.
Provide the Fro