How to handle unsubscribes and blocked emails
When you have sent a message via ChurchDesk, you can see statistics on how the message did. If the emails have been delivered, if someone has unsubscribed and if there are some who didn't receive the email due to emails being blocked.
Here are the different versions of status we have:
Delivered
Unsubscribed from all email
Unsubscribed from this list
Bounced
Missing email address
Email is blocked
In this support article you will learn how to handle these states.
When the status says "Delivered", then the message have been delivered to the recipients email server.
In the newsletter statistics you can see if a contact has unsubscribed from all emails or if they have only unsubscribed from a list. The status will be orange and it will say "Unsubscribed from all emails" or "Unsubscribed from this list". Here you can see how to re-subscribe a contact.
When sending emails or newsletters from ChurchDesk, in the statistics you can see if there are any emails that didn't get delivered due to blocked email addresses. We will describe the most common ones in this article. To get the exact reason why the email address is blocked, you need to go to the People overview and enable the column “E-mail status.”
In the People message statistics a contacts that doesn’t have an “active” email status will have a red box saying “Email is blocked” and you check the specific status in People columns.
The contact has signed up for a newsletter via the website. A Subscribe View has a built in double opt-in function. When someone signs up for the newsletter, they receive an email, where they have to confirm, that they want to sign-up for the newsletter. If the contact does confirmed via this email, the email status will remain “Pending” and we will not send any emails to this contact. If the contact didn't see the email by mistake, the email can be re-sent if the person signs up again.
If the church has confirmation from the contact, that they want to receive emails, the church can activate the contacts email manually like this:
Find and open the contact profile page. Click on Edit in Personal information. Copy the email address and then remove it from the email field. Save the change. Now edit again and insert the email address again and save. Now the email status of the contact is active and the contact can receive emails.
Remember to get consent from the contact that they would like to receive email from the church and it was a mistake that they didn't confirm the sign-up.
This is a permanent delivery error caused by an invalid email address (e.g. a mistyped email, a non-existent destination server). If some of your contacts has the email status "Hard bounce" or "Preblocked" you should double check with the contact that the email address is correct and if it isn't, you only need to edit the contact and insert the new email address then the contact will be active again.
If the email address you have in People is indeed the correct one, then you need to send the email address to support@churchdesk.com letting us know, that this email address is blocked and needs to be unblocked.
If an email bounces six times in a row, then the contact will automatically become blocked, because they are bouncing back all emails from the system. To get the exact bounce reason, send the email address to support@churchdesk.com and ask for the bounce reason and we will provide it for you, so we can help getting the contact activated again.
When the email status is "Quota exceeded" it meant that the recipients email inbox is full and we cannot deliver emails to this contact. To activate the contact again the you need to send the email address to support@churchdesk.com letting us know, that this email address is blocked and needs to be unblocked.
ChurchDesk will then unblock the email address. If the recipient hasn't cleaned up their inbox, they will automatically be blocked again next time you send them an email.
If the email status is "Spam" or "Spam reporter" it means that the contact has reported an email from you as spam and ChurchDesk is therefore blocked from sending more communication to this contact.
If this contact tells you that this was a mistake and they still want to received emails from the church, then send an email to support@churchdesk.com with the email address and we will start the process of getting it unblocked. We will send you further information, that you would need to give to the contact, so they can send a written consent to ChurchDesk, that they still want to receive emails from the church.
If the email status is "Unsub" then the contact has clicked on the unsubscribe link in the email header. Here you can see how to re-subscribe a contact.
If the contact has the email status "Typofix" it is because the email domain doesn't exist, so the email address is incorrect. To activate this contact you will have to get the correct email address from the contact and update the profile.
Here are the different versions of status we have:
Delivered
Unsubscribed from all email
Unsubscribed from this list
Bounced
Missing email address
Email is blocked
In this support article you will learn how to handle these states.
Delivered
When the status says "Delivered", then the message have been delivered to the recipients email server.
Unsubscribes
In the newsletter statistics you can see if a contact has unsubscribed from all emails or if they have only unsubscribed from a list. The status will be orange and it will say "Unsubscribed from all emails" or "Unsubscribed from this list". Here you can see how to re-subscribe a contact.
Blocked and inactive email adresses
When sending emails or newsletters from ChurchDesk, in the statistics you can see if there are any emails that didn't get delivered due to blocked email addresses. We will describe the most common ones in this article. To get the exact reason why the email address is blocked, you need to go to the People overview and enable the column “E-mail status.”
In the People message statistics a contacts that doesn’t have an “active” email status will have a red box saying “Email is blocked” and you check the specific status in People columns.
Pending
The contact has signed up for a newsletter via the website. A Subscribe View has a built in double opt-in function. When someone signs up for the newsletter, they receive an email, where they have to confirm, that they want to sign-up for the newsletter. If the contact does confirmed via this email, the email status will remain “Pending” and we will not send any emails to this contact. If the contact didn't see the email by mistake, the email can be re-sent if the person signs up again.
If the church has confirmation from the contact, that they want to receive emails, the church can activate the contacts email manually like this:
Find and open the contact profile page. Click on Edit in Personal information. Copy the email address and then remove it from the email field. Save the change. Now edit again and insert the email address again and save. Now the email status of the contact is active and the contact can receive emails.
Remember to get consent from the contact that they would like to receive email from the church and it was a mistake that they didn't confirm the sign-up.
Hard Bounce and Preblocked
This is a permanent delivery error caused by an invalid email address (e.g. a mistyped email, a non-existent destination server). If some of your contacts has the email status "Hard bounce" or "Preblocked" you should double check with the contact that the email address is correct and if it isn't, you only need to edit the contact and insert the new email address then the contact will be active again.
If the email address you have in People is indeed the correct one, then you need to send the email address to support@churchdesk.com letting us know, that this email address is blocked and needs to be unblocked.
Too many bounces
If an email bounces six times in a row, then the contact will automatically become blocked, because they are bouncing back all emails from the system. To get the exact bounce reason, send the email address to support@churchdesk.com and ask for the bounce reason and we will provide it for you, so we can help getting the contact activated again.
Quota exceeded
When the email status is "Quota exceeded" it meant that the recipients email inbox is full and we cannot deliver emails to this contact. To activate the contact again the you need to send the email address to support@churchdesk.com letting us know, that this email address is blocked and needs to be unblocked.
ChurchDesk will then unblock the email address. If the recipient hasn't cleaned up their inbox, they will automatically be blocked again next time you send them an email.
Spam / Spam reporter
If the email status is "Spam" or "Spam reporter" it means that the contact has reported an email from you as spam and ChurchDesk is therefore blocked from sending more communication to this contact.
If this contact tells you that this was a mistake and they still want to received emails from the church, then send an email to support@churchdesk.com with the email address and we will start the process of getting it unblocked. We will send you further information, that you would need to give to the contact, so they can send a written consent to ChurchDesk, that they still want to receive emails from the church.
Unsub
If the email status is "Unsub" then the contact has clicked on the unsubscribe link in the email header. Here you can see how to re-subscribe a contact.
Typofix
If the contact has the email status "Typofix" it is because the email domain doesn't exist, so the email address is incorrect. To activate this contact you will have to get the correct email address from the contact and update the profile.
Updated on: 02/05/2023
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