Club emails - from/replyto address

This article outline how and why the From and ReplyTo address is set when sending an email from the Email to members function within the Hitssports system.

ReplyTo is always set to the registered email address of the logged in member who sends the email from the administration area.  Emails are always sent with the from address as <clubname>@hitssports.co.uk address, with the appropriate replyto address added.  The reason this has to be this way is to ensure delivery, we cannot send "from" your own address as most email providers now check the server the email was sent from, and ensure that this matches up with the from address.   This is used inline something known as the Sender Protection Framework (SPF), and is designed to prevent people sending emails out pretending to be from you.  This is a good thing as it stops a lot of spam.

We set the from address as <clubname>@hitssports.co.uk, as the email is sent from our servers, this means the email should be accepted.  By setting the replyto property if someone hits reply the message will be sent to the person who sent the email.

Providers have been trying for sometime to reduce the amount of spam emails, and changes have successfully reduced the amount of spam getting through, but as a result it has become harder to ensure successful email delivery for a system like ours.  We cannot practically expect users to configure SPF records for their email accounts, to allow sending from our servers.  For corporate email account users this would be impossible, and we believe most users would prefer to just not have to worry about this.  

We use what we believe the best method to ensure reliable delivery, presentation and usability.