Does Mailchimp handle DMARC for you?

Mailchimp has two steps with similar names, and lots of people stop after the first one.

1. 1
   Verifying is clicking a link Mailchimp emails you. It proves you own the address. Mailchimp says it doesn’t help your email reach the inbox at all.
2. 2
   Authenticating is adding three settings where your domain is managed (often GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Squarespace, Wix or your web host). This is the step that helps your email reach the inbox.

To see which one you’ve done, log in to Mailchimp, click your profile picture, choose Account & billing, then the Domains tab. If your domain says Authenticated, you’re set. If it doesn’t, the steps below are for you.

Lisa runs a yoga studio and sends a monthly newsletter from lisa@sunriseyoga.com through Mailchimp. She verified her address when she signed up and never did anything else. Her newsletter goes out with Mailchimp’s name on it instead of her studio’s, and more and more of it lands in junk. Gmail and Yahoo now want bigger senders to authenticate, and Mailchimp’s own screens warn about it.

Lisa authenticates her domain, and her newsletter now goes out with her studio’s name on it. But her booking app still sends class reminders that aren’t set up the same way. Mailchimp doesn’t know about the booking app, so it can’t tell her. That’s the part Mailchimp doesn’t handle.

1. 1
   Log in to Mailchimp, click your profile picture and choose Account & billing. Click the Domains tab.
2. 2
   Click Start authentication next to your domain, then pick the company that manages your domain from the list.
3. 3
   Choose the automatic option if you can. Mailchimp connects to your domain company, you log in there, and it adds the settings for you.
4. 4
   Or add them yourself: Mailchimp shows two lines for the email signature and one line for the protection setting. Copy each one into your domain company’s settings, or forward them to whoever looks after your website.
5. 5
   Wait for the email from Mailchimp. Most domains are done within minutes. It can take up to 48 hours. When it’s done, your domain shows Authenticated.

The protection setting covers every email sent from your domain, not just your newsletter. So after setup:

1. 1
   Someone has to read the reports. Gmail, Outlook and others send a daily report of everything that sent email as you. Those go to the address in your setting, and Mailchimp doesn’t look at them.
2. 2
   Your other tools still need their own setup. Your everyday mailbox, your invoicing app, your website form and your booking app each have their own version of “authenticate your domain”. The guide to tools that don’t send as you shows how to check each one.
3. 3
   The protection starts in watch-only mode. Fakes in your name still get delivered. Turning it up to junk or block is done slowly, once every real tool passes, or you’ll block your own email.

That’s the work the Email Fix does: it finds every tool sending as you, including the ones you forgot, and SenderFix Monitor reads the reports and walks you up to full protection one safe step at a time.