Google Workspace and Gmail limit daily email volume (2000 emails per day, 100 unique recipients per day). To avoid unexpected blocks, set up a SendGrid account for outgoing submissions. SendGrid costs $20 per month for 50,000 emails and sends from your domain while replies still return to your Gmail inbox.
If you want every outgoing submission to appear in your Gmail sent folder even when the funder does not reply, set up automatic CC in MCA Pilot.
Prerequisites
You need access to your domain's DNS settings to add authentication records. SendGrid will provide the exact records to copy. Add them in your DNS management tool, such as GoDaddy, Squarespace, Cloudflare, or Namecheap.
Step 1: Create a SendGrid Account and Authenticate Your Domain
Sign up at SendGrid.
In the left sidebar, click Domain Authentication and authenticate your domain. Copy the DNS records exactly as shown and add them to your DNS management tool (for example, GoDaddy or Squarespace).
Wait for SendGrid to verify the domain. Once verified, proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Create an SMTP Relay in SendGrid
In the left sidebar under Email API, click Integration Guide.
Choose SMTP Relay.
Name the integration MCA Pilot and click Create.
Step 3: Add the Sender in MCA Pilot
In MCA Pilot, go to Settings > Senders and click New Email Account.
Enter the following fields exactly:
Field | Value |
Users | The MCA Pilot users who can send from this email |
Type | Custom SMTP |
Username |
|
From name | Your full email address |
Password | Your SendGrid API key |
Host |
|
Port |
|
Requires SSL/TLS | FALSE (unchecked) |
AI Processing | FALSE (unchecked) |
Save the Sender.
Step 4: Verify the Connection
Hover over the Sender and click Test Connection. This tests both SMTP and IMAP together if both are configured. If the test returns verified, the sender is ready to use.
To send a real test email, click Send Test Email and type your own email address. Check your inbox to confirm the message arrived.
If either test fails, use the checklist below before contacting support.
Recovery Checklist
If the setup fails or stops working, check these items in order:
DNS records not verified. In SendGrid, confirm your domain authentication status shows Verified. Double-check that every DNS record was copied exactly with no typos or missing entries, and that it was added to your DNS management tool (such as GoDaddy or Squarespace).
Missing SPF or DKIM. Confirm your DNS setup includes SPF and DKIM records for the domain you are sending from. Missing authentication records cause deliverability failures and rejections.
Wrong API key. The Username must be
apikey(all lowercase). The Password must be the full SendGrid API key, not a partial key or an old revoked key.SSL/TLS mismatch. Requires SSL/TLS must be unchecked for SendGrid on port 587.
Test Connection failure. If Test Connection fails, re-copy the API key from SendGrid and paste it again. Then retry Test Connection immediately.
Write ECONNRESET error. If you see
write ECONNRESETwhen sending, the server closed the connection unexpectedly. Wait 2–3 minutes and resubmit the deal. See Error from Sendgrid: write ECONNRESET for more details.
If you still cannot send after completing this checklist, reach out to support with the exact error message and the last step you tried.