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How to Set Up A Sendgrid Account

A better way to send email at scale through MCA Pilot

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Written by Victor Fteha

Set up SendGrid when Gmail or Google Workspace volume limits block outbound submissions. Gmail limits are 2000 emails per day and 100 unique recipients per day. SendGrid costs $20 per month for 50,000 emails and sends from your domain while replies can still return to your Gmail inbox.

For the shared sender form, default sender, and common error checklist across providers, see Connect Your Email to MCA Pilot. If a SendGrid sender already exists and fails, use Reconnect your email sender.

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.

Before you start

You need access to your domain’s DNS settings. SendGrid provides the exact records to copy into your DNS tool, such as GoDaddy, Squarespace, Cloudflare, or Namecheap.

Create a SendGrid account and authenticate your domain

  1. Sign up at SendGrid.

  2. In the left sidebar, open Domain Authentication and authenticate your domain. Copy each DNS record exactly and add it in your DNS tool.

  3. Wait until SendGrid shows the domain as verified, then continue.

Create an SMTP Relay in SendGrid

  1. Under Email API, open Integration Guide.

  2. Choose SMTP Relay.

  3. Name the integration MCA Pilot and click Create.

Add the sender in MCA Pilot

Create the SendGrid sender with these exact field values.

  1. In MCA Pilot, go to Settings > Senders and click New Email Account.

  2. Enter the fields below, then save the sender.

Field

Value

Users

The MCA Pilot users who can send from this email

Type

Custom SMTP

Username

apikey

From name

Your full email address

Password

Your SendGrid API key

Host

smtp.sendgrid.net

Port

587

Requires SSL/TLS

FALSE (unchecked)

AI Processing

FALSE (unchecked)

Leave AI Processing unchecked on the SendGrid sender. Use your mailbox sender with IMAP when you want MCA Pilot to read funder replies. See Configure Your IMAP Settings.

Verify the connection

Confirm both the connection test and a real delivery test before you rely on SendGrid for live deals.

  1. Hover over the sender and click Test Connection. This tests SMTP and IMAP together if both are configured. A passing result shows verified.

  2. Click Send Test Email, enter your own address, and confirm the message arrives.

If either test fails, work through the recovery checklist below before contacting support.

Recovery checklist

Check these items in order when setup fails or sending stops.

  1. DNS records not verified. In SendGrid, confirm domain authentication shows Verified. Recheck every DNS record for typos or missing entries.

  2. Missing SPF or DKIM. Confirm DNS includes SPF and DKIM for the sending domain.

  3. Wrong API key. Username must be apikey (all lowercase). Password must be the full current API key.

  4. SSL/TLS mismatch. Leave Requires SSL/TLS unchecked on port 587.

  5. Test Connection failure. Re-copy the API key from SendGrid, paste it again, and retry Test Connection immediately.

  6. write ECONNRESET. Wait 2–3 minutes and resubmit. See Error from Sendgrid: write ECONNRESET.

For the full multi-provider error checklist, including duplicate senders and password updates, use Reconnect your email sender.

If you still cannot send after completing this checklist, reach out to support with the exact error message and the last step you tried.

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