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How to Set Up Email for SchoolSet (Without an IT Team)

A step‑by‑step checklist for setting up email with SchoolSet using a custom domain, Cloudflare, and Gmail forwarding—designed for schools and organizations without a full IT team.

Written by Aron Lampin
Updated over a week ago

📧 Simple Email Setup Guide for SchoolSet

Designed for organizations without a full IT team

This guide is for schools, nonprofits, and community organizations using SchoolSet that want:

  • Reliable email delivery

  • A professional sending address

  • Minimal technical setup

  • To keep things simple and easy to maintain

✅ No servers ✅ No mail admins ✅ No complex inbox management

✅ Why This Setup Is Required

SchoolSet sends system emails such as:

  • Notifications

  • Announcements

  • Reports

  • Automated messages

To deliver these emails reliably, SchoolSet uses SendGrid in the background.

For emails to reach inboxes (and not spam):

  • The sending domain must be owned by your organization

  • The domain must be authenticated

  • Gmail addresses cannot be authenticated for this purpose

Without this setup:

  • Emails may be filtered or blocked

  • Recipients may see security warnings

  • Delivery may be inconsistent

✅ Recommended Setup (Simple, Reliable, Low‑Maintenance)

This is the recommended setup for organizations without a dedicated IT team:

  1. Purchase a custom domain

  2. Use Cloudflare (free) for DNS management

  3. Authenticate the domain for SchoolSet email sending

  4. Forward incoming domain email to Gmail (free)

  5. Continue using Gmail as usual

👉 No new inboxes 👉 No IT expertise required 👉 Works well long‑term

🛒 Step 1: Purchase a Custom Domain

Purchase your domain from any domain provider, such as:

  • GoDaddy

  • Namecheap

  • Google Domains / Squarespace Domains

Examples:

  • myschool.org

  • ourorganization.com

✅ You are purchasing the domain name only
❌ You do NOT need to purchase email hosting

☁️ Step 2: Create a Free Cloudflare Account

Cloudflare will control your DNS settings, which allows email authentication and forwarding to work correctly.

  1. Go to https://www.cloudflare.com

  2. Create a free account

  3. Log in and click Add a Site

  4. Enter your domain name

  5. Select the Free plan

✅ The Free plan is sufficient

🔁 Step 3: Move DNS Management to Cloudflare

Cloudflare will provide two nameservers, for example:

ns1.cloudflare.com ns2.cloudflare.com

In your domain provider (e.g. GoDaddy):

  1. Open your domain’s settings

  2. Locate Nameservers

  3. Choose Custom Nameservers

  4. Replace existing nameservers with Cloudflare’s

  5. Save changes

⏱️ This usually completes within minutes (occasionally a few hours)

✅ Cloudflare now manages your DNS

📤 Step 4: Authenticate Email Sending for SchoolSet

SchoolSet sends email using SendGrid, silently in the background.

To authorize this, your domain must have specific DNS records.

We will provide:

  • SPF record

  • DKIM record(s)

  • DMARC record

These records:

  • Allow SchoolSet to send email for your domain

  • Prevent spoofing and spam issues

  • Improve deliverability significantly

💡 You do not need to understand these records. You can copy and paste the records we provide

📬 Step 5: Receiving Emails — Forward to Gmail (Free & Simple)

You do not need to create new mailboxes.

Emails sent to your custom domain can be automatically forwarded to Gmail.

Example:

✅ Gmail stays your inbox ✅ No extra cost ✅ No staff retraining

✅ How Email Forwarding Works (Cloudflare)

Cloudflare provides free email forwarding.

  1. Open Cloudflare Dashboard

  2. Go to Email → Email Routing

  3. Enable Email Routing

  4. Add:

  5. Confirm via email

That’s it ✅

✉️ Important: About Replies from Gmail

This section is important for setting expectations.

✅ What Sends from the Custom Domain

  • All emails sent by SchoolSet

  • Notifications and system messages

  • Professionally authenticated

❌ What Does NOT Send from the Custom Domain (By Default)

  • Replies written directly inside Gmail

📌 What Happens When Staff Reply

With the recommended simple setup:

  • Staff receive emailed messages in Gmail

  • They click “Reply”

  • The reply is sent from their Gmail address (e.g. [email protected])

  • The recipient sees the Gmail address

✅ This is expected
✅ This is intentional
✅ This keeps the setup simple

✅ Why This Is Acceptable for Many Organizations

This setup works well when:

  • SchoolSet handles official/system email

  • Replies are occasional or informal

  • Simplicity is more important than branding replies

  • There is no internal IT team

Many schools and nonprofits operate successfully this way.

🔄 Optional Upgrade: Reply from the Custom Domain

If your organization later decides that replies must come from: [email protected]

You have two options with Google:

✅ Option A: Google Workspace (Recommended)

  • Full Gmail experience

  • Custom domain addresses

  • Best for multiple staff users

💲 Paid
✅ Clean and reliable
✅ Easiest long‑term solution

⚠️ Option B: Gmail “Send Mail As”

  • More technical

  • Requires SMTP setup

  • Per‑user configuration

  • Harder to support without IT

⚠️ Not recommended for small teams

✅ Our Recommendation

For organizations without a full IT team, we recommend:

✅ SchoolSet sends official emails
✅ Custom domain used for sending
✅ Domain authenticated properly
✅ Incoming email forwarded to Gmail
✅ Replies come from Gmail
✅ Simple, stable, low‑maintenance

This setup can always be upgraded later if needs change.

🆘 Need Help?

If anything feels unclear:

  • Stop

  • Don’t guess or experiment

  • Reach out for support

We can:

  • Verify your setup

  • Share the correct DNS records

  • Confirm SchoolSet email delivery

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