Failed Email Notices¶
When you send a mass email, TouchPoint emails you any delivery failure notices received from the email provider. Each notice is sent from mailer@tpsdb.com with the subject Touchpoint failed email.
The body of the notice contains the details of the failure:
Original email’s subject line
Recipient’s name and email address
Failed event (such as bounce, dropped, or spam report)
Bounce type
Reason for the failure
Two of these are links — the subject line opens a list of that person’s failed emails, and the recipient’s name opens their people record. From the people record, select Communications > Failed to see that person’s failed emails.
See below for common bounce reasons.
If the problem is a Spam Report, see the section below.
Note
Use the Has Failed Emails Search Builder Condition to find people with failed emails after a specified date.
See also
Important
Failed emails are about delivery problems – the email was sent but could not be delivered. If you need to find email addresses that are incorrectly formatted (missing the @ symbol, misspelled domain extension, etc.), use the Has Invalid Email Address Search Builder Condition instead. That Condition checks the format of both primary and secondary email addresses and can help you clean up malformed addresses before they cause delivery failures.
TouchPoint maintains two lists of email addresses that prevent future delivery:
Bounce Email List
Spam Report List
The Bounce Email List¶
Emails bounced by the recipient’s Internet Service Provider are added to this list. The reason is included in your failure notice. Addresses on this list will not receive any future mailings for at least 30 days, after which the email provider will automatically retry.
A user with the Admin role can manually remove an email from the Bounce List (see How to Unblock below).
Emails on this list are typically coded as “dropped” and “Bounced address” after the initial failure.
Typical bounce reasons:
Account has been disabled
No email account for that address
User unknown
Not our customer
Unable to resolve domain name (probably misspelled)
Connection timed out (their ISP is down)
Connection refused
Mailbox full
Domain not allowed in receipt hosts (tpsdb.com is not approved)
Reasons 2-5 are often as simple as a typo. Example: george@gmal.com (gmail is misspelled). Contact the person to get the correct email address.
The Spam Report List¶
- Spam Report¶
A Spam Report means a recipient clicked Spam or Junk in their email client. Their email address is then placed on the Spam Report List.
To protect our sending reputation, TouchPoint honors that report and stops sending email to that address as long as it remains on the list.
What You Should Do About Spam Reports¶
When an address ends up on the Spam Report list, contact the person to find out if they truly do not want your emails. The most common cause is accidentally clicking Spam when intending to click Delete.
- Options
Depending on the situation, take one of these actions:
No further emails from your church – remove the email address from their record.
Transactional emails only (password resets, registration confirmations, etc.) – uncheck the Active Email box beside the email address on their record. This prevents mass emails but allows transactional ones.
Opt out from specific senders only – use Optout on the person’s Communication > Subscriptions tab to unsubscribe them from a specific sender.
Made a mistake and does want emails (most common) – submit a Support Request to have the spam block removed.
Important
Only a TouchPoint team member can remove a Spam Block. Submit a Support Request to have the person removed from this list.
See also
Mass Email Policy¶
A good mass email policy helps prevent intentional spam reports.
Send mass emails On Behalf Of a ministry people record (e.g., Student Ministry, Church Newsletter). Each should have its own email address so recipients can unsubscribe from one without affecting others.
See also
Monitor the inbox on any address used for mass emailing. Forward those emails to a staff member, or grant inbox access in Outlook.
Always include an {unsubscribe} link on every mass email, prominently displayed at the top or in the footer. Make it easy for recipients to opt out so they use that link instead of the spam button.
See also
Consider including the {track} replacement code on mass emails to track open rates. Include an image (such as a banner) so the tracking pixel loads when the recipient displays images.
See also
- Not a Burden, a Responsibility
You will never get your email list perfect, but you have a responsibility to ensure the people you serve receive the communication they want.
If you send 1,000 emails and get 10 bounces, do not fret if you cannot address them immediately. You will be notified again on the next mailing.
- How to Unblock a Bounced Email
When you receive a Failed Email notice, click the link to go to the person’s record. Select Communications > Failed to view their failed emails.
If the failure was a Bounce, users with the Admin role will see an Unblock link. Click Unblock to remove the address from the Bounce List. Bounced emails are also unblocked automatically after 30 days.
Note
You cannot remove a Spam Block from this page. Only a TouchPoint team member can do that – submit a Support Request.
To view the full failed emails list (top 300), go to Administration > Emails > Failed or navigate directly to https://yourchurch.tpsdb.com/Emails/Failed. This page requires the Admin, Finance, or ManageEmails role.
Latest Update |
06/22/2026 |
Verified against code, added role requirements, updated formatting