Need Mail Program to Handle Large Group

[Mike1951]

I need a secure, online email service to use for a shooting club of nearly 900.

In 2007, I began using my Earthlink account and my computer based email program. The membership then was only a few hundred. It was reliable enough until May 2010, when Earthlink began scrutinizing large distributions. I submitted their bulk email form and they approved my usage, but there are still issues. Messages sent in this manner show suspicious characteristics when analyzed, so it's possible that some are getting trapped as spam, even though all members were asked to add the sender's address to their address book.

I also find myself unofficially, but absolutely limited to one such message per day. A second attempt locks all of my Earthlink mail accounts until the next day.

So it's past the point that I need something more efficient.

It should:
handle upwards of 1000 email addresses
allow the members to demonstrably opt-in or opt-out (we have recorded phone announcements for those)
be internet based, password protected, so that other authorized persons may use it
be secure, probably encrypted as club issues are private
if checked by email programs or spam filters, messages should not appear suspicious
have a reasonable cost

I could even envision, if the system is secure and capable enough, actually collecting votes on club issues in this manner.

This is over my head, but I seem to have inherited the task.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Teamless]

If you are looking for communication, like a newsletter, at work, we use Constant Contact for our email blasts to our contacts, and have done upwards of 3000 at a time, never an issue.
With this, it "shows" as if my email address sent the newsletter, so they can respond and it comes back to me directly but they do not have the ability to "reply to all"

[KC5AV]

I may be misunderstanding your needs, but have you considered creating something like a Yahoo group or a private/secret group on facebook? There would be no cost associated with either of those, and you would be able to control membership on either of them. The yahoo group would allow users to determine if they wanted individual messages, a daily digest, or no emails at all.

[Mike1951]

I may be misunderstanding your needs, but have you considered creating something like a Yahoo group or a private/secret group on facebook? There would be no cost associated with either of those, and you would be able to control membership on either of them. The yahoo group would allow users to determine if they wanted individual messages, a daily digest, or no emails at all.

I guess I wasn't clear. We have a message board and a separate website. Both have the handicap that members must visit them.

The most common uses for the email list is to notify members when the range will be closed for mowing or other maintenance, when a workday will be held, or CHL classes being offered. You can't count on anyone visiting the sites to learn about these occurrences. The small number of members without email get recorded phone announcements.

One requirement that I overlooked is the ability to send without revealing individual email addresses, like I now use bcc:.

Even though Earthlink sends these messages, it is certainly less than reliable and the messages that are sent show "This IP address was found to be suspicious" when I analyze message. This is simply due to my sending these large distributions.

Something like this: http://www.webasyst.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, bulk mailing for this runs $69.95/month, which is too expensive for our needs. Was hoping someone would have experience with something similar.

Most of these appear to be written for fund raising or mass marketing.

[Skiprr]

Teamless mentioned ConstantContact, and I've had good luck for several years with a competitor of theirs, MailChimp. Despite the funny name, it's a robust service that meets all the needs you've described, including complete opt-in/opt-out database management with customizable fields, and detailed reporting capabilities to show who opened the emails, and how many click-throughs any embedded links received.

They offer three program types. Free if you store no more than 2,000 subscribers and send no more than 12,000 emails per month. Monthly subscriptions if you have a larger database of subscribers and/or want unlimited email volume per month (2,500-3,000 subscribers runs $50 per month). And pay-as-you-go plans where you prepay for a certain number of emails and have no limit on the size of the subscriber base; this works out best for organizations that have a substantial number of members, but don't send email frequently (example: 25,000 prepaid emails costs $250 with no expiration date on the credits).

Reputable companies like ConstantContact and MailChimp are rigorous about preventing their customers from generating spam, have all the bells and whistles in place to allow you to combine both HTML and plain-text content in a single email, and making sure that junk mail filters don't interpret your email as spam. They also offer optional services to provide you with stuff like more detailed reporting, and to help you evaluate how your HTML code will appear in various email applications.

[Mike1951]

The ConstantContact would be too expensive for us. MailChimp does look promising. I've registered and sent a couple of test messages to my own addresses.

But there's a lot about how to use it that's over my head. I found a somewhat dated manual and downloaded it. I'll try to digest it as I'm able.

[92f-fan]

if you have a website then you may already have access to mailman mailing lists ..

Most shared web hosting accounts are hosted on Linux servers. Most Linux servers include mailman for free
http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It will do what you want and you can secure it to members only - just make sure you secure the archives as well ...

If your webhosting account includes access to a "control panel" look in the control panel for software options. Often they include mailman and wordpress and other free add ons...

Good luck. Send me a PM if you need more info.

[phrogg]

Using Mailman as you suggest might actually work for the OP. But he will still run into eventual issues as the list continues to grow. The likelihood of a shared host having some account on that same IP address get blacklisted is higher than you might think. I battle this all the time as I run a hosting business and provide just such a service. That's why I've gone to start reselling Constant Contact. This allows me to send things in such a way that its really hard to get blocked as spam. They take great lengths to make sure that things make it through. If someone marks you as spam with their ISP then that address will get removed from your list so that you cannot keep sending to that individual and bump up your spamminess (is that a word?).

It also gives you great analytics that really help you to understand who gets your emails and what they read, etc.

But as the OP said, its not free and might cost too much for him. The price increases as the number of subscribers increases. But you do get to send out as many emails as you like to that list. So MailChimp might be a good substitute in the smaller scale while able to do it for free.

[92f-fan]

phrogg

I also run a webserver - have 80 or so accounts and a number of them have mailman lists
If you DONT allow it to be abused Ive not seen it become a problem
In 10 or so years I cant remember a problem that couldnt be fixed

[Skiprr]

phrogg

I also run a webserver - have 80 or so accounts and a number of them have mailman lists
If you DONT allow it to be abused Ive not seen it become a problem
In 10 or so years I cant remember a problem that couldnt be fixed

I've run into the same thing phrogg has. I think what he is describing is not a Webserver that he manages (either outright or in a co-lo environment) but accounts purchased from a service that runs them as virtual machines on shared servers. That's certainly the most economical way to go for someone looking to build a Website, but the problem is that you have no control over what other customers do via that server's mail engine, and really the hosting provider doesn't, either, until after the fact. If one customer sends out a boatload of spam mail, all mail coming from that server can become blacklisted. Then your legitimate mail begins to be blocked until the hosting provider can track down the culprit, and the targeted mailserver owner agree to remove you from the blacklist.

And that last bit can take a very long time...or never even happen. One site I own I've had to request three different times in two years that the account be moved to a different server specifically because email stopped going through to a substantial number of recipients; it had become blacklisted. And we're not talking mailing lists or blasts that we were using, but just several, personal emails daily as used by a half-dozen people for a non-profit.

Now, having a shared hosting account moved to another server isn't a big deal; you just have to be firm about your request and the reason for it...and have full portability backups in case you have to pick up shop and move. The potential problem isn't faced, of course, if you have a dedicated server.

[phrogg]

phrogg

I also run a webserver - have 80 or so accounts and a number of them have mailman lists
If you DONT allow it to be abused Ive not seen it become a problem
In 10 or so years I cant remember a problem that couldnt be fixed

I've got some 120+ different accounts on a Plesk server that I've run for the last 10 years or so as well. What usually happens is that someone gets some sorta virus on their PC and it starts sending email out through their legitimate email account which is hosted on my server. Then that IP gets blacklisted and I get to go through dealing with that. I've fairly well resolved that issue with the fact that I require login to the server and use ports other than 25, etc. Those have helped to really head that off. I've also taken the customers who tend to have the most problems and moved their accounts to another shared IP specifically for them so they can screw themselves up when they want to. Another big help is getting them setup with someone who can keep their machines clean and virus free .

So the issue I still have with folks using Mailman a lot is when recipients start marking things as spam. That eventually makes it through the filtering stuff and shows more and more likely spam coming from your IP address. That tends to make it harder and harder sometimes to send emails out. Its not something that is too big a problem, nor one that I cannot solve after 25 years as a unix admin. But it is something I have to deal with and I don't want to have to deal with it...I'd rather it just run and never need to be touched . So I tend to try to recommend folks use the Constant Contact service because they get better info about what is happening as well as better delivery rates without mucking it up for others at the same time.

But any of these solutions I've seen presented in this thread will work fine. They all have their pros and cons. Just remember, if the opposite of pro is con...then the opposite of progress is....

[92f-fan]

The potential problem isn't faced, of course, if you have a dedicated server.

Maybe thats the difference
Its been many years since Ive dealt with VPS's ...

[Mike1951]

MailChimp, suggested by Skiprr, while complicated to me, appears to be the only option, thus far, that I might eventually be able to comprehend if given enough time.

I like the fact that each email sent only contains information for that specific recipient. I realize that may also be standard practice for the other methods shown, but they will require a third party to implement.

I live in constant fear that, using my makeshift method of using bcc:, I will one day reveal individual members' email addresses.

Can anyone address how secure addressee information is, as stored on MailChimp's server?