Email Delivery Issues

NeedBridge is an email-powered need-matching platform that connects people in need with volunteers through nonprofit organizations. Because email is the primary way NeedBridge communicates with volunteers and staff, delivery issues can disrupt your workflow. This article covers common reasons emails may not arrive and how to resolve them.

Check Your Spam or Junk Folder

The single most common reason for missing NeedBridge emails is that they landed in your spam or junk folder. Email providers use automated filters that sometimes misidentify legitimate emails as spam.

What to Do

  • Open your spam/junk folder and search for emails from NeedBridge or from your organization's sending address.
  • If you find NeedBridge emails there, mark them as "Not Spam" or move them to your inbox. This teaches your email provider to deliver future messages correctly.
  • Add the sending address to your contacts or safe senders list to reduce the chance of future filtering.

Verify Your Email Address Is Correct

If your email address was entered incorrectly during signup or registration, emails will be sent to the wrong address.

What to Do

  • Ask your organization's admin to check the email address associated with your account.
  • If it is incorrect, the admin can update it in the admin panel.
  • If you signed up as a volunteer, look for a "Manage Preferences" link at the bottom of any previous notification email to check and update your email.

Check Your Subscription Status

You may have previously unsubscribed from NeedBridge notifications without realizing it.

What to Do

  • Check the bottom of any previous NeedBridge email for a "Manage Preferences" or "Resubscribe" link.
  • Contact your organization's admin and ask them to verify your subscription status.
  • If you are unsubscribed, you can re-subscribe through the preferences link or by signing up again.

Critical vs. Non-Critical Notifications

NeedBridge distinguishes between different types of emails:

Critical Notifications

These include password reset emails, email verification links, and invitation emails. These are sent immediately and are not subject to frequency settings. If you are not receiving these, the issue is likely a spam filter or incorrect email address.

Non-Critical Notifications

These include need notifications, digest emails, and general updates. These are governed by your notification frequency setting (Immediate, Daily, or Weekly). If you are not seeing need notifications, your frequency setting may explain the delay.

Email Frequency Settings

If you selected "Daily Digest" or "Weekly Digest" as your notification frequency, you will not receive individual emails for each new need. Instead, you will receive a summary at the scheduled interval.

What to Do

  • If you want immediate notifications, update your frequency setting to "Immediate."
  • Check when your next digest is scheduled -- you may simply need to wait for the next delivery window.
  • To change your frequency, use the "Manage Preferences" link in any previous notification email, or contact your admin.

Contact Your Admin to Verify Email Settings

Organization administrators can check several things on their end:

  • Whether your email is correctly entered in the system
  • Whether your subscription is active
  • Whether the organization's email sending is configured correctly
  • Whether there are any delivery errors logged for your address

If you have checked spam, verified your address, and confirmed your subscription, ask your admin to investigate further.

SES Delivery Issues

NeedBridge uses Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) to send emails. In rare cases, SES-level issues can affect delivery:

Bounced Emails

If your email provider rejected a previous email from NeedBridge (for example, because your mailbox was full), SES may have marked your address as a "bounce." This can temporarily or permanently prevent future emails from being sent to you.

Complaint Flags

If you previously marked a NeedBridge email as spam through your email provider, SES may have recorded a complaint and suppressed further emails to your address.

What to Do

In both cases, contact your organization's admin or NeedBridge support. They can check whether your email address has been suppressed in the sending system and take steps to restore delivery.

General Tips

  • Whitelist the sending address. Add NeedBridge emails to your safe senders list.
  • Check all folders. Some email clients have additional filtering beyond spam (like "Promotions" in Gmail or "Other" in Outlook).
  • Test with a different email. If you consistently have trouble with one email provider, try registering with a different email address to see if delivery improves.

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