National Foundation Email Deliverability & Governance Stabilization

Organization type: National foundation

Primary goal: Improve inbox placement and reduce spam risk following migration to HubSpot

Strategic focus: Deliverability governance, engagement segmentation, and reputation management

Platform: HubSpot Marketing Enterprise

After transitioning to HubSpot, the foundation began experiencing uncertainty around email performance:

• Reports of spam placement
• Inconsistent open rates
• Urgent communications not reliably reaching recipients
• Confusion around unengaged contact segmentation
• Legacy sending habits carried over from their previous platform

While their database was fully opted-in, sending practices had not yet been aligned with HubSpot’s deliverability model or modern inbox provider standards.

They needed more than tactical adjustments.
They needed a structured, documented email governance system.

Rather than offering reactive troubleshooting, we implemented a comprehensive deliverability framework grounded in best practices and inbox provider behavior.

Deliverability & Reputation Audit

We reviewed engagement segmentation, list hygiene, and sending volume patterns to identify potential risk factors affecting inbox placement.

Documented Email Governance Framework

We developed and delivered a formal best-practices guide outlining:

• Data hygiene and consent mapping during migration
• Subscription type structure and graymail management
• Subject line and content optimization standards
• Plain-text strategies for urgent communications
• Text-to-image balance guidance
• Engagement-based segmentation rules
• Spam trap prevention and list validation standards

This provided the team with repeatable, internal documentation — not just advice.

Sending Volume & Reputation Management

We introduced structured guidance on:

• Gradual volume ramp-up after migration
• Batch sending to protect domain reputation
• Monitoring bounce, spam, and unsubscribe thresholds
• Avoiding sudden spikes that trigger inbox throttling

Technical Authentication & Monitoring

We reinforced domain authentication best practices (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and provided guidance on using tools like Google Postmaster to monitor sender reputation.

Re-Engagement & Recovery Strategy

We implemented staged re-engagement sequencing to rebuild positive engagement signals before expanding to larger audiences.

Improved internal confidence in inbox placement

Clear separation between urgent and marketing email strategy

Documented governance standards for current and future staff

Defined engagement segmentation to protect sender reputation

Reduced spam-related uncertainty and reactive troubleshooting

Stronger technical foundation for long-term deliverability stability

By replacing guesswork with structured governance, the foundation transitioned from deliverability anxiety to controlled, strategic email operations.

This approach works well for foundations and nonprofits that:

Have recently migrated to HubSpot
Are experiencing inconsistent inbox placement
Send time-sensitive event or donor communications
Manage large legacy contact lists
Need documented email standards to protect domain reputation
Plan to scale automation but require deliverability stability first