Ready to Ditch Your E-Mail Provider?

If your e-mail host doesn't offer spam filtering, storage, encrypted e-mail, or a slick Web interface to check your messages, it's time to consider a switch.

Perhaps you've stayed with the same host because you don't know the steps to make a change. Luckily, transitioning from one host to another doesn't have to mean days of downtime, bouncing e-mails, losing messages, or losing sleep.

First Things First: Find a New E-mail Host

A personal referral is usually the best resource. After all, you don't want to pick a bargain-basement host who will go out of business next week. So ask friends and business associates whom they trust for their e-mail hosting.

If the referral route wasn't successful in producing leads, the next step is to put your fingers to the keyboard to do some online research. One site to try is TechFinder, a searchable, online directory of individuals and organizations that provide technology products and services to the nonprofits.

Another option is to visit Google Groups and search for users' opinions about their e-mail hosts. (Typing something like "e-mail hosts" into the search bar should do the trick.) There, you can also post a question or ask the community for help.

Finally, TechSoup's forums are another resource to tap for help. Members regularly ask for advice and post questions on this topic. To view topics related to E-mail Hosting on the Techsoup forums, please visit Techsoup Virtual Community Email Hosting

Setup and Configuration

Now that the tough part is through, configuration should be a snap.

Sometimes your hosting company will create new mailboxes for your users, but you might also do it yourself if your hosting company offers a Web-based control panel for your account.

Now that you've set up mailboxes, make sure each computer can receive mail from both the old and the new mail hosts. If you use your own domain name (mail.mydomain.com) in the settings for your old e-mail account, replace that with the mail server's IP address. When you set up your new mail host, be sure to follow their instructions.

Change Your DNS Settings

To receive mail with your new host, you'll need to change the mail exchanger record (or MX record) for your domain in order to receive mail with your new host. (The MX record is what determines where mail for your domain is sent.) To do this, you should first contact the company that hosts your DNS and ask them to change the MX record to the mail server at your new hosting company. If you need help with this step, contact your new e-mail host and ask them for assistance.

To find out which servers are handling your e-mail, the Webmaster-toolkit MX Record Lookup tool can help.

Cancel Service with Your Old Host

A few days after the DNS change is complete, contact your old e-mail host and cancel your service. At this time, you can remove the settings for your old mail host from your users' computers.