Secure transactional email infrastructure for nonprofit and institutional websites

Message Relay

Authenticated sending with TLS-secured transport where supported.

Message Relay is operated by Tomatillo Design, a WordPress development studio serving nonprofit and institutional clients.

What Is Message Relay?

Message Relay is a domain used to send automated website notifications on behalf of nonprofit organizations, universities, and other institutions.

If you received an email from an address ending in @message-relay.org, the message was generated by a website form or system notification — such as a contact form submission, application confirmation, event registration, or internal staff alert.

Message Relay exists solely to deliver these transactional messages reliably and securely.

  • It does not send marketing campaigns.
  • It does not manage subscriber lists.
  • It does not operate as a public email service.

Why Am I Seeing This Domain?

Many organizations protect their primary email domains using modern anti-spoofing standards such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protections prevent unauthorized third-party systems from sending email that appears to come directly from the organization’s domain.

To maintain both deliverability and domain security, some websites send automated notifications through a dedicated, authenticated infrastructure domain. Message Relay provides that function.

Emails sent through Message Relay:

  • Are authenticated with DKIM signing
  • Can support SPF and DMARC alignment when sender domains are configured accordingly
  • Use TLS in transit when supported by receiving mail servers
  • Route replies to the address shown in each message (Reply-To)

If you reply to a message, your response will go to the organization listed in the email — not to Message Relay.

What Message Relay Does

  • Sends automated website notifications
  • Authenticates outbound email with DKIM
  • Supports SPF and DMARC alignment when configured
  • Protects client domain reputation
  • Ensures reliable transactional delivery
  • Routes replies to the address defined in each message

What Message Relay Does Not Do

  • Send marketing newsletters
  • Store or manage mailing lists
  • Sell or share personal data
  • Operate as a public inbox provider
  • Replace an organization’s primary email system

Message Relay functions strictly as infrastructure for website-generated communications.

Technical Overview

Message Relay operates using reputable cloud email infrastructure and adheres to modern email authentication standards.

All outbound messages are:

  • Authenticated using DKIM signing
  • Able to support SPF sender authorization when MAIL FROM configuration is in place
  • Configured to support DMARC alignment (evaluated by recipient mail systems)
  • Sent using TLS transport when supported by recipient mail servers

These measures help ensure that automated messages are delivered reliably while maintaining domain security and compliance with current email best practices.

Operated by Tomatillo Design

Message Relay is operated by Tomatillo Design, a Durham, North Carolina-based WordPress development studio serving nonprofit and institutional clients.

Tomatillo Design builds and maintains secure, accessible websites and supporting infrastructure for mission-driven organizations.

For more information, visit tomatillodesign.com.

For questions regarding this domain or its operation, contact info@tomatillodesign.com.

For questions about a specific message you received, please contact the organization referenced in that email.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is this email legitimate?

If you received a message from @message-relay.org, it was generated by a website you interacted with or by an internal notification system used by an organization. Message Relay is used strictly for automated, transactional communications.

2. Can I reply to the email I received?

Yes. Replies go to the address shown in the message (Reply-To), which is typically the organization that sent the notification.

3. Does Message Relay store my personal information?

Message Relay is not a mailing list platform or CRM. Operational metadata (such as delivery, bounce, and complaint events) may be retained to support reliable delivery and troubleshooting.