Best practices for mass emails to the NELB community
Note: If you're unsure that you have the access you need to send mass emails or are unable to find the BCC field discussed in this guide, please submit a ticket through the link at the top of this page for assistance.
Mass emails are meant to provide information to large groups of people and don't require replies or discussion between recipients. Examples of mass emails include newsletters and providing information to all faculty, staff, or students. Mass emails should always be sent using the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) feature in Outlook.
Why to use BCC
- When the recipient of an email uses the Reply All feature, then all email addresses in the To and CC fields will receive the reply. This can lead to the exposure of sensitive information or long threads of unnecessary replies that may make it difficult to find important information.
- BCC protects the privacy of our community by preventing message recipients from seeing the names and contact information of the other recipients of the email.
- If the recipients of your email include both nesl.edu email addresses and non-nesl.edu email addresses or any recipients forward the message to their outside email account, email addresses in the BCC field will not be forwarded or exposed to the mail handling rules of other email systems.
- If a virus or phishing scam compromises the computer or email account of any of the recipients of your message, the email addresses in the BCC field will be more protected from any spam mailings that may result.
How to use BCC
- In the desktop or web version of Outlook, start a new mail.
- In the navigation menu above the message editor, click Options.
- Check the box next to "Show Bcc".
- The BCC field should be added below the To and CC fields and above the "Add a subject" field. Type the names of any people or distribution lists that should receive the message in the BCC field.
More information