--- title: "Route Alumni Email via Google Workspace or Office 365 | Alumni Forwarding" description: "Step-by-step guide to routing alumni email through Google Workspace or Office 365 to a forwarding service. No DNS changes required." image: "https://alumniforwarding.com/og/blog/university-email-routing-setup.png" canonical: "https://alumniforwarding.com/blog/university-email-routing-setup/" --- Quick Answer Route alumni email through your existing Google Workspace or Office 365 by adding forwarding rules at the mail platform level - no DNS changes or new MX records needed. Alumni keep their @school.edu addresses while email forwards to a dedicated service that handles authentication, storage elimination, and self-service management. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falumniforwarding.com%2Fblog%2Funiversity-email-routing-setup%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Route%20Alumni%20Email%20via%20Google%20Workspace%20or%20Office%20365&url=https%3A%2F%2Falumniforwarding.com%2Fblog%2Funiversity-email-routing-setup%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Falumniforwarding.com%2Fblog%2Funiversity-email-routing-setup%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Falumniforwarding.com%2Fblog%2Funiversity-email-routing-setup%2F&title=Route%20Alumni%20Email%20via%20Google%20Workspace%20or%20Office%20365 "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Route%20Alumni%20Email%20via%20Google%20Workspace%20or%20Office%20365&body=Check out this article: https%3A%2F%2Falumniforwarding.com%2Fblog%2Funiversity-email-routing-setup%2F "Share via Email") ![Email routing configuration for university alumni forwarding systems](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1558494949-ef010cbdcc31?auto=format&fit=crop&q=80&w=1200) The fastest way to offload alumni email from your institution is to route it through your existing Google Workspace or Office 365 environment. No DNS changes. No new MX records on your primary domain. Alumni keep their original @school.edu addresses and never know anything changed. This guide walks through the technical setup for both platforms. The whole process takes about 30 minutes of admin time. ## How the Routing Works The concept is the same regardless of platform. Your email system acts as the first stop - it checks whether the recipient is a local user (current student, faculty, staff). If they are, mail delivers normally. If the recipient doesn’t exist locally, the email routes to Alumni Forwarding, where we look them up and forward to their personal inbox. **Email Flow:** 1. **Incoming email** to [jane@school.edu](mailto:jane@school.edu) 2. **Google Workspace / Office 365** checks local directory 3. **If user is found** \- Delivers to local mailbox 4. **If user is unknown** \- Routes to Alumni Forwarding 5. **Alumni Forwarding** performs lookup and forwards to personal inbox (or rejects if not found) > **Before You Begin** > > Make sure these prerequisites are in place: > > - Your Alumni Forwarding service has been provisioned and configured to accept mail for your domain(s) > - Alumni addresses and forwarding destinations have been imported (via CSV or API) > - You have admin access to your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 admin console --- ## Google Workspace: Unknown User Routing This configuration uses Google Workspace’s built-in mail routing to send unrecognized recipients to Alumni Forwarding. The setup has two parts: adding a mail host, then creating a routing rule. ### How It Works **1\. Add a Mail Route** In the Google Admin console under Gmail → Hosts, you add Alumni Forwarding’s mail server as a route destination. This tells Google where to send mail when a recipient isn’t found locally. **2\. Create a Routing Rule** Under Gmail → Routing, you create a rule that targets “Unrecognized / Catch-all” accounts and routes them to the mail host you just added. You also enable “Suppress bounces” so that Alumni Forwarding handles rejection for addresses not in our system. **3\. That’s It** Incoming email routes to Google first. Known users deliver locally. Unknown users route to Alumni Forwarding for lookup and delivery. You can safely deprovision alumni accounts to reclaim storage. ### Full Setup Guide For step-by-step instructions with screenshots, see our Knowledge Base article: [Full Setup Guide: Google Workspace Unknown User Routing](https://support.alumniforwarding.com/support/solutions/articles/5000897812-route-unknown-g-suite-users-for-alumni-forwarding) --- ## Office 365: Transport Rule + Connector The Office 365 setup uses three components working together: a Distribution Group to identify alumni, a Connector to define where their mail goes, and a Mail Flow Rule to tie them together. ### Component Overview - **Distribution Group** \- Contains all alumni members (mailbox users and mail contacts) - **Connector** \- Points to Alumni Forwarding mail servers - **Mail Flow Rule** \- Routes group members’ mail through the connector ### How It Works **1\. Create a Distribution Group + Mail Contacts** Create a Distribution List in the Exchange Admin Center to hold all alumni. For alumni without M365 mailboxes, add them as Mail Contacts with an email address at your tenant’s domain so M365 recognizes them as valid recipients. **2\. Create a Connector** Add an outbound connector in Exchange Admin Center pointing to Alumni Forwarding’s mail servers. Set it to activate only when a transport rule directs messages to it. Multiple hosts are available for redundancy. **3\. Create a Mail Flow Rule** Create a rule that matches recipients who are members of your alumni Distribution Group and redirects their mail through the connector you created. That’s it - mail for alumni routes to Alumni Forwarding, everyone else delivers normally. > **Note:** Mail Flow Rules can take up to 30 minutes to take effect, and Connectors may take longer. Test with a single alumni address before rolling out to all members. ### Full Setup Guide For step-by-step instructions with screenshots, see our Knowledge Base article: [Full Setup Guide: Office 365 Transport Rule Configuration](https://support.alumniforwarding.com/support/solutions/articles/5000893105-routing-office-365-via-transport-rule-for-email-forwarding) --- ## Testing Your Configuration After setup, verify the routing is working correctly: 1. **Test a known local user** \- Send an email to an active student or staff member. It should deliver to their local mailbox as usual - no change in behavior. 2. **Test a known alumni address** \- Send an email to an alumni address that exists in Alumni Forwarding. It should arrive in their personal inbox within seconds. 3. **Test an unknown address** \- Send an email to a made-up address at your domain that doesn’t exist anywhere. It should be rejected - not silently dropped. ## Common Questions **What happens if someone emails an address that doesn’t exist in either system?** The email routes to Alumni Forwarding, we check our lookup table, and if the address isn’t there either, the message is properly rejected with a standard bounce. No black holes. **Do I need to change my MX records?** No. Your MX records stay exactly as they are, pointing to Google or Microsoft. The routing happens internally after the mail is received. **Can I do this gradually?** Absolutely. You can start by routing a small batch of alumni and expand over time. For Google, all unknown users route automatically. For O365, you control exactly who’s in the Distribution Group. **What about email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)?** Alumni Forwarding handles full authentication chain preservation. We implement SRS (Sender Rewriting Scheme) and ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) to maintain authentication integrity through the forwarding hop. **How do alumni update their forwarding address?** Through our self-service portal. Alumni receive a link, verify their identity by clicking a confirmation sent to their personal inbox, and can update their forwarding destination anytime. No IT involvement needed. --- > **Need help with setup?** > > Our team can walk you through the configuration on a screen share, or handle the setup for you. Most deployments are completed in a single session. Schedule a call and we’ll get you routing in under an hour. --- --- **Related reading:** - [How Google Storage Caps Impact University Alumni Email](/blog/google-workspace-storage-changes/) - [Why Email Security Matters for University Alumni Networks](/blog/email-security-university-alumni/) Ready to set up alumni forwarding for your institution? We’ll have you routing in under an hour. [Schedule a Setup Call](https://calendly.com/bradslavin/alumni-forwarding) ## Topics [ Technical Guide ](/tags/technical-guide/)[ Google Workspace ](/tags/google-workspace/)[ Office 365 ](/tags/office-365/)[ Implementation ](/tags/implementation/) BS [ Brad Slavin ](/authors/brad-slavin/) General Manager, DuoCircle General Manager of DuoCircle, building email infrastructure for universities. [LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin/) ## Ready to Transform Your Alumni Email? Keep your alumni connected for life without the infrastructure burden. [Schedule a Consultation](https://calendly.com/bradslavin/alumni-forwarding) [See Pricing](/#pricing) ## Related Articles [ General How Google Storage Caps Impact University Alumni Email Mar 17, 2026 ](/blog/google-workspace-storage-changes/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Alumni Forwarding","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com/assets/images/alumni-forwarding-logo.png"},"description":"Enterprise email forwarding service for university alumni. Enables higher education institutions to provide lifetime institutional email addresses at a fraction of the cost of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.","parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc","https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://github.com/duocircle"],"subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://support.alumniforwarding.com"},"knowsAbout":["Email Forwarding","Alumni Email","Higher Education IT","University Email Management","Email Migration","SPF","DKIM","DMARC"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","name":"Alumni Forwarding","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com","description":"Enterprise email forwarding service for university alumni. Enables higher education institutions to provide lifetime institutional email addresses at a fraction of the cost of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Alumni Forwarding","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com/assets/images/alumni-forwarding-logo.png"},"description":"Enterprise email forwarding service for university alumni. Enables higher education institutions to provide lifetime institutional email addresses at a fraction of the cost of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.","parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc","https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://github.com/duocircle"],"subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]}}} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"Route Alumni Email via Google Workspace or Office 365","description":"Step-by-step guide to routing alumni email through Google Workspace or Office 365 to a forwarding service. No DNS changes required.","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com/blog/university-email-routing-setup/","datePublished":"2026-03-17T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-17T00:00:00.000Z","dateCreated":"2026-03-17T00:00:00.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://alumniforwarding.com/authors/brad-slavin/#person","name":"Brad Slavin","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com/authors/brad-slavin/","jobTitle":"General Manager, DuoCircle","description":"Brad has led DuoCircle since 2014, building email infrastructure trusted by universities worldwide. He oversees Alumni Forwarding's product strategy and enterprise partnerships.","knowsAbout":["Email Infrastructure","Higher Education IT","Enterprise Security"],"worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Alumni Forwarding","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin/"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Alumni Forwarding","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://alumniforwarding.com/assets/images/alumni-forwarding-logo.png"},"description":"Enterprise email forwarding service for university alumni. Enables higher education institutions to provide lifetime institutional email addresses at a fraction of the cost of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.","parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc","https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://github.com/duocircle"],"subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://support.alumniforwarding.com"},"knowsAbout":["Email Forwarding","Alumni Email","Higher Education IT","University Email Management","Email Migration","SPF","DKIM","DMARC"]},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://alumniforwarding.com/blog/university-email-routing-setup/"},"articleSection":"uncategorized","keywords":"Technical Guide, Google Workspace, Office 365, Implementation","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1558494949-ef010cbdcc31?auto=format&fit=crop&q=80&w=1200","caption":"Email routing configuration for university alumni forwarding systems"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".answer-block","h1"]}} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://alumniforwarding.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https://alumniforwarding.com/blog/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"General","item":"https://alumniforwarding.com/uncategorized/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Route Alumni Email via Google Workspace or Office 365","item":"https://alumniforwarding.com/blog/university-email-routing-setup/"}]} ```