diff --git a/compendium_v2/__init__.py b/compendium_v2/__init__.py
index 9d1b68d063ca54b1cce4e0b32e44e324a2cf2452..187920aca1d14c2aed83879055f3c13458588344 100644
--- a/compendium_v2/__init__.py
+++ b/compendium_v2/__init__.py
@@ -67,6 +67,17 @@ def _create_app_with_db(app_config) -> Flask:
         # for the publishers
         app.config['SQLALCHEMY_BINDS'] = app_config['SQLALCHEMY_BINDS']
 
+    if 'mail' in app_config:
+        mail_config = app_config['mail']
+        app.config['MAIL_ENABLE'] = True
+        app.config['MAIL_SERVER'] = mail_config['MAIL_SERVER']
+        app.config['MAIL_PORT'] = mail_config['MAIL_PORT']
+        app.config['MAIL_SENDER_EMAIL'] = mail_config['MAIL_SENDER_EMAIL']  # email address to send emails from
+        excluded_admins = mail_config.get('MAIL_EXCLUDED_ADMINS', [])
+        app.config['MAIL_EXCLUDED_ADMINS'] = excluded_admins  # list of admin emails not to send emails to
+    else:
+        app.config['MAIL_ENABLE'] = False
+
     db.init_app(app)
     return app
 
diff --git a/compendium_v2/config.py b/compendium_v2/config.py
index 490f399a55af8bff0a2d0b82e45ef6ae2fbbd6fa..4c67ad9842da0bd6b930f934d52898efb4377cc8 100644
--- a/compendium_v2/config.py
+++ b/compendium_v2/config.py
@@ -17,6 +17,20 @@ CONFIG_SCHEMA = {
             'required': ['client_id', 'client_secret', 'server_metadata_url'],
             'additionalProperties': False
         },
+        'mail': {
+            'type': 'object',
+            'properties': {
+                'MAIL_SERVER': {'type': 'string'},
+                'MAIL_PORT': {'type': 'integer'},
+                'MAIL_SENDER_EMAIL': {'type': 'string', 'format': 'email'},
+                'MAIL_EXCLUDED_ADMINS': {
+                    'type': 'array',
+                    'items': {'type': 'string', 'format': 'email'}
+                }
+            },
+            'required': ['MAIL_SERVER', 'MAIL_PORT', 'MAIL_SENDER_EMAIL'],
+            'additionalProperties': False
+        },
         'SECRET_KEY': {'type': 'string'},
     },
     'required': ['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI', 'SURVEY_DATABASE_URI', 'SECRET_KEY'],