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The Referral Program tracks which members bring in new registrations through Invitations. It answers “who brought this member?” and “who are our best recruiters?” — and can optionally make your organization invite-only. Referrals build on Invitations. The Invitations feature lets members send invitation emails. The Referral Program adds the tracking and statistics layer on top. Enable both for the full picture. Referral Program settings with enable toggle, number of referrals needed, and customizable referral questions

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How to enable

Settings → Users & Profiles → Referral Program
SettingWhat it does
Referral ProgramToggle on to start tracking who refers who
Referrals needed for signupSet to 0 (or empty): Open registration, referrals tracked in the background. Set to 1+: Invite-only mode — public registration is disabled, new users must receive an invitation to register.

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Open tracking vs invite-only

Set “Referrals needed for signup” to 0.
  • Anyone can register normally
  • If they came through a member’s invitation link, the referral is recorded
  • If they registered on their own, no referral is recorded
  • You get data on organic vs referred growth

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Invite-only mode

Set “Referrals needed for signup” to 1.
  • Public registration page shows a message that membership is by invitation only
  • Only people who received an invitation link can register
  • Every new member is tracked to their referrer
  • Growth is entirely controlled by existing members
Invite-only mode significantly limits growth. Only use it if your organization specifically requires controlled, member-vetted membership. Most organizations are better served by open registration with referral tracking.

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What gets tracked

Data pointDescription
ReferrerWho sent the invitation
RefereeWho registered through the link
DateWhen the referral was completed
StatusPending (invited but not registered) or Completed (registered)

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For admins

View organization-wide referral stats:
  • Top referrers — who’s bringing in the most members
  • Referral trends — growth over time from referrals vs direct registration
  • Conversion rates — invitations sent vs accepted

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For members

Members can see their own referral activity:
  • How many people they’ve successfully referred
  • Status of pending invitations

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Combining with gamification

If you have the Gamification module enabled, reward your best recruiters:
  • Award points for each successful referral
  • Create badges for referral milestones (5 referrals, 10 referrals, etc.)
  • Display a leaderboard of top referrers
Learn more about Gamification →

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Common scenarios

Enable the Referral Program with “Referrals needed” set to 0. Registration stays open. You’ll see which members came through referrals vs found you on their own.
Enable Referral with “Referrals needed” set to 1. Enable Invitations so existing members can send invites. Consider also enabling Adhesion so you can review invited applicants before they’re admitted.
Referrals are only counted when the invited person completes registration. If someone was invited but never registered, it stays as “pending” and doesn’t count toward the referrer’s total.
  • Invitations — The mechanism for sending invitations (referral tracks them)
  • Gamification — Reward referrers with points and badges