Running a community

What you're building

A community where people know each other a little better every month. Not a directory and not a networking scheme. A steady habit of one good conversation at a time, between people who already share something: a workplace, a school, a cause, a city.

On a rhythm you choose, each member gets one private introduction to another member, with a short reason the two of them should meet. Either can say yes first, and nothing is booked until they've agreed a time and a place. They meet and leave a quick word on how it went. Then the next round brings someone new.

Your role is the welcome. We run the rounds, pair people thoughtfully and send the reminders. You decide who belongs, set the tone, and make it feel normal to say yes to a coffee with someone you haven't met.

Who does what

• Owner: the person who started the community. Can do everything, including archiving it.
• Admin: helps run all of it: people, invitations, groups and settings. Most communities have two or three hosts.
• Co-host: helps welcome members and look after the day-to-day.
• Group host: looks after one group inside the community, like a team, a class or a chapter.

Hosting doesn't make you a member, so choose to take part in the rounds yourself. It's the clearest signal that this is worth people's time.

Setting up

1. 1.Go to Get started and choose Start for free. Name your community and pick what kind it is. The kind sets the words members see, and the rhythm you start on.
2. 2.Open the email "[your community] is ready for you" and select Set up. Sign in with the address it was sent to.
3. 3.Setup asks a few short questions: how it should look (name and a one-line welcome), a picture and cover photo, who can find it, and a co-host. You can skip any step after the first and come back to it later.

Write the welcome line for the person who knows nothing yet. "Coffee with someone from another team, once a month" says more than a mission statement.

Bringing people in

People are only part of your community once they accept. Nobody is added without saying yes.

Invite by email

From People, select Invite people. Paste names and emails, upload a CSV, or invite one person. Under Invited, each invitation shows as Pending, Accepted, Expired or Revoked, and you can resend or revoke it.

Share a join link

One link anyone can use, for a team channel, a newsletter or a slide. It's on People, under Invited. Every link comes with a QR code, a printable poster and a six-character code people can type. Before you create it, you can:

• limit it to an email domain,
• cap how many people can use it,
• make it expire after a number of days,
• approve each person before they join.

Requests wait on People, under Asked to join. Approved requests get an invitation. Declined requests get nothing, so nobody receives a rejection email.

Who can join, find and invite

You choose these in Settings, under Joining.

• Who can join: anyone you invite, or only addresses at certain email domains.
• Who can find it: invite only, or listed for people at your work or school domain.
• Who can invite: hosts only, or members can suggest or invite people too.

Choosing a rhythm

Rounds run on their own on the rhythm you set. Change it any time on Coffees.

Members can also choose a slower rhythm for themselves. They sit out the rounds they aren't due for, unless you include them in a round you run yourself.

Running a round yourself

1. 1.On Coffees, select Create round, name it ("June all-hands coffee") and choose who it covers: the whole community, one group, across groups, or one event.
2. 2.It's saved as a draft. Nothing is sent. See the list shows who it would pair, and why anyone else sits it out.
3. 3.Select Run round. The confirmation tells you how many people will be introduced, in how many pairs, and how many sit this one out. Send, or cancel and nothing goes out.

If someone would sit out only because they were introduced recently, the confirmation offers one checkbox to include them, for this round only. Anyone who paused or is away stays out, and nobody meets someone they've already met.

The life of a round

1. Day 0Each member gets one introduction by email and in the app, from your community, with why they were paired, a few conversation starters and the day it closes. The subject line and a phone's lock screen use a first name. The opened email and the app show more (see below).
2. Days 1 to 3Either person says yes and suggests a time, in person or by video, and the other confirms. Calendars are optional; they just make finding a time quicker.
3. From day 2You can nudge pairs who haven't replied. Both people get the same note, at most every three days.
4. The coffeeThey meet. We remind them the day before and again an hour before, with a few things to ask. Afterwards we ask each of them, privately, how it went.
5. If it goes quietBy default, an introduction nobody answers closes after 14 days. One with a yes stays open for 30 days from that yes, or from the second yes if both said yes and no time is agreed. We send a heads-up 7 days before to whoever hasn't answered, or to both if both said yes, and a kind note to both when it closes.
6. Next roundSomeone new. The same two people are never introduced twice.

What they see of each other. In your community, two people introduced to each other see each other's full name and email in the app straight away, so they can get in touch directly, and our emails to them show the full name, photo and role. To show only a first name until both say yes, turn off "Members see each other's name, photo and role" in Settings, under What members can do. The Coffeehouse always keeps to a first name until both say yes. A round run for an event keeps to a first name until both say they met.

Phone numbers are stricter. A phone number is optional. If someone has added one, the other person sees it in the app only on a pairing your round made, or once both have said yes to a coffee. With that setting off, at an event and in the Coffeehouse, it always waits for both yeses, and an invite one member sends another never shows it on its own. It stops showing if the introduction is declined or cancelled, or the person deletes their account. It's never in an email, and you don't see it as a host. If either person has reported the other, neither email nor phone is shared.

Who sits a round out

• Members who paused their introductions.
• Members who were introduced recently and aren't due yet on their own rhythm, unless you include them in a round you run yourself.
• Members who haven't been back since their last introduction. They can be included again as soon as they next sign in.
• In an automatic round, members who haven't added two interests, needs or offers (answers to your questions count), or chosen Surprise me.
• Two people who have already been introduced.
• Anyone left without a partner, usually because of an odd number. They can be paired in the next round.

Closing a round takes nothing back: anyone still holding an introduction can still pick a time until it closes.

Your monthly routine

Twenty minutes around each round keeps a community warm. Here's a rhythm that works.

1. The day a round goes outPost one line where your people already are: "New introductions are out. Check your inbox." Remind them they can say yes, or "Not this time".
2. Two or three days laterOpen the round's How it's going. Nudge the pairs still waiting. Don't chase individuals.
3. Mid-cycleWelcome new members by name. Approve any requests to join. Glance at People for anyone who left or paused; no action needed.
4. Before the next roundShare one story, with permission. A sentence and a first name is plenty.

Beyond the rounds

Once the rhythm is steady, you can add more. None of this is needed on day one.

• Groups for teams, cohorts, classes or chapters. Run a round inside one group, or across groups to connect people who'd never cross paths.
• Events, with QR join and break rounds. See Hosting an event.
• A buddy program, on request, that pairs newcomers with someone who has been there a while.
• Branding: your logo, a brand colour, and a welcome message on your join page.
• What members can do: find people to meet themselves, host their own events, or start groups.

Knowing it's working

How it's going shows how the community is connecting: who's taking part, how many invites became coffees, connections across teams, and how people rated their coffees, as totals. Insights, one link away, goes deeper.

Look at one number first: invites that became coffees. A tap on "yes" is easy; a coffee that happened is the result. If that rate is healthy, the community is healthy, whatever its size.

• Lots of introductions, few meetings? Your rhythm may be too fast. Try monthly.
• Few people saying yes? Talk about it where people are. Share a story. Take part yourself.
• Members pausing? That's normal around holidays and busy seasons. They come back.

Looking after members

• Pausing stops new introductions, nudges and suggestions. A member keeps their access and connections, and can resume themselves. You see that someone's taking a break, never why or until when. You can pause someone too, from People, but you can't lift a break they took everywhere.
• Removing someone asks you to confirm first. You can restore them later. Someone who left on their own comes back with an invitation or a join link.
• Questions collects what members ask their hosts. Beside each one you see the same facts as on their card, so you can answer without asking them to explain.
• If someone has an uncomfortable coffee, they can choose "Report a concern" on that person, or "Report a problem or concern" from their account menu. They won't be introduced again, that person can't invite them, and the other person isn't told. It goes to our team, and you don't see what they wrote.
• Never chase. A member who goes quiet hasn't failed. Don't single anyone out, in public or in private.

What you can and can't see

Say this plainly when you invite people. Trust is why people say yes.

Words that help

Common questions

Your first month

• Welcome line, picture and cover added
• A co-host invited
• Who can join: decided
• First invitations sent, join link shared
• Rhythm chosen
• You took part in the first round
• First story shared