Using Ambassadors: From Referral to Affiliate Commission
Ambassadors help you promote your project within their community. Through personal referral links, you can track which contributions result from their referrals. If you agree to an affiliate commission, Startnext calculates the amounts—you’ll need to pay them out yourself outside of Startnext.
Understanding Ambassadors, Referral Links, and Commission Agreements
The Ambassador role describes the collaboration, the referral link tracks referrals, and the commission agreement governs the affiliate commission. Commission agreements can currently only be granted to Ambassadors. The affiliate commission is the compensation for referred projects and is not Startnext’s success-based commission.
| Term | Implications for Your Project |
|---|---|
| Ambassador | A person who, as part of your project team, refers your project using a personal referral link. This role does not grant access to the project interface and, on its own, does not entitle the person to a commission. |
| Affiliate Link | A personal referral link. Startnext matches it with relevant campaigns and supporters. A link can also be used without a commission agreement. |
| Commission Agreement | A proposed agreement regarding the affiliate commission for your project. It specifies the percentages and is effective only upon your express acceptance. |
The most important difference: A recorded contribution does not automatically qualify for a commission. For that to happen, a valid commission agreement must be in place at the time of the contribution. In the case of “all or nothing,” successful funding is also a prerequisite.
The Community Guidelines for Commission Agreements outline the rules for working together under an agreed-upon affiliate commission.
Recommendations without paid partnerships
Registered users can share your public project page via a personal referral link, without a commission agreement and without being entitled to a commission.
The Share button uses the personalized link when you share or copy it. It appears in “My Affiliate Links” after you’ve actually shared it or after the first attributed click by another person. Simply opening the Share menu does not create an entry in this overview.
Guests and people who share a design project use the standard project link. You and your team members can also use personal links and track their performance. However, as a Starter, you cannot enter into a commission agreement with yourself.
This way, you can highlight recommendations without paying for every referral. An affiliate commission is only earned through an explicitly accepted commission agreement and the qualifying actions associated with it.
Responsibilities Within the Team
As a Starter, you manage all commission-related activities. Team members with editing permissions can invite Ambassadors and view results, but cannot manage commission agreements. Managers are Startnext employees with access and editing permissions; they are not part of your project team.
| Promotion | Starter | Other team members |
|---|---|---|
| Invite ambassadors and customize the values offered | Yes | Yes |
| View the list, key metrics, and detail pages | Yes | Yes |
| View Activity History | Yes | No |
| Manage Setup and Open Invitations | Yes | No |
| Offer commission contracts to existing ambassadors | Yes | No |
| Increase affiliate commission, document payment, terminate commission agreement | Yes | No |
The Ambassador role itself does not grant access to these team views.
Outlook: Visibility in the Team and on the Profile
Ambassadors are part of the project team but do not have access to the project interface. Plans for a future release include displaying them on the project details page under the “Team” section. At the same time, the project is to appear on the respective ambassador’s profile page along with their affiliate link. This public display is not yet available.
There are also plans to allow team members to enter into commission agreements with Ambassadors.
Set Up Affiliate Commissions
First, set your default values and factor in the affiliate commissions as part of your campaign costs.
Save settings in the Ambassador setup
- Open the project interface → Team → Ambassadors → Setup (gear icon).
- Save a default invitation message.
- Set a percentage for "Thank You/Sale" and another for "Donation."
- Select the offer period: 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, or 7 days.
- Save the settings.
The percentages range from 0 to 100 percent and can be set in increments of 0.5 percentage points. Your settings make it easier to send new invitations; they do not affect offers that have already been sent or commission agreements that have already been accepted.
Calculate the commission basis and budget
Startnext calculates the affiliate commission for "thank you" gifts and unsolicited donations separately, using the agreed-upon percentage for each, and then adds the two amounts together.
| Part of a support package | Treatment of Affiliate Commissions |
|---|---|
| Prices for Booked Thank-You Gifts | The agreed-upon percentage for "thank-you/sales" applies. |
| Unconditional support without a thank-you or an additional contribution | The agreed-upon percentage for "donations" applies. |
Example: A donation consists of a "Thank You" donation of 80 euros and an additional voluntary contribution of 20 euros. You have agreed to a 5 percent affiliate commission for “thank you” donations and a 10 percent commission for discretionary donations. This results in 4 euros plus 2 euros—for a total of 6 euros in affiliate commission.
Support provided directly to the Ambassador via his or her link may also be eligible for a commission. Canceled, failed, or reversed support payments do not qualify for an affiliate commission.
Startnext displays the amounts in the project's currency. Commission agreements are intended for crowdfunding, fundraising, and private fundraising. Be sure to factor affiliate commissions into your campaign's costs; Startnext does not pay them on your behalf.
Invite Ambassadors
By sending an invitation, you are offering a person the opportunity to collaborate with you and receive customized commission rates. The commission agreement is not finalized until they expressly accept it.
Create and Send an Invitation
- Open the Ambassadors section in the project interface and select “Invite an Ambassador.”
- Enter the person's name or email address.
- Review and update the message, percentages, and offer deadline. Be sure to follow the community guidelines for commission agreements.
- Review the invitation and send it.
The invited person will receive the commission rates, a non-binding earnings estimate, and the terms for your financing option. They decide for themselves whether to accept or decline.
You can also invite people who don't have a Startnext account. Their account is created during the acceptance process. Simply signing up or registering does not constitute explicit acceptance of the commission offer.
New commission offers are available during the drafting, launch, and funding phases. After the funding phase ends, Ambassador invitations will be sent without a new commission offer.
Distinguish between public referral links and private invitation links
The invitation includes a public referral link to share and a private invitation link to accept or decline.
| Link | Uses |
|---|---|
| Public Referral Link | May be shared. Referrals can be tracked even before the invited person has an account or accepts the offer. |
| Private Invitation Link | This is intended for the invited person. The invited person then accepts or declines the invitation and the offer. |
Affiliate commissions are only credited for referrals starting from the time the offer is accepted. Referrals recorded before that time will not earn an affiliate commission, even if the ambassador accepts the offer later.
Example: You invite someone on Monday. They share their referral link immediately but don't accept your offer until Wednesday. Referrals from Monday and Tuesday may appear as such, but they do not qualify for an affiliate commission under the commission agreement that was accepted later.
If the person already has a personal link for your project, that link can be used. When the link is accepted for the first time, it retains its previous assignments. If a link was previously associated with an accepted commission agreement, a new commission agreement will be assigned a new code.
Manage Open Offers
An open offer does not automatically result in an affiliate commission; you can check its status and withdraw it before accepting it.
| Situation | Episode |
|---|---|
| The person declines | No commission agreement is created. You'll see the rejection in the Team Overview and History without receiving a separate notification. |
| The person changes their decision within the original deadline | She can still accept the same offer with the same percentages. |
| The deadline for bids is | Participation at a later date does not entitle the participant to any benefits under the expired offer. |
| You are withdrawing an open Ambassador invitation | The invitation period has ended. A link created specifically for this purpose has been deactivated; it is no longer possible to join through it. |
| You are withdrawing a separate offer made to an Ambassador who has already joined | Only the commission offer is ending. |
An existing personal referral link remains active without an affiliate commission even after a separate contract offer has been rejected or has expired. A link created specifically for an invitation that has not yet been accepted is deactivated upon final rejection, withdrawal, or expiration.
If resending is available, the affiliate code and the offered values remain unchanged; the private sign-up link is replaced. An expired commission offer is not automatically renewed as a result. Any subsequent sign-ups will not earn an affiliate commission.
Be sure to observe shipping limits and offer deadlines
There is a daily sending limit per project for invitation emails.
| Package | Invitation emails per project per day |
|---|---|
| Basic or Legacy | 100 |
| Pro | 300 |
| Premium or Enterprise | 1,000 |
Reminders and resend invitations count toward the limit. New invitations that exceed the limit will be held and sent later. For held Ambassador invitations, the offer period does not begin until the invitation is actually sent. The private acceptance link is valid for as long as the offer is valid.
Resending may be blocked under certain circumstances, such as after a spam report or when an email is permanently undeliverable.
Track Referrals and Affiliate Commissions
Assign Support to a Link
A referral is attributed based on a previous click on a personal referral link; not every subsequent visit or referral can be permanently tracked.
The following rules apply to registered visitors:
- Support for the project associated with the link can be attributed up to 180 days after the link is clicked.
- Support for another project can be recorded as an indirect recommendation within seven days.
- If there are multiple matching calls, the most recent one generally takes precedence. A direct recommendation for the supported project takes precedence over an indirect one.
- Each referral will be credited to no more than one referral link.
For guests, the association initially remains within the current browser session. If they log in or register during that session, the association is transferred to their account. Without this transfer, a permanent association across future visits or other devices is not possible.
Only referrals for your project count toward the affiliate commission under your commission agreement. Indirect referrals for other projects may be tracked statistically, but they do not qualify for an affiliate commission under your commission agreement.
Review Results and Activity History
Use the Ambassador list for an overview and the respective detail page for agreements, results, and actions.
In the Ambassadors section of the project interface, you'll see, among other things:
- Referral link and status of the partnership.
- Support arranged and funds raised.
- Offered or agreed-upon percentages.
- Calculated, outstanding, and documented affiliate commissions that have been paid out.
- Open listings, as well as current and past commission agreements.
As a starter or manager, you can track offers, acceptances, commission changes, support, and payouts in the activity history. Use the messaging shortcut to coordinate directly with the ambassador.
Your ambassadors can view their referred supporters, affiliate commissions, offers, and commission agreements under User Menu → Affiliate Links → My Affiliate Links. There, they can share their links again.
Without a commission agreement, a non-binding earnings estimate can be provided. This does not constitute a guarantee. If an Ambassador would like to enter into a commission agreement, they can contact you via direct message.
Distinguishing Between Calculation, Entitlement, and Payment
Calculation, entitlement, and payment are distinct steps and should not be equated with one another.
| Step | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Calculated | Startnext has calculated a commission amount based on the allocated contributions and agreed-upon percentages. |
| Saved | The eligibility requirements have been met. With the "All or Nothing" option, the affiliate commission is subject to the condition that funding is successfully secured; with the "Flex" option, it does not depend on reaching a funding goal. |
| Due | Generally, the project must be completed and the funding amount must be paid out to you before the commission is paid. |
| Paid out | You made an external payment and documented it in the project interface. |
If an all-or-nothing project is not successfully funded, no commission is earned. With Flex, failing to reach a funding goal does not prevent the commission from being earned.
The exception to the regular payment schedule is early termination of the contract by the project team: In such cases, any outstanding amount must first be paid in full to an external party, and payment must be confirmed.
Organize Notifications
Contract-related emails provide information about important changes.
Ambassadors receive emails regarding invitations or new contract offers, commission changes, documented payments, and contract terminations from the team. Notifications about new referrals can be unsubscribed from in the profile. If the Ambassador makes a referral themselves, this referral email is not sent. Contract-related emails remain unaffected by this.
Change Agreements
You can increase the agreed-upon commission rates in an existing commission agreement or make an offer to someone who has already joined but does not have a current commission agreement.
Increase the Agreed-Upon Affiliate Commission
The two percentages can be increased individually or together, but cannot be decreased. This is only possible during the design, launch, or financing phase.
Startnext will recalculate the affiliate commission for all eligible contributions made since the contract was accepted, using the increased rates. The increase therefore applies retroactively, not just to future contributions. The ambassador will receive an email, and the change will be documented.
Compensate existing ambassadors for the first time or again
Open the Ambassador details page and use the feature to offer a commission agreement. Review the commission rates and validity period, and add a message if needed. The Ambassador will receive an email and can accept or decline the offer in “My Affiliate Links.”
There can be no more than one open offer and one active commission agreement per person and per project. A new offer can only be made until the end of the funding phase. Affiliate commissions begin with the new acceptance and are not retroactive for previous contributions.
Ambassadors invited from previous projects do not automatically receive a commission offer. You can make them a separate offer after they join.
Pay Out Affiliate Commissions
You transfer the affiliate commission outside of Startnext and then record the actual payment in the project interface.
- Wait until the project ends and the funding amount is paid out to you.
- In the Ambassadors section, open the profile of the person in question.
- Check the total amount due and pay it externally.
- Select "Withdraw Amount" and record the withdrawal date.
The button does not initiate a transfer. It creates an entry in the activity log and notifies the ambassador via email.
For each commission agreement, the total amount due is documented in a single entry. Partial payments are not provided for. The payment concludes the commission agreement; previous commission agreements and their payment dates remain traceable.
If a cancellation or chargeback occurs before the commission is paid out, the corresponding affiliate commission will not be paid. After the commission has already been paid out, you should clarify the financial implications of a refund or chargeback directly with the Ambassador. Startnext does not automatically reclaim the amount.
Startnext does not provide legal or tax advice. If necessary, determine which agreements and supporting documents are required for your external billing.
End the collaboration
As a starter, you can terminate an active commission agreement; any outstanding amounts that have already accrued must first be settled in full.
You terminate the commission agreement
- Open the Ambassador details page and start the contract termination process.
- If an affiliate commission is outstanding, pay the full amount externally and confirm the payment in the dialog box. This also applies before the project ends.
- Enter a reason with at least ten characters.
- Confirm that you have complied with the Community Guidelines for Commission Agreements and complete the termination process.
The Ambassador will receive an email explaining the reason. The referral link will continue to work afterward, but without generating any new affiliate commissions. If you remove a person with an active commission agreement from the project, this termination process will be followed first.
The ambassador resigns of his own accord
Voluntarily withdrawing from the program terminates the affiliate commission for new donations. Any affiliate commission already earned remains payable and visible. The link can continue to be used without an affiliate commission; any open, separate contract offer will be withdrawn.
An account cannot be deleted normally as long as there are outstanding affiliate commissions. The data required for billing will be retained until the matter is resolved.
You'll be working together again later
If the person is still an Ambassador, you can offer them a commission agreement again during an eligible project phase. After they leave or are removed, a new invitation is required. A link that was previously associated with an accepted commission agreement cannot be used for a second commission agreement: The new agreement is assigned a new code. Previous commission agreements and outstanding amounts remain separately traceable.