Referral Bonus Types
There are two ways to earn through referrals:
Type | Bonus | When You Get Paid |
Signup/Network Referral | $20 | When your referral earns $75+ from completed studies |
Project Referral | $50 | When your referral completes a specific project ($100+ incentive) |
All referral bonuses are paid via a Tremendous virtual gift card to your primary email address, the same way study incentives are paid.
Where to Find Your Referral Link
Go to Settings → Referrals to access the Refer someone page.
From here, you'll see two cards:
Share Respondent (Signup Referral) - Copy your personal referral link or share it directly via email, Messenger, or WhatsApp using the share buttons.
Project Referrals - Click See projects to browse available projects and grab a referral link for a specific study.
Your total earnings from referrals are displayed at the top of the page.
How Signup/Network Referrals Work
Share your unique referral link with someone who's never used Respondent. You can copy your link directly or share via email, Messenger, or WhatsApp from the Share Respondent card.
They sign up using your link and start participating in studies.
Once they've earned $75+ in total incentive payments (can be across multiple studies), and their payment status shows as "PAID," your $20 bonus processes.
You receive a Tremendous virtual gift card within 7–10 business days.
Rules:
The person must be a brand-new user — existing or previously deleted accounts don't qualify.
Each referral link bonus is earned once per new user.
There's no time limit — the bonus is awarded whenever they reach $75.
How Project Referrals Work
From the Project referrals card, click See projects to browse available studies ($100+ incentive).
The person signs up using your link and applies to that study.
They're selected, complete the project, and the researcher confirms attendance.
Once their payment status shows as "PAID," your $50 bonus processes.
You receive a Tremendous virtual gift card within 7–10 business days.
Rules:
The person must NOT have an existing Respondent account.
They must complete the specific project you referred them to.
You can earn up to 5 bonuses per project ($250 max per project). After 5 successful referrals to a project, additional referrals won't generate bonuses for that project, but you can still refer people to other projects.
Tracking Your Referrals
Go to Settings → Referrals to see your total earnings from referrals at the top of the page. You'll also receive email notifications when a referral bonus is earned.
For questions about referral payments, reach out to our Support Team.
FAQs
Can I refer myself using a different email? No. Self-referrals are prohibited and will be detected by our fraud prevention systems.
Can I refer someone who had an account but deleted it? No. Previous account holders can't be referred, even if their accounts were deleted.
Can I share my referral link on social media? Yes, as long as you're sharing with people genuinely interested in research participation. Spam or misleading promotion is prohibited.
What if my referral doesn't reach $75? Your bonus stays pending until you hit the threshold. There's no time limit.
What if I referred someone but didn't get paid? Check that your referral's payment status shows "PAID" — your bonus only processes after theirs does. If it's been more than 10 business days after that, contact our Support Team.
Platform Rules & Compliance
Payment security: All payments must go through the Respondent platform. Accepting payments directly from researchers outside the platform is strictly prohibited and will result in account termination.
Account reviews: Respondent reserves the right to review and audit all accounts for referral authenticity, Terms of Service compliance, and quality standards. Violations may result in the removal of fraudulent referrals, forfeiture of pending bonuses, or account suspension/termination.
Data privacy: Your referral link contains a unique code, not personal information. When you refer someone, they'll see your name for transparency. All referral data is encrypted and stored securely. We don't sell or share referral information with third parties. You can request deletion of your referral data at any time. For EU residents, processing is based on consent, which you can withdraw anytime.
NDA considerations: Referral participation itself doesn't require an NDA. If your referral is selected for a study that requires one, they'll handle their own confidentiality agreements.
You can learn even more about our Participant Referral Policy directly on our website, here!