Making membership private, by approval or invitation-only

Did you know that you can make your Meetup Group private or choose to allow membership by approval or invitation using your 'Group Settings' page?

Why would someone make their group private and/or invitation-only?

While most Meetup Groups are open for anyone to join, some may work best if new memberships are limited to people you invite or approve. You could use this invitation-only setting to ensure your Meetup group remains a tight-knit group; to limit membership to friends, family or co-workers; or to keep membership private in a group that covers a sensitive topic.

Private Meetup Groups

In private groups, only your members can see:



• the list of all Meetups on the calendar
• the RSVP list for individual Meetups
• the member list (members not visible in topic-wide member list)
• group photo albums (albums not visible in topic-wide photo pages)
• group message boards



Everyone, even non-members, can always see:



• basic group stats listed at the top of every group page, including the member count
• your Meetup Group's 'About' page, including the group's description, ratings, and member comments
• information about joining the group



To make your Meetup Group's content private, click 'Group Settings'. Then click the 'Privacy' link. In the 'Who can join?' section, select the desired setting and click 'SUBMIT'.

Member Approval & Invitation-only Meetup Groups

Membership by Approval

If you want prospective new members to fill out profile information, select 'Only people whom I approve' in the 'How can new members join?' section. After reading their profile, you can approve, decline or contact them for more information.




You'll receive an email notification every time a prospective member submits a membership request. (The reminders section on your group's home page will also inform you of pending requests.) When you approve or decline a request, we'll let the person know via email, and you'll have a chance to include a welcome message or explanation accordingly.




Kelli, Organizer of The Pearland Moms Meetup Group got some helpful advice when she asked The Organizers' Forum if there's a Nice way to decline new members from joining.




To make your Meetup Group membership by approval only, select 'Only people whom I approve' in the 'How can new members join?' section.

Membership by Invitation

When you select 'only people with this invitation code' and enter a password, anyone who knows this special code can join, anyone who doesn't cannot. You can share the code with group members if you want them to invite people, or you can keep it to yourself.




When picking an invitation code, something easy to remember but hard to guess works best. You can always change your invitation code if it becomes publicly known.




Now, when you use the 'Invite Friends' feature of your group, the email will include the invitation code in it with a link the recipient may use to join. Prospective members may contact you to request an invitation. You are under no obligation to send them one, but you could use this as an approval process if you generally want to add members to your group. Either way, it's a good idea to explain this in your group description to prospective members.




To make your Meetup Group membership invitation-only, select 'Only people with this invitation code' in the 'How can new members join?'.

Note: The 'member approval' and 'invitation-only' settings determine only who can join your Meetup Group. Your group content will be available for the public to browse, exactly the same as open groups. This includes message board posts, Meetup times and descriptions. However, only the members of your Meetup Group will be able to see venues you pick for your Meetups (unless you also publish this info on the message boards or elsewhere). Non-members also will not be able to RSVP, upload event photos or take polls.

The Organizer Center has more!

Getting Help from Assistant Organizers can make managing your Meetup a whole lot easier!