Program Badges let you create custom badges specific to your program and award them directly to participants, recognising milestones, behaviours, or achievements that matter to your organisation, in a way the standard Mentorloop badges can't.

Program Badges are custom badges you create yourself as a Program Coordinator. Unlike the standard Mentorloop badges, which are built into the platform and earned through mentoring activity or awarded between participants, Program Badges are defined by you and awarded within your program, giving you a flexible tool to recognise whatever matters most. Built around your company values, a competency framework, or professional development milestones, no two badge sets have to look the same.

You choose the name, the look, and when to award them. Once created, you can award a Program Badge to one participant at a time, or to several in bulk, so recognition happens in the moment, not months later at a review.

How are Program Badges different from Mentorloop badges?

Mentorloop has two types of badges. The standard Mentorloop badges have always existed on the platform — they're awarded automatically for platform activity, or given peer-to-peer between participants via Kudos. Program Badges are a new, additional type that only you as a Program Coordinator can create.

• Standard Mentorloop badges — built into the platform. Participants earn achievement badges through activity (for example, completing a certain number of meetings), or give Kudos badges to each other. You do not create or control these.
• Program Badges — created by you for your program. You define the name, design, and criteria. Some Program Badges can only be awarded by a Program Coordinator; others can be awarded by anyone in the program. Participants cannot award coordinator-only badges to each other or to themselves.

Both badge types appear together in the same places across the platform, on the Kudos page, on participant profiles, and in the All Badges table, so participants see a single unified picture of recognition.

When would I use a Program Badge?

Program Badges are best suited to recognition that is specific to your organisation, program structure, or compliance requirements, things the standard Mentorloop badges don't cover. Common uses include:

• Company values — create badges that reflect your organisation's values and award them to participants who demonstrate those behaviours over time. Recognition tied to real values lands more meaningfully than a generic "great job" moment. 

  

• Competency frameworks — award a badge when a participant demonstrates or completes a competency in your framework, such as finishing an accreditation module, a structured induction, or a defined number of sessions. Particularly useful for programs with compliance or evidence requirements, such as early childhood education, healthcare, or professional development frameworks.
• Professional development milestones — mark key moments in a participant's development journey with a badge they can keep and share. Create a program-specific completion badge so participants leave with a clear, shareable credential tied to your brand.
• Cohort or intake markers — use a badge to distinguish participants in a particular cohort, year, or intake when you run multiple rounds of the same program.

How do I create a Program Badge?

You can create as many Program Badges as you need for your program. Each badge has its own name, description, and visual design.

To create a new Program Badge:

1. Go to Kudos within your program and open the Program Badges tab.
2. Select Create your first program badge (or Create badge if you already have badges).
3. Give the badge a name — short and verb-led works best, for example "Coffee chat champion". Add an optional description to explain what it's awarded for; this is what participants will see when they receive it.
4. Design the badge's look:
   • Pick an emoji — choose from a library of emoji icons. Your selection sits in the centre of the badge.
   • Pick a colour — choose from preset colour swatches to set the badge border colour. The background tint adjusts to match automatically.

5. Set who can award this badge:

   • Anyone can award — mentors and mentees can award this badge to each other.
   • Coordinators only — only Program Coordinators can award this badge.

   

6. Select Save & set live. The badge is immediately available in your program's badge list, ready to award.

How do I award a Program Badge?

You can award a Program Badge to one participant or to several at once.

Awarding to a single participant

From your program's Kudos page, find the badge you want to award and select Award this badge. Confirm the award to send it.

Awarding to multiple participants

From your program's Participants tab, select the participants you want to recognise, then choose Award program badge from the bulk actions menu. Select the badge and confirm. All selected participants will receive the award at the same time.

Where do Program Badges appear?

Once awarded, Program Badges appear alongside the standard Mentorloop badges in all the places participants and coordinators already see badge information:

• The Kudos page (PC view) — you can see all Program Badges awarded across your program, filter and sort by badge name, and view a record of who received each award and when.
• The Kudos page (participant view) — participants see their Program Badges alongside any Mentorloop badges and Kudos they've received.
• Participant profile modal — both you and the participant can see their Program Badges on their profile, giving a full picture of recognition earned.
• Self Match (Find a Match) tiles — if your program uses Self Match, Program Badges appear on participant tiles, giving context about who has reached particular milestones.
• All Badges table — Program Badges appear in the full badges table alongside Mentorloop badges, and can be filtered and sorted by badge name, type, date, and more.
• PDF program report — awarded Program Badges are included in the downloadable PDF program report, making it easy to evidence recognition alongside other program data.
• Organisation dashboard widget — earned Program Badges appear in the organisation dashboard widget, giving org admins a view of recognition across programs at a glance.

Frequently asked questions

Can participants award Program Badges to each other?

It depends on the badge. When you create a Program Badge, you choose the award permission: Anyone can award (mentors and mentees can give it to each other) or Coordinators only (only you can award it). You can change this permission at any time by editing the badge.

Can a participant receive the same badge more than once?

Yes. You can award the same Program Badge to a participant more than once, for example, if you run a badge-worthy milestone at the end of each intake and the participant completes it again in a subsequent cohort. Each award is recorded separately.

Do Program Badges appear in my program reporting?

Yes. Program Badge awards are visible in the All Badges table in Kudos, which you can filter by badge name and export. Awarded badges are also included in the downloadable PDF program report.

Can I control whether Program Badges are switched on for my program?

Yes. There is a program-level badge setting that controls which types of badges are active. The options are: Full (both Mentorloop badges and Program Badges), Limited (Mentorloop badges only), and Off (no badges). Speak to your Customer Success Manager if you need to adjust this setting.

Can I edit or delete a Program Badge after creating it?

Yes. You can edit a Program Badge's name, description, design, and award permission after creating it. If you need to delete a Program Badge, note that any awards already given will be removed along with it. If you're unsure, consider leaving the badge in place and simply not awarding it going forward rather than deleting it.