Only Community Champions (trusted Stitch members who have hosted at least three events) have the ability to verify members on Stitch.
If you are a Community Champion, you can verify a member if:
You already know them personally from outside Stitch
You can verify a person if you already know them personally from outside Stitch (i.e., they are a friend or someone you have previously met in person).
They attend one of your in-person events as a guest
The Stitch system does not allow an unverified member to click to attend an event until they are verified. They can, however, attend an in-person event as a guest, after being invited along by an existing Stitch member.
Many Community Champions send personal messages to new and unverified members, welcoming them to the community and inviting them to their events. If you feel comfortable inviting them to your activity, you can send them the activity details via Stitch messaging, and then verify them when they attend in person.
How to verify another member
You can verify other members through either the Stitch app or the Stitch website; the method is the same for both.
Before you begin, you will need to know either the email address that the unverified member uses with their Stitch account or their 6 digit member code (also known as their invitation code).
First, go to "profile and settings" via the MORE menu:
Then click "Verify a member"
You will then be asked to type the email address or member code of the person you wish to verify.
If you already know the person you wish to verify, you can verify them using their email address. You need to make sure the email address you enter is the one the member uses to log in to Stitch.
If you do not personally know the member you wish to verify, they may not be comfortable sharing their email address with you. In these cases, you can verify them using their unique Stitch member code. Every Stitch member has a unique member code (also known as an "invitation code") which can be found by selecting the More menu in Stitch and then selecting Invitations.
Once you enter the email address or member code, press Search to bring up their profile, as shown below:
View their profile to make sure their picture matches what they look like in person. If you are satisfied that they are a real person who is over 50, select More and then Verify.
Requirements for verification
One question commonly asked by Champions who are considering verifying another member is: "what information do I need to check in order to verify them?"
The main purpose of verification is to protect the community from the biggest problem found on online dating sites, which is online scammers. (You can read more about the dangers of scammers online in our Definitive Guide to Staying Safe Online.)
With this in mind, the process of verification is very simple. You only need to confirm:
That they are a real person (pretty easy if you have met them in person!)
That they are physically located in your city (again, very easy if you meet them in person)
They are over 50 (in most cases you can tell this by looking at them, and don't need to ask to see any proof)
The reason we don't ask you to record any more information is to keep all personally identifiable information of our members safe and secure. Even after you select Verify, the profile will go to the Stitch team for review. We also perform other security checks behind the scenes to validate their account.
We can do a lot of security checks using technology, but the one thing we can't do is meet each new member in person.
This means you don't need to inspect their profile for compliance with Stitch community guidelines, vouch for their character, or anything like that. You just need to verify that their profile belongs to a real person who is old enough to join Stitch.
That's it!
A final word on why verification is important
Verification of members is not only what helps keep the community safe, it also gives new members a real opportunity to see how much the other members in the community are there to help them out.
Every time you verify a new member, you are not only helping make the community safer, you are also helping out someone who is probably quite apprehensive about joining something new.
That's why you really are a Champion!