There are two different types of scheme in SUMAC, Standard schemes and Peer-to-Peer schemes.

In Standard schemes the partners have different named roles and there is a hierarchical relationship between the two roles, such as mentor and mentee, coach and coachee.

In Peer-to-Peer schemes, there is just one role and there is no differentiation between the two partners, or any hierarchical relationship – it is simply two scheme members matched with each other.

Standard schemes are used for traditional approaches to coaching, mentoring and other partnerships where there is a clear distinction between roles.

Peer-to-Peer schemes are used where no such distinctions exist, such as co-mentoring or buddy schemes.

Almost everything in Peer-to-Peer schemes works in exactly the same way as for standard schemes, including creating the signup form, setting up the matching flow, email templates, matching, managing partnerships and member profiles, and so on. The main difference is that there is just one member type.

To create a Peer-to-Peer scheme, you can use the same scheme creation process as a standard scheme, simply select "peer-to-peer" as the dropdown option. This is only available to admin users with Account Coordinator privileges. A new scheme can be added from the Scheme selector in the top left-hand corner of the admin interface.

A standard scheme can also be converted to a Peer-to-Peer scheme, including all member data, such as members and partnerships. This can be done in the scheme settings page, under scheme options.

However, it’s important to note that if a Standard scheme is converted to Peer-to-Peer it can only be switched back again if there is no scheme data – no members, no partnerships.

Due to the underlying differences in how the scheme types function, as soon as there is any scheme data the conversion process is a one-way street and there is no going back.

TLDR; converting a scheme to Peer-to-Peer means you can't convert it back to a Standard scheme without losing data.

Once a scheme is changed to Peer-to-Peer, then scheme settings can be edited as required in the same way you would change settings for a Standard scheme. Just work through the scheme settings tabs in the same way and get everything set up the way you want.

Note that the default system email templates will be replaced by new email templates which are specific to Peer-to-Peer schemes. Any changes you had previously made to default texts will be lost and you will need to review and update the default email texts.

When members sign up as Partners, or ‘Buddies’ (or whatever name you give them), they can then be matched into partnerships in the same way you would match people in standard schemes.

This can be done manually for individual profiles or in a bulk process from the Bulk Matching screen. It can be done automatically, either with or without a ‘Review’ stage. Whatever matching route you go down to create partnerships, at the point of creation they can either be live or provisional and emails can either be sent manually or automatically.

Each partnership can also be converted from provisional to live (or declined) if either the ‘First to respond’ accepts/declines, OR can require ‘Both partners’ to accept before the partnership goes ahead. These options are contained in the 'matching flow' section on the Matching tab in Scheme settings.

Peer-to-Peer schemes offer a new way of using SUMAC, allowing for a different approach to mentoring - a great addition to your existing schemes.