Community terms, plain English
The words community builders use, defined without jargon. Bookmark it — we keep it current.
A
Activation
The point where a new member has experienced your core value. For some communities it’s first event attendance; for others, first message sent or first course started. Activation predicts retention.
Activity timeline
A chronological view of every interaction a member has had across every module. The thing you’d build yourself if you had time to.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
MRR × 12. The annualized version of recurring revenue. Useful for benchmarking and board reporting.
C
Churn
The rate at which members leave your community. Measured monthly or annually. Keeping churn below 5% monthly is the goal for most membership businesses.
Cohort
A group of members who start something together — a course, a program, a membership tier — and get tracked as a unit over time. Cohort analysis reveals trends invisible at the individual level.
Community Operating System (COS)
A single platform that connects every tool a community builder needs — engagement, commerce, learning, operations — so data flows natively instead of being stitched together. Hummz is a COS.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction)
A rating-scale survey asking how satisfied a member was with a specific experience — an event, a course, a support interaction. Paired well with NPS for trend analysis.
D
Data silo
When information lives in one tool but can’t flow to others without manual effort. What you have when your event platform doesn’t talk to your email platform doesn’t talk to your store.
DPA (Data Processing Agreement)
A legal agreement between a business (you) and a data processor (us) covering GDPR and privacy obligations. Required if you serve EU members.
Drip (drip content / drip campaign)
Content or messages released on a schedule after a trigger — 7-day welcome series, day-30 re-engagement, etc. Drips are the most common automation pattern.
M
Member record
A single profile per person that tracks every interaction across every module. The foundation of everything else a COS does.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
The predictable monthly revenue from subscriptions, memberships, and recurring products. The single most important number for subscription businesses.
N
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
A single-question survey measuring how likely a member is to recommend your community. Scored -100 to +100. Good communities sit above 50; great ones above 70.
R
RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
Granular permissions for team members — who can edit what, see what, approve what. Enterprise-grade RBAC is the difference between trusting the system and auditing it manually.
Retention
The inverse of churn — how many members stay. Cohort retention curves show how retention changes as members age.
S
Segment
A dynamic group of members matching specific criteria — tier, behavior, activity level, custom tags. Segments in People auto-update as member data changes.
SSO (Single Sign-On)
Members use one identity provider (Okta, Google, Azure AD) to access everything. Typical enterprise requirement.