ICF Credentialing and Membership Badge Information

We are excited to recognize your dedication to coaching excellence and ethics with ICF digital badges - provided to members and credential-holders. We provide this service through our official digital credential provider, Credly. There is no fee for this service, and it is completely optional, though we highly encourage you to further promote your dedication to the ICF coaching community through use of the badge. 

Your badge gives you a way to share your involvement and achievements with ICF online in a way that is simple, trusted and can be easily verified in real time. Badges provide clients, employers, and peers concrete evidence of your membership and/or credential.  

Interested in sharing your badge on social media?  Access the Credly Social Media Information Page 

How to Access your Digital Badge

1. Once your membership or credential has been processed, you will get an email from admin@credly.com notifying you of your new badge. Be sure to check your spam box, if you don't find it in your inbox.

2. Click the “Accept Your Badge” button.

3. If this is your first badge through Credly, you will be guided through steps to create an account. If not, sign into your Credly account to claim your badge.

4. You will be linked to a page where you can accept your badge. Please click on the “Accept Badge” button.

5. Immediately, your “Badge Settings” should pop up on your screen. Allow your page to be displayed publicly so others will be able to view it.

6. Now, you can explore the options to share your badge with others. On the “Share Your Badge” page, you will see a bar of social media websites, asking you to connect. Please connect to the social media channels you would like to use to share your digital badge.  Learn more on connecting to social media channels.

7. Once connected, you and your peers will be able to view your digital badge!

Common Questions

• Why is digital badging important?

According to the 2020 ICF Global Coaching Study, coaches say the No. 1 obstacle for the coaching profession is untrained individuals who call themselves coaches. Digital badging gives ICF Members and Credential-holders a way to share their association with ICF in a manner that can be easily verified in real time.

• Can I export badges issued through Credly Platform to other badge-storing platforms?

Yes, you can download your badge from the Share Badge page. Your downloaded badge contains Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) compliant metadata embedded into the image. This allows you to store your badge on other OBI-compliant badge sites, such as the Mozilla backpack.

• How does my badge get displayed?

We have partnered with Credly to demonstrate your active ICF membership or ICF credential through a badge, issued and managed through the company’s Acclaim Platform. The technology Credly uses on its Acclaim Platform is based on the Open Badge Standards maintained by IMS Global. This enables you to manage, share and verify your competencies digitally.

• What is an open badge?

Open badges are web-enabled versions of a credential, certification or learning outcome which can be verified in real-time, online.

• I have a question about the Credly Platform. Where can I find support?

You can find answers to frequently asked questions in the Credly Support page.

• Is there a fee to use Credly?

No. This is a service we provide at no additional cost.

• What if I don’t want my badge to be public?

You can easily change your privacy settings in the Credly Platform. You’re in complete control of the information about yourself that is made public.

• What’s to keep someone else from copying my badge and using it?

While badges are simply digital image files, they are uniquely linked to data hosted on Credly’s Acclaim Platform. This link to verified data makes them more reliable and secure than a paper-based certificate. It also eliminates the possibility of anyone claiming your credential and your associated identity.

• Where and how can I share my badge through the Credly Platform?

You can share your badge directly from the Credly Platform to LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook; over email; embedded in a website or in your email signature.  Learn more on the Credly social media information page.

• Who is Credly?

Credly is the end-to-end solution for issuing and managing digital credentials. Credly works with credible organizations to provide digital credentials to individuals, worldwide.

• Why does Credly need access to my LinkedIn account?

To share or add a badge to your LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn requires an authorization process, that is required and standard for all third-party programs creating a connection between the two accounts.

When you connect your Credly and LinkedIn accounts, you will receive a message outlining the permissions you are granting in the process. LinkedIn predetermines this message based on the authorization scope required to share your badge. Credly will not post to LinkedIn without your initiation or permission. Credly will only add badges to your profile or post them to your newsfeed upon request.

You can disconnect Credly’s access to your social media account after you have successfully shared your badge to your profile or newsfeed. You can also manage Credly’s connection through your privacy settings within your social media account.