Yes, referral campaigns using the Indiegogo dashboard does work. Actually, the dashboard just makes it easier to track referrals right inside the campaign itself.
This campaign that I helped run had a referral campaign created in this way, using the Indiegogo referral dashboard. It worked out well enough that we reached $1 million with the project:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/xgimi-h1-immersive-home-theatre#/Beyond that, I'd also recommend using a platform like Kickbooster (
https://kickbooster.me/) to run referral campaigns. They make the whole referral process a lot simpler with how they've set up their dashboard, referral links and notifications.
Here's a detailed breakdown of how FinalStraw ($1.8 million raised) used Kickbooster to run their referral program:
https://crushcrowdfunding.com/get-free-traffic-and-more-backers-with-a-referral-program/And yes, this can also be applied to an Indiegogo campaign!