I know data owners. Do I refer them or become a sourcing partner?

Choose a referral role when your contribution is a clearly defined introduction. Consider a sourcing partnership when you expect to do recurring work such as identifying sources, confirming a decision-maker's interest, checking scope, coordinating follow-up or maintaining a documented pipeline. The difference is the work and authority involved, not the label or a promise of future volume.

Before either role begins, make sure the company is willing to be introduced and that you are allowed to share the specific information. Knowing an owner, working at the same company or hearing that data may exist does not establish authority to disclose a name, contact details, records or commercial terms.

When is a single referral the right role?

A referral agreement should state what counts as a completed introduction, what details may be shared, how the recipient acknowledges it, and how existing or overlapping contacts are handled. If the referrer stops after the handoff, say so. The recipient should own the next steps and the company should know who is contacting it and why.

This can fit a person with one relevant relationship and no continuing role. It keeps responsibilities limited, although attribution and payment still need a clear written rule. A tracked visit or informal mention is not proof that a referral led to a transaction.

Which recurring work makes this a sourcing partnership?

A recurring partner may identify potential companies, confirm whether a willing decision-maker exists, gather non-sensitive scope information, avoid duplicate outreach, and record permission and status. Each activity should be explicit. Do not ask a partner to obtain raw samples, represent rights they have not verified, or promise a buyer outcome.

Define whether the partner is permitted to contact the company, which facts they can communicate, how they are supervised, and when they must stop. If they introduce a specific buyer or negotiate terms, that is a materially different role and may need separate authority and legal review. The contract should reflect the real activity, not just call it “sourcing.”

Who handles follow-up after the introduction?

Some partnerships end at introduction; others keep the referrer involved as an owner-side coordinator. Write down which party handles qualification, permissions, buyer communication, updates and complaints. State who may access the record and what information remains confidential. Avoid giving either side open-ended rights over all future discussions with a company.

An operating record can help: source, consent status, date, company-approved disclosure level, scope, existing relationship check, next action, responsible person and closure reason. This is a proposed administrative practice, not a certification or proof that a transaction is authorized. The W3C PROV Data Model distinguishes entities, activities and agents, which offers a useful way to think about what happened and who was responsible. It does not determine the parties' legal obligations.

What should payment and attribution depend on?

If payment is involved, specify the calculation base, trigger, timing, supporting statement and correction process. Distinguish a fee triggered by an accepted introduction from compensation contingent on a later agreement or actual cash received. Define treatment of refunds, partial receipts, shared contributions and a company already known to the recipient. Do not assume a proposed commission is earned merely because an introduction occurred.

For recurring work, decide whether payment varies with activity, deliverables or outcomes. If a percentage applies, define exactly what amount it applies to and for how long. A vague “share of revenue” is hard to reconcile, audit or terminate. Include confidentiality, conflicts, permitted competing work, termination and any obligations that survive.

How would the role differ for one contact versus repeated sourcing?

Imagine a fictional consultant who knows one operations director at a manufacturing company. The director says they may be open to a conversation about licensing a historic maintenance archive. If the consultant makes one permission-cleared introduction and exits, a referral agreement may fit. If the consultant plans to identify multiple potential owners, confirm each person's willingness, maintain status records and coordinate approved follow-up, an ongoing sourcing arrangement may be clearer.

In either case, the consultant should not promise that the company owns all records, send sample files, or disclose the company's name before authorization. The example is hypothetical and does not describe a client or actual opportunity.

Questions before you choose

• Is the contribution one handoff or recurring work?
• What authority do I have to contact the company and share information?
• What facts can I confirm, and what must remain unverified?
• Who owns follow-up and communicates with the company?
• How are overlaps and existing relationships handled?
• What triggers payment, how is it calculated, and how can it be checked?
• How are conflicts, confidentiality, records and termination handled?

Start with the smallest role that accurately describes the work, then expand it only by agreement. A clear referral can develop into a broader partnership, but the additional work, authority, risk and compensation should be agreed before it starts.

Avelence's service includes commercial advisory, research, dataset positioning, licensing strategy and introductions. Partner arrangements are scoped separately, and any company representation, buyer contact, disclosure or access requires the appropriate authority. A referral is not permission to license data.

Define qualifying introduction, attribution evidence and payment trigger in the actual referral or sourcing agreement. A name already in a contact list, a documented accepted introduction and cash received from a later license are different events. Specify which event the arrangement rewards and what record demonstrates it.

If the role is a bounded introduction, the referral agreement guide explains the attribution, overlap and payment definitions to settle before the handoff. Match those terms to the work described here.