The design protects two things at once. Members keep control of whether they are named to anyone, and the association keeps the trust that made the list valuable in the first place.
Why a member list is never an introduction
A list fails on SourceX's own terms before it fails on trust. The sample Channel Partner Agreement defines an introduced contact as an identified prospective supplier, disclosed for a specific potential data transaction and recorded in writing, and section 3.3 asks every introduction record to name the company, its domain, the partner, the opportunity, the method and timestamps. A spreadsheet of members answers none of that. The program terms then credit a company only when the company itself submits a verified application within the 90-day window, so a name that never applies earns nothing.
Consent is the larger problem. SourceX's screening page lists introductions made without the decision maker's knowledge among the cases that are usually not a fit. And member contact details were given to the association for running the association. The OECD's privacy guidelines, in our paraphrase of their original text, treat use limitation as a basic principle: personal data should not be disclosed or used for purposes beyond those specified, except with the person's consent or by authority of law. That is a principle, not legal advice for your jurisdiction; your own privacy notice and counsel govern what the association may do. The design below simply never asks the question, because the list never moves.
What stays inside the association
| Item | Where it lives | Who sees it | Ever sent to SourceX |
|---|---|---|---|
| The member list and contact details | The association's own systems | Association staff | Never |
| Who opened or clicked the notice | The email or portal tool | Association staff, for delivery only | Never |
| Who attended an education session | The event tool | Association staff | Never |
| Descriptions of any member's records | Nowhere; the association does not collect them | Nobody | Never |
| A member CEO's written request for an introduction | The association's inbox | The director handling it | Only the CEO's own words and contact, after the request |
| The association's partner link | The notice itself | Every member | It is public by design |
The fourth row is a deliberate gap. An association never needs to know how many years of records a member keeps or which systems it uses; a member that wants to explore licensing describes that to SourceX itself, after its CEO decides. The sample agreement also gives a partner no authority to share a supplier's records or personal information, which removes any reason to gather them.
The opt-in member communication design
Five touches and two routes out. Members start every step after the first.
| Touch | Who starts it | Goes to | Carries | Never carries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Notice | The association | All members, through the usual newsletter or portal | What SourceX does, the screening facts, who decides, the association's possible reward, how to ask and how to ignore it | Any suggestion that members qualify or that SourceX endorses the association |
| 2. One reminder, optional | The association | All members again, never a segment guessed to fit | A shorter version of touch 1 | Personalized targeting based on what the association assumes about a member's records |
| 3. Request | A member company's CEO | The association's director | "Please introduce us", in the CEO's words | Anything the association asked them to fill in |
| 4. Introduction | The director | SourceX, with the CEO copied | The CEO's words, name and contact, one company per message | Other members' names, batches, notes about the member |
| 5. Feedback invitation | The association | Members who engaged, plus an open address for anyone | A short question: was this useful, and did anything feel wrong? | A sales follow-up |
Route out A: silence. A member who does nothing hears nothing more after the single reminder. Silence is a no.
Route out B: a direct application. Any member may apply to SourceX itself through the public pages, with no involvement from the association. Say so in touch 1; it proves the association is not gatekeeping.
Touch 1 can link the association's partner link, prepared as the newsletter link guide describes, but a click is not an introduction and the association should not treat clicks as interest it may report.
Paste-ready notice
Licensing company records for AI: an optional item for members. SourceX licenses records that established companies created in their own operations, for AI training and evaluation, under agreements each company signs itself. Its published screening looks for a full-time workforce that peaked at 50 or more, several years of the company's own records and the rights to license them; SourceX decides fit after its own review. Your CEO decides whether to look into it. The association is a registered referral partner: if you ask us to introduce you and your company completes a qualifying, paid deal, SourceX may pay the association a reward, separately from your compensation and never deducted from it. We have not shared, and will not share, any member's details. To ask for an introduction, reply to this email. To apply on your own, use SourceX's public pages. To ignore this, do nothing.
Adjust the words to your members, but keep every clause that does a job: who decides, the association's interest, the absence of any shared list and both routes out. The sample agreement's section 4.5 also says neither side may publicly identify the other as a partner without written authorization, so if the notice is posted publicly rather than sent to members, ask SourceX in writing first. The association templates and the vendor endorsement policy carry further wording.
Who decides at each member company
The member company's CEO, every time. A chapter chair, a board member who knows the company or the association's executive director cannot decide for it, and should not hint that they can. Two situations move the decision:
- A member that has been acquired. Once a sale closes, the acquirer's CEO decides for the business. Before closing, the member's own CEO still decides, and anything the association hears about the sale stays private.
- A member that already knows SourceX. If the company has applied before, holds an account or has corresponded with SourceX, the terms treat it as a duplicate and credit no later partner. SourceX checks its own records before inviting an introduced company, so the association does not need to ask.
Members are often known to several advisers. An accountant, a broker and the association may all hear the same CEO mention the idea. The program credits one introduction per company, and SourceX sorts out overlapping claims in its duplicate review from dated records. The association's part is to act only on the CEO's request and keep that request on file. Pooling records across members is a different model with its own problems, set out in collective data licensing for associations.
A small pilot with a decline count
Run the design once on a slice of the program, for example a single newsletter issue, before it becomes a standing item. After 60 days, count:
- requests for an introduction, and members who said they applied directly;
- declines, and the share of members who simply ignored it;
- complaints, especially anyone who thought the association had shared their details or was vouching for SourceX;
- unsubscribes from the issue that carried the notice, compared with a normal issue.
Decide the stop rule before sending: one credible complaint that a member's details were shared ends the pilot until the cause is found. SourceX has not published response or conversion rates for member networks, so these counts are yours alone, and none are published here.
Two replies, two routes (Illustrative)
Illustrative: invented members, each showing how the design routes a reply rather than any outcome.
A 210-person regional distributor. Its CEO replies to the notice: "Please introduce us; our operations director will join." The director sends one email to SourceX quoting that sentence, naming the CEO and copying both people. Nothing else about the distributor goes in the email.
A 60-person engineering consultancy. Its finance director, not the CEO, replies asking for "the details" and offering a spreadsheet of systems. The director declines the spreadsheet, explains that the association never holds member records, and asks whether the CEO wants an introduction. Until the CEO answers, nothing is sent.
Where an opt-in design still leaks
- Forwarding. Members forward newsletters. The notice should make sense to anyone who reads it, with no member names inside.
- Side lists. A chapter leader may keep a private list of "likely fits". Say in writing that no such list is ever sent to SourceX.
- Reward fatigue. A disclosed interest can still make members wary. The peer-group introductions etiquette guide covers keeping relationships ahead of rewards.
- Your own privacy notice. If it limits how member contacts may be used, it governs over anything on this page.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When the first member CEO writes asking to be introduced, sign the association up as a partner if it is not already, compare the request with the published bar on who qualifies, and keep the request with a dated copy of the program terms.