For Credentialed Practitioners

A referral network for credentialed peers — built so your practice stays yours. 

If you're a credentialed practitioner with steady inbound interest, you already know the math. Every "I'd love a quote" email takes 15-30 minutes to read, respond to, and assess. Most of them don't convert. The ones that do convert often arrive with unrealistic expectations about scope, timeline, or what the records can actually answer — and the work of resetting those expectations is more emotionally taxing than the research itself.

This is the qualification overhead most genealogists don't measure but absolutely feel. It's the unbilled hours in your week. It's why your effective hourly rate is meaningfully lower than your stated rate. It's why you sometimes consider hiring someone "just to handle email" — and then realize that person would also need to know genealogy well enough to assess whether a request is realistic.

The Co-op handles that overhead before clients reach you. Andre — an AG® credentialed peer, not a generalist intake person — conducts the qualifying conversation, sets honest expectations about scope and feasibility, and only routes the case to you once the client has committed financially to engagement. Think of it as a fractional research director you didn't have to hire.

The Co-op's value depends on lead quality, not lead volume. Clients pass two financial-commitment gates before they're matched with a credentialed practitioner. Both fees are credited toward the client's eventual project, so they're not lost money if the engagement proceeds — but they're real commitments that filter out shoppers and tire-kickers. 

Gate 1 — Intake fee ($59.99, paid by the client) 

• Andre conducts a 30-45 minute intake conversation: what the client is trying to find out, what they already know, what they've already tried. He assesses whether the question is reasonable, which records would realistically answer it, and roughly how much the work might cost. Clients leave intake with an honest expert assessment — including, where appropriate, the answer "this isn't worth pursuing as a paid project." Many self-deselect at this stage. 

Gate 2 — Match Commitment Fee ($99, paid by the client) 

• Only clients who clear intake and want to proceed pay this. It signals a concrete commitment to engaging a researcher — they're not shopping multiple genealogists for quotes. Andre then matches the case to the right credentialed practitioner in the network based on specialty, current availability, and credential alignment. 

By the time a lead reaches you, both qualification gates have been passed. The client has had their question pressure-tested, has agreed to a realistic scope and budget, and has already paid for the privilege of being matched. Your conversation starts at "let's confirm scope and sign the contract," not "let me tell you what I think you're looking for." 

No — and the difference matters. A middleman takes a percentage of every transaction in perpetuity. Larger genealogy firms commonly take 30-50% of project revenue to fund their intake teams and infrastructure. The Co-op does neither. Your invoice goes directly to your client; your contract is between you and them. The Co-op never sees your project revenue.

What the Co-op does charge is a per-lead fee paid by the client as part of their intake process — not skimmed from what you bill. Both qualification fees the client pays ($59.99 + $99) are credited toward their project by default, so the client's total cost stays comparable to hiring you directly. The difference is they arrive at your door already qualified and committed.

Put another way: the fees aren't extracting value from your work. They're filtering out the people who would have wasted your time before they ever became your problem.

Most credentialed practitioners are surprised by what landing a client actually costs them in unbilled qualification hours. The Co-op only makes sense if the math says it does — so look at your math first. The funnel cost calculator below walks through your real qualification funnel and reveals what each signed client costs in unbilled time. Move the sliders to your reality; the math updates live. 

The Co-op operates on a tier system. The Free tier has no monthly fee — you pay only when you accept a matched lead. Paid tiers add a monthly subscription in exchange for substantive benefits beyond simple lead access: right-of-first-refusal on best-matched leads, specialty-typed routing, co-marketing, and others. The choice between tiers isn't about volume discounts — it's about what kind of relationship you want with the network. 

The Co-op is open to credentialed genealogists with verifiable accreditation — including AG® and AGL™ (ICAPGen℠), CG®, CGL℠, and CGG℠ (BCG), as well as equivalent international credentials. Pre-credential and apprenticeship-track applicants are welcome to join the Free tier with a reference from a supervising practitioner.

You'll also need: liability insurance (E&O is recommended, not required), a current practice website or APG profile, and at least one verifiable client engagement in the past 24 months. Vetting takes 5-10 business days after the application is submitted.

If your practice is established to the point where the Co-op wouldn't meaningfully change your lead flow — you have steady referrals, a waitlist, and don't need additional intake — this isn't aimed at you, and that's fine. The Co-op exists for credentialed practitioners with the capacity to take on additional work that fits their specialty.

A short selection below. For the comprehensive answers — including detailed coverage of rate matching, lead curation tiers, edge cases, and operational mechanics — see [the full Member FAQ](LINK TO FAQ PAGE).

Q: Does the Co-op take a percentage of my project revenue?

A: No. The Co-op fee is the per-lead fee paid at acceptance ($250 Free / $175 Silver / $125 Gold / $75 Platinum) plus the monthly subscription on paid tiers. Your invoicing relationship with your client is direct — we don't see or touch your project revenue.

Q: What if a matched lead isn't a good fit for me?

A: Decline it. Declined matches cost nothing. Andre will route the lead to the next best-match member, or back to the open queue if no Silver+ member claims it within 48 hours.

Q: How are leads matched to me specifically?

A: For Silver members, leads matching your declared specialty are offered to you with a 48-hour right of first refusal. When multiple Silvers match a lead equally well, the right rotates among them so no single member dominates. Gold (when active) adds specialty-typed routing where declared specialties get leads bypassing the general queue. Free tier sees leads in the open queue.

Q: Can I set a minimum project size?

A: Yes. During onboarding you specify your minimum viable project size and any work types you don't accept. Leads outside your parameters won't be matched to you.

Q: What if I'm a junior researcher / apprentice / pre-credential?

A: You can join the Free tier with a supervising-practitioner reference. Your profile will be clearly labeled as a pre-credential researcher, and you'll typically receive smaller-scope leads. As you advance toward credentialing, your tier eligibility expands.

Q: How do I know Andre is actually filtering, not just rubber-stamping intake calls?

A: Decline-rates are tracked publicly within the network. Members can see the percentage of matched leads they've declined and discuss patterns in member-only forums. If qualification quality drops, the network's per-lead acceptance rate drops, and Andre's value to the network drops with it. The incentive alignment is direct.

Q: What if I want to leave the Co-op?

A: Cancel your subscription at any time. There's no contract, no exit fee, no clawback. You retain all client relationships you've built through the Co-op — those clients are yours, not the Co-op's