How to respond to a sources sought notice (and why it is worth your time)

Federal agencies must do market research before they buy. Part 10 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires it, and one of the most common ways to do it is to post a notice on SAM.gov asking which companies can perform a given piece of work. The answers shape the acquisition strategy: whether there will be a set-aside, which NAICS code is used, how the work is packaged, and sometimes what the requirement says.

By the time the RFP is published, the most important decisions have already been made. The sources sought notice is where they are made.

What a sources sought notice is — and is not

It is a request for information about capability: who can do this work, at what scale, with which socioeconomic status. It is not a request for proposals. Notices usually say so explicitly: responses are not offers, the government will not pay for them, and there is no promise that a solicitation will follow.

Why it decides set-asides: the rule of two

The reason small businesses should care most is the rule of two. A contracting officer sets an acquisition aside for small businesses when there is a reasonable expectation that offers will come from at least two responsible small businesses and that the award can be made at a fair market price. For decades this sat in FAR 19.502-2; the ongoing Revolutionary FAR Overhaul has moved it within Part 19 (the model deviation text places total set-asides in 19.104-1) while keeping its substance. Check the version your agency currently applies on acquisition.gov.

The evidence the contracting officer relies on is, very largely, the responses to market research. If you are a capable small business and you do not respond, you may be the reason there are only one — and the requirement goes to full and open competition, where you compete against companies fifty times your size. The same logic applies to the socioeconomic programs: 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVOSB) and women-owned (WOSB) set-asides all need evidence of capable firms.

Finding sources sought notices on SAM.gov

1. 1
   Open Contract Opportunities

   On SAM.gov, search Contract Opportunities and filter Notice Type to "Sources Sought" (and, separately, "Special Notice", where some RFIs live).

2. 2
   Filter by your NAICS and PSC codes

   Use the codes in your SAM registration, plus adjacent ones agencies tend to use for your kind of work.

3. 3
   Save the search and turn on alerts

   Response windows are short — often one to three weeks. A daily alert is the only reliable way not to miss them.

4. 4
   Follow the agency, not just the notice

   Note the contracting office and the program. The same office will usually publish the solicitation.

If your SAM registration is not active yet, start there — our SAM.gov registration guide covers the UEI, CAGE code and the usual delays. Kodalyn can also run this watch for you every morning and score each notice against your profile; see tender monitoring.

A response template that works

Unless the notice prescribes a format — in which case follow it exactly — this structure answers what contracting officers look for, in the order they look for it:

Your capability statement is a useful attachment, but a generic one-pager on its own is the most common weak response. The contracting officer has to write a market research report that says which firms are capable of this requirement. Make that sentence easy to write.

What to include, what to leave out

• Include evidence, not claims: contract numbers, dollar values, dates, measured outcomes.
• Include a short, respectful note if the NAICS code or the packaging of the work looks wrong — this is the moment it can still change.
• Include your intention to bid if a solicitation follows. It helps the rule-of-two judgement.
• Leave out pricing unless it is explicitly requested. A number given now becomes an anchor.
• Leave out marketing language, mission statements and capabilities unrelated to the scope.
• Leave out proprietary information you would not want shared. If you must include it, mark it properly.

When you cannot do all of it

Many small businesses hold back because they can only perform part of the work. Respond anyway. Say which portions you can perform yourself, and whether you would propose with a teaming partner or as part of a joint venture. Under the limitations on subcontracting, a small-business prime must still perform a set share of the work itself, so be honest about what you would self-perform — the contracting officer will compare it with the rules.

After you send it

1. Confirm receipt if the notice gives a contact, and note the date in your pipeline.
2. Watch for the presolicitation or solicitation from the same office; it may come weeks or months later.
3. If an industry day or one-on-one sessions are offered, take them: you now have context the contracting officer remembers.
4. When the solicitation arrives, reuse your response — it is already mapped to the requirement and becomes the outline of your proposal. Our guide to how federal proposals are evaluated explains what changes at that stage.

A good response takes a few hours if your evidence is organized and a few days if it is not. Kodalyn keeps your past performance, certifications and documents in one place and drafts each response from them, tied to the questions in the notice — see AI drafting. For the bigger picture of entering the federal market, start with how to bid on federal contracts.