Sounds like a full time job vs. a gig.
It makes sense if you're vetting people beforehand to make sure that giving them this level of access and communication is worth the effort, but that's what a job interview is.
As for getting a prize, it goes back to the dupe issue which is the source of a lot of abuse. There's no way to prove you also worked on it or if you just got the info from your friend and want to double your winnings.