A family member doing you a favor does not necessarily mean that they are willing to do the same thing for your friends.

Plenty of people are willing to help out their relatives in a way that they just wouldn’t for people whom they don’t really know. Much as it is nice to be nice, everybody only has so much time and resources to give out favors. There is a limit to how much they can do it, if they even want to in the first place.

What’s more, even those who are nice enough to help out those whom they know probably are not going to take kindly to getting referrals without being consulted first. Asking for assistance is one thing; claiming that you are open to giving it to just about anyone is quite another. No matter how open-minded an individual might be, these kinds of scenarios can swiftly become unmanageable. 

It can be awkward at first to turn down somebody who was expecting that you would benefit them in some way. If you are overwhelmed, though, it is generally the best course of action. It is not fair that others should be entitled to your time like that.