How Suppliers Can Thrive in Education Cooperative Ecosystems

Working with a group purchasing organization (GPO) helps suppliers achieve economies of scale. Instead of having to submit customized RFPs for multiple organizations and negotiate individual contracts, suppliers can dramatically reduce their acquisition costs by entering into cooperative agreements with GPOs. By reducing the cost of sales and generating a larger volume of sales, suppliers […]

Educational Cooperatives in Action: Spotlight on Successful Business Partnerships

Forming successful business partnerships with suppliers can produce big benefits for universities.. When you work together with suppliers, you can develop innovative solutions and drive efficiency. By aligning goals, this collaboration generally produces better solutions and value compared to a strictly transactional relationship. Cooperative Contracts in Action What is an example of a cooperative relationship […]

Maximizing Opportunities: How Education Cooperatives Reshape Business Landscapes

To say the education landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years is an understatement. Forget about the jolt from the pandemic; that’s yesterday’s news. Today, most schools are dealing with even tighter budget constraints, rising prices, technology challenges, fewer staff, and shifting enrollment. Ensuring schools, colleges, and universities have the goods and services […]

The Tangible ROI Benefits of Educational Cooperative Agreements

It seems like everyone working in education is being tasked with doing more with less. Smaller budgets, fewer staff, and yet an increased workload. Sound familiar? Procurement teams are being asked to balance quality, volume, and cost while working within tight budget constraints and a mandate to reduce spend. At the same time, prices are […]

Education Purchasing Evolved: The Legal Framework of Cooperative Buying

Cooperative purchasing organizations play an increasing role in helping academic institutions meet their procurement goals, optimizing purchasing, keeping costs in check, and meeting internal goals. However, there remains a misconception about the legality of their use, particularly regarding competitive solicitation and bidding requirements. So, let’s take a look at the legal framework of education purchasing […]

How National Procurement Systems Enhance, rather than Bypass, the Bid Process

Education procurement is complex. Tight budgets, evolving regulations, and changing requirements make the job of procurement teams challenging. Even for experienced pros, it can be confusing. Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) can help reduce frustration, but there are some misconceptions about how they work. We will break down the process to give you a better understanding. […]

Group Purchasing Organizations in Education: Why Cooperative Contracts Outperform Sole Source

As demands increase and budgets tighten, many education procurement teams are feeling the pressure. There’s often not enough time in the day to handle all the purchasing needs while ensuring compliance with every regulation and guideline. Some turn to sole-source procurement as a way to accelerate the labor-intensive process of sourcing, proposals, and bidding. However, […]

Streamlined Success: Suppliers’ Perspective on Educational Purchasing Cooperatives

Educational and institutional cooperative purchasing using a purchasing cooperative enables you to leverage collective bargaining power for better pricing and streamlined procurement. This process offers big benefits for schools, colleges, and universities, but suppliers see advantages as well. If we look at procurement from the suppliers’ perspective, we can see the many reasons working with […]