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 […]
Navigating National Purchasing Cooperatives: From Basics to Best Practice in Educational Procurement.
Cooperatives are a powerful force in business, often hidden in plain sight within some of America’s most recognizable brands. Some famous cooperative business examples that you may not know of are cooperatives, such as Sunkist, Ocean Spray, Best Western, Ace Hardware, and True Value Hardware. REI is the nation’s largest consumer cooperative for outdoor gear. […]
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. […]
Streamlining Education Spending: National Procurement Strategies for Federal Grant Recipients
While the amount varies from year to year, the Department of Education gives colleges and universities about $52 billion in grants annually, not including money for student financial aid. These grants typically come with complex regulations about how they are spent. Purchasing cooperatives in education can be a key resource for procurement teams in maximizing […]
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 […]
The Ultimate Guide to Cooperative Purchasing in Higher Education: Debunking Myths and Maximizing Benefits
What is a major advantage of coop purchasing for higher ed institutions? You can start with savings from leveraging aggregated buying power to achieve volume discounts, but the benefits of education purchasing cooperatives go well beyond that. You can significantly streamline your procurement while tapping into industry expertise, complying with your competitive bidding requirements, and […]
National Procurement’s Answer to Regional Higher Ed Challenges
Regional higher education institutions often face unique procurement challenges that reflect their specific local needs and constraints—regardless of size. A small community college in rural America might struggle with sourcing specialized technology equipment, within its budget. A large urban university may face difficulties in managing complex facilities services efficiently. These challenges underscore the pressing need […]
