The short version
- There is no application. Every major cooperative awards contracts by responding to a public RFP or IFB. Membership portals, 'vendor registration' and sales calls from the cooperative do not put you on a contract.
- You pay, the agency does not. Administrative fees run from 0–0.25% (NASPO ValuePoint) to 1–2% (Sourcewell), 2% (BuyBoard, TIPS, NCPA) and 1–3% (OMNIA Partners), on top of any state fee. Build it into your price.
- Cadence matters more than prestige. TIPS and BuyBoard solicit broad categories several times a year and award many vendors. Sourcewell and NASPO ValuePoint solicit a category every few years and award few. Pick by when the next window opens, not by logo.
- Match the vehicle to the buyer. Texas K-12 buys on BuyBoard and TIPS; universities on E&I; state agencies on NASPO ValuePoint and statewide contracts; public safety on HGACBuy; local government nationally on Sourcewell and OMNIA.
- Award is not revenue. The vendors who grow on a cooperative contract are the ones who market it. The contract removes the RFP; it does not make the call.
Why cooperative contracts matter in government sales
Most states let a public agency satisfy its competitive-bidding requirement by buying from a contract that another public agency competitively awarded. That is the whole trick: the cooperative, or a lead agency acting for it, runs one solicitation, and every member can 'piggyback' on the result. For the buyer, a 6–12 month RFP becomes a purchase order. For you, the sales cycle shrinks and the procurement officer becomes an ally rather than a gatekeeper. Our SLED sales cycle benchmarks show cooperative availability as one of the few things that reliably cuts months off a deal. If you are new to the model, start with our cooperative purchasing primer; this page is the comparison and the how-to.
The catch is that cooperative contracts are competitively awarded, so getting on one is itself a sales cycle: watching for the solicitation, writing a national-scale proposal, pricing for the fee, and then marketing the award. Many vendors win a cooperative contract and sell nothing through it because they assumed orders would arrive.
The major cooperatives compared
Search by cooperative, buyer type or fee.
Showing all 11 cooperatives
| Cooperative | Who buys | How you get on | Fee and term | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SourcewellStaples, MN; a Minnesota service cooperative; formerly NJPA | Cities, counties, K-12, higher ed, nonprofits in all 50 states and Canada; 50,000+ members | Respond to a nationally advertised RFP or IFB through the Sourcewell Procurement Portal; the review committee scores, the board awards; typically several awardees per category; notices of planned procurement posted in advance | Administrative fee proposed by the vendor, typically 1–2% of sales; 4-year contracts, often with a 1-year extension | Sourcewell solicitations; FAQ |
| BuyBoardAustin, TX; run by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) | Texas school districts, cities, counties and other local governments through the Local Government Purchasing Cooperative; other states through the National Purchasing Cooperative | Submit a proposal online to a numbered Proposal Invitation (for example, SaaS and cybersecurity, 607-20); only line items marked awarded can be sold; both Texas and national awards come from the same proposal | 2% service fee on each purchase order, invoiced monthly (flat fees for vehicles); 1-year initial term with renewals | BuyBoard vendor FAQ; billing guide |
| TIPS (The Interlocal Purchasing System)Pittsburg, TX; lead agency Region 8 Education Service Center | Schools, colleges, cities, counties and nonprofits in all 50 states; strongest in Texas and the South | Respond to a category solicitation posted on the TIPS Ionwave portal; awards are frequent (multiple solicitations a year) and broad (many vendors per category); awarded by the Region 8 ESC board | 2% administration fee on TIPS sales, paid by the vendor as members pay; roughly 2-year agreements with renewals, 3-year total in recent solicitations | TIPS solicitation specifications |
| OMNIA PartnersFranklin, TN; private aggregator of lead-agency awards | State and local governments, K-12 and higher ed nationally; the former U.S. Communities and National IPA programs | Win a competitive solicitation run by a lead public agency (a large county, city or university) that is written for national piggybacking, then sign OMNIA's national agreement; usually one supplier per category | Administrative fee negotiated per contract, commonly 1–3% of sales; terms follow the lead-agency contract, often 3–5 years | OMNIA Partners for suppliers |
| NASPO ValuePointLexington, KY; cooperative arm of the National Association of State Procurement Officials | State governments first; political subdivisions through each state's participating addendum; the largest state IT and telecom vehicles | No vendor registration or approved list. A lead state and a Multistate Sourcing Team issue an RFP through the lead state's eProcurement system; the lead state awards a Master Agreement; you then negotiate a Participating Addendum with each state that wants to use it | Administrative fee set in each Master Agreement, standardly between 0 and 0.25% to NASPO ValuePoint, plus any fee the participating state adds; 5-year terms are common | NASPO ValuePoint: how to become a supplier; supplier FAQ |
| E&I Cooperative ServicesJericho, NY; member-owned nonprofit | Higher education and K-12 only; 6,000+ member institutions | Respond to an E&I solicitation (RFP) in your category, or, less commonly, through a competitively awarded member institution contract adopted by E&I | Supplier-paid administrative fee negotiated per contract; multi-year agreements | E&I for suppliers |
| HGACBuyHouston, TX; Houston-Galveston Area Council | Local governments nationally; strongest for public safety, fire apparatus, emergency vehicles, communications and utilities equipment | Respond to an HGACBuy competitive solicitation for a product category; awards to multiple vendors with published pricing | Order processing charge built into the published price, scaled to order size; contract terms typically 2–3 years with renewals | HGACBuy vendors |
| PEPPMMilton, PA; Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit | K-12 and other public agencies; a technology-focused cooperative used heavily in Pennsylvania, California and the Northeast | Respond to the annual technology bid (hardware, software, services line items); awards are by product line | Administrative fee on sales; annual bid with renewals | PEPPM vendors |
| NCPA (National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance)Houston, TX; lead agency Region 14 Education Service Center | Public agencies, K-12, higher ed and nonprofits nationally | Respond to a Region 14 ESC solicitation in your category; awards to multiple vendors | Administrative fee on sales, typically around 2%; multi-year agreements | NCPA vendors |
| GSA Multiple Award Schedule (Cooperative Purchasing)Federal; open to state and local for IT, security and law-enforcement products | State, local, tribal and education buyers may use GSA Schedule contracts for IT (large category F), security and law enforcement (SIN 334290 and related), and disaster recovery | Submit a GSA Schedule offer through eOffer; requires two years in business (or the Startup Springboard path), commercial sales practices disclosure, and a negotiated price list | 0.75% Industrial Funding Fee on sales; 5-year base with up to three 5-year options | GSA cooperative purchasing |
| State contracts (statewide term contracts)Each state's central procurement office | State agencies, and in most states any political subdivision that chooses to use the state contract | Respond to the state's own solicitation; many states also adopt NASPO ValuePoint agreements by participating addendum | Varies by state; several states charge a vendor management fee of 0.5–1.5% (Washington's is 1.25%) | Our state procurement thresholds page; state procurement portals |
How to get awarded, step by step
Showing all 6 steps
| Step | What to do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pick the right vehicleMatch the cooperative to your buyers | K-12 in Texas: BuyBoard and TIPS. Higher ed: E&I. State agencies: NASPO ValuePoint and your state's statewide contract. Local government nationally: Sourcewell and OMNIA. Public safety: HGACBuy. Federal and SLED IT: GSA MAS. | A week of research |
| 2. Get on the solicitation alertsYou cannot apply; you can only respond | Register on each cooperative's procurement portal (Sourcewell Procurement Portal, BuyBoard vendor login, TIPS Ionwave, NASPO ValuePoint solicitations page). Watch for a Notice of Planned Procurement in your category. Categories typically re-solicit every 3–5 years. | Hours to set up; months to years of waiting |
| 3. Check the cadenceSome co-ops solicit often, some rarely | TIPS and BuyBoard run multiple solicitations a year with broad categories (for example, SaaS products and cybersecurity). Sourcewell and NASPO ValuePoint solicit a category once every several years and award fewer vendors, so missing one means waiting for the next cycle. | TIPS or BuyBoard: next window within 6 months. Sourcewell or NASPO: 1–4 years. |
| 4. Write the proposalThis is a real competitive RFP | Score sheets reward national footprint, references in multiple states, published pricing with a discount from list, a marketing plan for promoting the contract to members, and clean compliance paperwork (SAM.gov registration, insurance, debarment certifications). Vague pricing is the most common reason for a low score. | 3–6 weeks |
| 5. Price for the feeThe admin fee comes out of your margin | Build the 0.25–3% administrative fee into contract pricing, because the cooperative will audit for it. Decide whether co-op pricing will be your public floor, since members can see it and your direct customers may ask for it. | Part of the proposal |
| 6. Market the contractAward is the beginning, not the end | A cooperative contract does not produce orders by itself. Awarded vendors who grow are the ones who call members, quote the contract number on every proposal, and train their reps to say 'you can buy this without an RFP.' Most cooperatives require a joint marketing plan and track sales quarterly. | Ongoing |
If you cannot wait for a solicitation
- Sell through an awarded reseller. Many cooperative contracts (CDW-G, Carahsoft, SHI, Insight on Sourcewell, NASPO and OMNIA) allow the awardee to add manufacturers and software publishers to their catalog. You give up margin to the reseller but gain the contract immediately. NASPO ValuePoint and Sourcewell both allow awarded suppliers to name partners, subject to the contract's terms.
- Piggyback on a single agency's award. If one city or county has awarded you a contract through a competitive RFP, other agencies in states with permissive piggybacking rules can often buy from it directly. Write 'other public agencies may purchase from this contract' into your RFP responses.
- Stay under the threshold. Below the formal bid limit (see thresholds by state), agencies can buy on quotes without any contract vehicle.
- Get on a state contract. Statewide term contracts are often open to local governments and are solicited more predictably than national cooperatives.
Which cooperative for which buyer
- K-12 districts: BuyBoard and TIPS in Texas and across the South; PEPPM for technology in Pennsylvania and California; Sourcewell nationally; E&I for larger districts. See when to pitch school districts.
- Higher education: E&I first, then NASPO ValuePoint (through the state's participating addendum), OMNIA and Sourcewell.
- Cities and counties: Sourcewell and OMNIA Partners nationally; BuyBoard and TIPS in Texas; HGACBuy for public safety and fleet; the state contract where the state allows local use. See who buys in county government.
- State agencies: NASPO ValuePoint and the state's own term contracts; GSA Schedules for IT and security.
- Public safety: HGACBuy, Sourcewell, GSA Schedule 84 successor SINs, and state contracts.
- Utilities and special districts: Sourcewell, OMNIA and the state contract; many utilities also belong to regional purchasing alliances.
Method and sources
Process, fee and term details are from each cooperative's published solicitation documents, vendor FAQs and supplier pages, linked in the table, checked November 7, 2026. Fees are the published or typical ranges; the fee for a specific contract is set in that solicitation. Corrections: research@kensingtonsalesgroup.com.
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