Cooperative Purchasing

If you work for a school district, a city, a county, or a non-profit, you can probably buy a playground without going out to competitive bid. Most people in that position do not know it.

What cooperative purchasing actually is

A purchasing cooperative runs a competitive solicitation once, on behalf of thousands of public agencies. Suppliers bid, the cooperative awards contracts, and any member agency can then buy off that contract directly. The competitive process has already happened, so your procurement requirement is satisfied without you running an RFP yourself.

For a playground project this typically removes three to six months from the timeline. It is the single largest time saving available to a public buyer in this category.

How it works, in four steps

1. Confirm your agency is a member. Many already are and simply have not used it. Registration is free and takes a few minutes if you are not.
2. Choose your equipment. Anything on a contract we hold can be purchased against it.
3. Request a quote referencing the contract. We prepare it at contract pricing with the contract number on the document, which is what your procurement office needs to see.
4. Issue your purchase order against the contract number. No bid, no RFP, no waiting.

Who qualifies

Eligibility is broad and consistently wider than people expect. Generally, any tax-supported agency or 501(c) non-profit can participate:

• K-12 public school districts and charter schools
• Private schools, colleges and universities
• Cities, counties, townships and special districts
• Parks and recreation departments
• Public libraries
• State agencies
• Non-profit organisations, including churches
• In some cooperatives, homeowner associations and credit unions

There is no cost to join and no minimum spending requirement.

The major cooperatives

Sourcewell is national, widely used, and the most common route for parks and school districts. OMNIA Partners is national with broad eligibility that explicitly includes HOAs, churches and credit unions. BuyBoard is used heavily by Texas school districts and local government. TIPS covers K-12, higher education, government agencies and non-profits, with membership tied to your home state. NASPO ValuePoint serves state-level procurement.

Our contracts

Contract details are listed here as our supplier agreements are finalised. If you have a project in progress and need to know whether we can supply against a specific cooperative contract, ask us directly and we will give you a straight answer rather than a maybe.

Not sure if your agency is a member?

Tell us your organisation and your state when you request a quote. We can usually establish which cooperatives you are eligible for faster than an internal procurement enquiry will come back.