Sourcewell

Sourcewell (formerly the National Joint Powers Alliance, NJPA) is a government-authorized cooperative purchasing organization based in Minnesota that conducts competitive solicitations and awards contracts for a wide range of products and services, making those contracts accessible to its member organizations across the United States.

What is Sourcewell?

Sourcewell was established by the Minnesota legislature as a service cooperative with purchasing authority. Its competitive solicitations satisfy the purchasing requirements of most U.S. states, allowing members to use Sourcewell contracts rather than running their own competitive procurements for covered categories.

Sourcewell members include:

• State and local government agencies (cities, counties, townships, special districts)
• Public school districts, colleges, and universities
• Nonprofit organizations
• Tribal governments

Unlike NASPO ValuePoint (which is led by state procurement offices specifically), Sourcewell's membership and focus is broader, encompassing education institutions and nonprofits that NASPO ValuePoint does not typically cover. This breadth makes Sourcewell one of the most widely used cooperative purchasing vehicles in the U.S. for education and local government procurement.

Sourcewell solicits contracts across hundreds of categories:

• Vehicles and fleet equipment (one of Sourcewell's strongest categories)
• Technology hardware and software
• Office furniture and equipment
• Facilities and construction products
• Grounds maintenance equipment
• Professional services
• Audiovisual and technology equipment

The competitive process: Sourcewell issues public solicitations, evaluates proposals, and awards contracts to vendors offering competitive pricing and broad product/service availability. Award does not require a specific U.S. state as the lead, Sourcewell itself conducts the solicitation. Awarded vendors receive a national cooperative purchasing contract they can market to Sourcewell's large member base.

Why Sourcewell matters for government contractors

Sourcewell provides access to a massive member base of education and local government buyers that often prefer cooperative purchasing over running their own RFPs. School districts purchasing technology, counties buying fleet vehicles, and nonprofits acquiring office equipment all regularly use Sourcewell. For companies selling into these markets, a Sourcewell award is often a higher-value sales tool than a GSA Schedule (which doesn't cover school districts or nonprofits and is limited in its state/local coverage). Many companies hold both GSA Schedule awards and Sourcewell contracts to maximize coverage across federal, state, and education markets.

Example

A document management technology company wins a Sourcewell contract for document and records management solutions. Sourcewell markets the contract to its 50,000+ member organizations. Within two years, the company processes orders through the Sourcewell contract from 340 distinct organizations: school districts using digital student records management, counties digitizing court records, cities scanning building permits, and a community college deploying a records management platform for financial aid documents. Each order was placed without a separate competitive solicitation, the member organization confirmed Sourcewell membership and referenced the contract number. Total Sourcewell-channel revenue reaches $8.5M over two years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can state agencies use Sourcewell contracts instead of their own state term contracts?

In most states, yes. Most state purchasing regulations allow state agencies to use cooperative purchasing contracts from recognized cooperatives like Sourcewell, provided the cooperative's solicitation process met competitive standards equivalent to the state's requirements. Some states require a brief review or registration step before using Sourcewell; others allow direct use. Vendors selling to state agencies through Sourcewell should verify that the relevant state recognizes Sourcewell awards.

Does Sourcewell require vendors to sell nationally?

Sourcewell contracts are national in scope, but vendors can specify geographic service areas in their proposals. A regional vendor that services only a few states can hold a Sourcewell contract and fulfill orders only within its geographic area. National vendors that can fulfill orders in all 50 states gain maximum benefit from Sourcewell's breadth.

How does Sourcewell pricing work?

Sourcewell contracts typically require vendors to provide catalog pricing representing their best commercially available prices or a discount from commercial list prices. Sourcing decisions are "best value", not necessarily lowest price. Sourcewell evaluates proposals on criteria including pricing structure, product/service quality, vendor financial stability, and ability to support members nationally.

What is the difference between Sourcewell and BuyBoard?

Both BuyBoard and Sourcewell are cooperative purchasing organizations, but they serve different primary markets. BuyBoard (administered by the Texas Association of School Boards) focuses primarily on Texas school districts and local governments, though it has expanded nationally. Sourcewell serves a broader national member base across government, education, and nonprofit sectors. Many vendors hold both for maximum SLED market coverage.