Extension Foundation

What Extension Foundation does

Extension Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Kansas City that operates the national technology and programmatic backbone for the U.S. Cooperative Extension System. Founded in 2006 by Extension Directors and Administrators, it serves all 112 U.S. Land-grant Universities and Colleges, with 68 universities holding voluntary membership as of 2023. The Foundation provides a platform-plus-services portfolio spanning Campus (a Moodle-based LMS hosting 636 active courses and engaging 43,812 individuals), Connect Extension (closed social network with 7,000 active Extension professionals), Ask Extension (public Q&A), ExtensionBot (AI assistant), Team Health Dashboard, and the AgriProspects Marketplace for workforce credentials.

The organization's national programs include AgriProspects Workforce Development Network ($10M, five-year), EXCITE (immunization education, $2.4M), NTAE (technology acceleration, $2.3M), FADI-EDEN (disaster preparedness, $1.2M), NextGen technical advising, and the Pesticide Safety Education Funds Management Program (securing up to $15M in new EPA funding). These programs are delivered through cooperative agreements with USDA NIFA, with the Foundation managing a total portfolio of $63M on behalf of the system. New service lines launched in 2025 include Extension Lab (leadership and organizational health consulting) and expanded Conference & Event Services.

Extension Foundation generates revenue primarily through membership dues ($1.18M in 2022), federal grant administration and service fees ($4.61M in 2022), online course income ($170K), and program/administrative services. Total disclosed revenue was $6.18M in 2022 against expenses of $7.17M. The Foundation operates through a community-led GTM motion, sits within ECOP governance structures, and serves as the national technical service provider for the Cooperative Extension System's federally-franchised mission.

Name

Extension Foundation

Legal name

Extension Foundation

Website

https://extension.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Extension Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating the national technology, programmatic, and grant-administration backbone for the U.S. Cooperative Extension System, serving all 112 Land-grant Universities with 68 as paying members and managing a $63M federal program portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cooperative Extension Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (61171), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Professional Organizations (81392), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

University/College Continuing Education (Extension) Programs (EDAAAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Research Universities with Major Extension & Outreach Missions (EDAHAAAG), Online Divisions of Traditional Universities (Hybrid/Extension) (EDAHALAB), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Cooperative extension services
• Agricultural workforce development
• Online learning management
• Land-grant university support
• Extension professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Kansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Voluntary annual membership fees from Land-grant universities. In 2023, membership contributed $1,183,913 in dues. The Foundation leverages its $1.2M investment from members to support national funded programs.
2. Grants and Federal Funding: Major funding from USDA NIFA through various cooperative agreements including NTAE ($2.3M), EXCITE ($2.4M), AgriProspects ($10M initial), PSEFMP ($15M new agreement), NextGen technical assistance, and FADI-EDEN ($1.2M). Total portfolio of $63M managed on behalf of the system.
3. Professional Development Services: Online course income and professional development offerings. In 2022, online course income generated $170,413. Services include 70+ annual professional development offerings reaching 2,393 Extension professionals.
4. Program and Administrative Services: Fees for services provided to Cooperative Extension including conference services, administrative support for programs, and technical assistance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Extension Foundation provides technology platforms, national programs, and professional development services to the U.S. Cooperative Extension System and its 112 Land-grant Universities. Its core offerings include the Campus Moodle-based learning management system, the ExtensionBot AI assistant, the AgriProspects Workforce Development Network, the Connect professional network, and grant-funded national programs (EXCITE, NTAE, FADI-EDEN, NextGen, PSEFMP). Services are delivered through voluntary institutional membership and federal cooperative agreements with USDA NIFA.

Product overview

The Extension Foundation provides a platform-plus-services portfolio supporting the U.S. Cooperative Extension System through technology tools, national programs, and professional development. The core technology stack includes ExtensionBot (AI chatbot with multimodal capabilities), Ask Extension (Q&A tool), Connect (professional network), Campus (Moodle-based LMS with 636+ courses), Catalog (e-commerce for courses via Course Merchant/Stripe), Registry (job postings), and Team Health Dashboard (team assessment tool). The national programs include AgriProspects Workforce Development Network (with its Digital Marketplace), EXCITE (immunization engagement), NTAE (agriculture technology acceleration), FADI-EDEN (disaster education), NextGen technical advising, and Pesticide Safety Education. Supporting services include Extension Lab (leadership consulting), Conference & Event Services, and Extension Essentials professional development series. The AI portfolio includes ExtensionBot and MERLIN for knowledge retrieval and autonomous agent capabilities. Together, these products serve the network of 112 Land-grant Universities and Colleges across all U.S. states and territories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AgriProspects Workforce Development Network: A NIFA-funded five-year Adult Agriculture Workforce Development program seeking to foster regional cooperation, identify workforce ecosystem gaps, and provide adaptive solutions to local and regional employment challenges.
• Extension Lab (EXL)
• Campus
• ExtensionBot
• Ask Extension
• Connect
• MERLIN

Products and services

• ExtensionBot AI-powered chatbot tool that helps Extension professionals and the public access information and resources. The multimodal version (2025) supports image uploads alongside text prompts, multiple AI model choices, improved feedback tools, and better citations.
• Ask Extension Q&A tool enabling the public to submit questions to Extension experts and receive answers from community-based educators.
• Connect Closed social media network for Cooperative Extension and Land-grant university professionals, community partners, and federal partners to disseminate information, share resources, and promote Extension events across states.
• Campus (Moodle LMS) National platform powered by Moodle for non-credit online courses from Land-grant universities. Offers 636+ active courses engaging thousands of Extension professionals in professional development.
• Catalog (Course Merchant) E-commerce platform powered by Course Merchant and Stripe that manages course listings, pricing, payment processing, vouchers, and enrollment for Extension courses.
• Registry Job posting platform for Extension professionals and opportunities within the Cooperative Extension System.
• Team Health Dashboard Internal tool helping Cooperative Extension teams assess and improve team dynamics through structured surveys and automated feedback loops. Built on Ruby on Rails with Google Forms integration.
• AgriProspects Workforce Development Network $10M five-year national program funded by USDA NIFA to optimize adult agricultural workforce development. Includes an online clearinghouse, regional coordinator network across 6 CES regions, and mini-grant program supporting 11+ projects representing 16+ Land-grant institutions.
• AgriProspects Digital Marketplace Digital marketplace powered by Merit connecting learners, earners, and employers with Cooperative Extension workforce offerings. Searchable by ZIP code and area of interest, with future phases incorporating Learning Employment Records (LERs) and digital wallets.
• EXCITE (Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching & Engagement) National program promoting adult immunization education and vaccine confidence. Reached 18M+ contacts through 173,000+ engagement activities and hosted 1,000+ vaccination clinics administering 26,000+ vaccines.
• NTAE (New Technologies for Ag Extension) Cooperative agreement with USDA NIFA to incubate, accelerate, and expand promising Cooperative Extension work. Funded 36 projects in 2023 spanning 23 LGUs with $408,000 in project funding across Incubation, Acceleration, and Expansion stages.
• FADI-EDEN (Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative - Extension Disaster Education Network) Four-year $1.2M grant from USDA NIFA providing administrative support to EDEN for disaster preparedness and response education for CES faculty and staff.
• NextGen Technical Advising Technical assistance program for Minority Serving Institutions applying for USDA NIFA Learning to Leading NextGen grants. Phase I assisted 120+ MSIs with proposals, resulting in 33 funded proposals totaling $262M.
• Pesticide Safety Education Funds Management Program Program providing funds to 52 Land-grant universities and over $4.8M in program funds to Pesticide Safety Education Programs. Secured new 5-year EPA cooperative agreement worth up to $15M.
• Extension Lab (EXL) Leadership and organizational health support service for Land-grant institutions offering development of people and teams (coaching, workshops, change leadership) and strategic consulting (organizational assessments, executive consulting, vision facilitation).
• Conference and Event Services Comprehensive event planning support including registration and financial management, planning and design, marketing and communications, and facilitation and learning services.
• MERLIN AI platform companion to ExtensionBot, serving as a starting place for institutions to think about making their data AI-ready. Demonstrates models for data stewardship, attribution, and human-centered content review.
• Extension Essentials Professional development series designed to empower Extension professionals with foundational skills and knowledge for their roles.

Quantifiable outcome

• 43,812 individuals engaged through Campus LMS in 2023
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

AI capability8 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal joint plan of work approved annually. Foundation Board Chair and CEO serve as liaisons to ECOP; CEO serves on ECOP Program Committee; COO serves on ECOP Personnel Committee. Foundation supports ECOP Program Action Teams (PATs) for system-wide initiatives.
• MeritcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner selected to help launch the AgriProspects digital marketplace for agricultural workforce training and credentialing, connecting earners, learners, and employers.
• University of New HampshirecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in NTAE cooperative agreement with USDA NIFA, supporting New Technologies for Ag Extension initiatives including AI governance and digital infrastructure.
• Oklahoma State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in NTAE cooperative agreement with USDA NIFA, working on New Technologies for Ag Extension project.
• 13 Regional Coordinators from Land-grant UniversitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional Network Coordinators and Content Coordinators representing all six CES regions including 1862, 1890, and 1994 Land-grant universities supporting AgriProspects Workforce Development Network.
• National 4-H CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal MOU between ECOP and 4-H Council. Partnership supporting 4-H Youth Development PAT and youth programming across the extension system.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National 4-H Council: National nonprofit partner of the Cooperative Extension System's 4-H youth development program with a formal MOU with ECOP. Directly comparable as a mission-aligned national infrastructure organization serving the same Land-grant network, with similar membership and federal funding dynamics.
• National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA): Nonprofit that coordinates state-level authorization of distance education across U.S. states and territories. Comparable as a national coordinating nonprofit serving higher education with similar federal/state funding dynamics and multi-state governance structure.
• WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education): Regional interstate compact serving higher education institutions with cooperative programs, policy research, and student exchange services. Comparable as a nonprofit higher education service organization with state-government and federal funding and similar membership structure.
• EDEN (Extension Disaster Education Network): National network of Extension professionals focused on disaster preparedness and response, partially funded via Extension Foundation's FADI-EDEN program. Directly comparable as a Cooperative Extension-aligned national initiative with overlapping funding sources and target audience.
• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU): Membership organization representing 240+ public universities including all U.S. Land-grant institutions. Directly comparable as a national coordinating body serving the same customer base, with similar revenue mix (membership dues, federal grants, program fees) and policy advocacy role.
• Campus Compact: National nonprofit coalition of colleges and universities committed to community engagement and civic education. Comparable as a national higher education service organization with membership model, federal grants, and programming focused on the land-grant extension mission of community impact.

Broad incumbents

• Internet2: Nonprofit computer networking consortium serving U.S. research and education institutions including all Land-grant universities. Comparable as a national technology infrastructure nonprofit for the higher education community with similar member-driven model and federal partnership relationships.
• Coursera for Campus: Enterprise online learning platform serving universities with online course delivery, credentialing, and professional development. Comparable as a technology platform for university professional development, but operating at much larger scale and as a commercial entity rather than nonprofit.
• Instructure (Canvas): Commercial LMS provider serving thousands of higher education institutions including Land-grant universities. Comparable as the primary competing learning management system to Extension Foundation's Campus (Moodle) platform, with much larger R&D budget and broader feature set.

Regional players

• MHEC (Midwestern Higher Education Compact): Regional interstate compact serving Midwestern state higher education systems with cost-savings programs and policy research. Comparable mission and structure to the Extension Foundation's regional coordination role, but geographically limited to the Midwest.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/extfoundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/ExtensionFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/extensionfoundation

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Extension Foundation