North American Quitline Consortium

What North American Quitline Consortium does

North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) is an international non-profit membership organization headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, that convenes and supports the North American tobacco cessation quitline community. Founded operationally in 2004 within the American Legacy Foundation and incorporated as an independent non-profit in April 2006, NAQC serves more than 400 member organizations and individuals — including state and provincial quitline operators, government health agencies, academic researchers, healthcare providers, and non-profit funders across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its mission is to promote evidence-based quitline services across diverse communities, and it operates as the recognized neutral convener for the field, providing professional development, technical assistance, and policy guidance on quitline sustainability and healthcare integration.

NAQC's core deliverables are an interconnected set of resources rather than a traditional product platform. They include the Quitline Map (an interactive directory covering all 50 US states, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, and Mexico), an Annual Survey capturing operational and financial data from 62 of 65 North American quitlines, a Minimal Data Set framework for standardized evaluation, an Electronic Referral (eReferral) program integrating quitlines into clinical workflows, the NAQC Resource Library of guides and issue papers, and recurring educational programs (webinars, conferences, Learning Communities, Research Coffee Break calls, and the Monthly Connections newsletter). The underlying technology is modest: the website and member portal are built on the third-party YourMembership.com association management platform, with no proprietary AI or data product layer.

NAQC's business model is membership-driven, with recurring dues from organizational and individual members, supplemented by fee-for-service seminars open to non-members and grant funding from foundation and federal partners (notably the American Cancer Society, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Health Canada, and the National Cancer Institute via the KIQNIC research partnership). Go-to-market is community-led: NAQC acquires and engages members through conferences, webinars, the Annual Survey program, and professional networking, with a small staff (1–10 employees) supporting operations. The organization launched Strategic Plan 2030 in December 2025 to modernize cessation service delivery and expand Medicaid and health-plan cost-sharing partnerships.

Name

North American Quitline Consortium

Legal name

North American Quitline Consortium

Website

https://naquitline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) is a Phoenix-based international non-profit membership organization that convenes over 400 state, provincial, and research members to promote evidence-based tobacco cessation quitline services across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tobacco Cessation Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Communicable Disease Prevention & Chronic Disease Programs (BPAIAJAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Health Systems Strengthening & Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Partnerships (HLAJAOAL)

Keywords

• Tobacco cessation services
• Quitline coordination
• Public health membership
• Smoking cessation research
• Healthcare professional network

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: NAQC operates as a non-profit membership organization. Organizations and individuals join NAQC to receive professional support, educational programs, and participation opportunities in activities to improve quitlines. The organization also generates revenue through membership invoicing/dues system as part of their association management.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NAQC is a non-profit membership organization that promotes evidence-based tobacco cessation quitline services across North America. It convenes and supports over 400 member organizations and individuals through professional development, educational programs, an annual industry survey, electronic referral tools, learning communities, sustainability resources, and a centralized resource library. Members include state and provincial quitline operators, funders, researchers, and tobacco control advocates.

Product overview

North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) is a non-profit membership organization that does not offer a traditional product platform but rather provides a portfolio of interconnected services supporting tobacco cessation quitlines across North America. The core offerings include the Quitline Map for geographic service identification, the Annual Survey for performance monitoring, Electronic Referral systems for healthcare integration, and the Sustainability and Cost-Sharing Partnership Initiative for funding optimization. Supporting these are research projects (KIQNIC, Wellcentiv, Lung Cancer Screening Education), educational resources including the PPP Video Series and Webinar Series, the Minimal Data Set for standardized evaluation, and the NAQC Resource Library containing guides, issue papers, and toolboxes. Communication products include the Monthly Connections newsletter and Research Coffee Break calls. Together, these services form a comprehensive ecosystem supporting evidence-based quitline services and professional development in tobacco control.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Quitline Map Interactive map showing quitline services across North America, with individual state, province, and territory profiles containing information about local quitline services. Publicly accessible resource for identifying cessation support by geography.
• Annual Survey of Quitlines

Quantifiable outcome

• Cessation services available to residents in all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, and all 10 Canadian provinces
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2011CMS provides guidance to state Medicaid agencies regarding use of administrative match for quitline counseling services. NAQC leverages CMS guidance to help states develop Medicaid partnerships for quitline sustainability.
• University of Arizona Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008KIQNIC grant awarded to Arizona Cancer Center from National Cancer Institute funded a six-year research partnership with NAQC (2008-2014) to understand communication mechanisms in the quitline network.
• American Legacy FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2004NAQC launched as a special program within the American Legacy Foundation in March 2004 before incorporating as an independent non-profit in April 2006.
• American Cancer Society (ACS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2003ACS, through its Center for Tobacco Cessation, led the planning processes for developing NAQC's minimal data set and establishing the mission and structure for NAQC in 2003. ACS provided foundational support for NAQC's launch.
• State and Provincial QuitlinescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 400 member organizations including all major state and provincial quitline operators who participate in NAQC's annual survey, conferences, and working groups.
• Multi-State Collaborative for Health Systems ChangeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsored webinars with NAQC on integrating quitlines into healthcare systems, including presentations on fax referral programs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Cancer Society: Large national health nonprofit and one of NAQC's founding partners (originally funded NAQC's planning via its Center for Tobacco Cessation). Comparable in tobacco cessation programming but operates at vastly broader scale across cancer, research, and patient support.

Direct peers

• National Network of Public Health Institutes: Membership organization connecting public health institutes and convening professionals across public health topics. Comparable nonprofit membership-association model serving public health practitioners, with similar reliance on member dues and foundation funding.
• Truth Initiative: Leading US nonprofit focused on tobacco prevention and cessation, including youth-focused campaigns and the BecomeAnEX cessation program. Highly comparable mission and constituency to NAQC, with a broader public-facing orientation versus NAQC's professional-membership focus.
• Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE): Professional membership organization for health education professionals, with comparable structure (dues-paying members, conferences, webinars, resource library, advocacy). Peer on operating model rather than specific disease focus.
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Nonprofit advocacy organization working to reduce tobacco use through policy change and public education. Comparable as a tobacco-control focused nonprofit working with state and federal stakeholders, although more advocacy-led than NAQC's quitline-operator focus.
• American Lung Association: National voluntary health organization addressing lung disease including tobacco cessation through programs like Freedom From Smoking. Operates a similar nonprofit, member-supported model with professional and consumer-facing cessation resources comparable to NAQC's portfolio.
• Public Health Accreditation Board: Nonprofit that sets standards and provides accreditation support to public health departments. Comparable as a nonprofit standards-setting body working with state and local public health agencies, although focused on accreditation rather than tobacco cessation specifically.

Others

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Major US health philanthropy and one of NAQC's original funders. Comparable as a stakeholder shaping the tobacco-control field but not a peer in operating model; included because it is a key funder and convener in NAQC's ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about North American Quitline Consortium