Cooperative Network

What Cooperative Network does

Cooperative Network is a private nonprofit trade association headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, serving as the unified advocacy and member-services body for cooperatives across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Founded in 1986 when the Minnesota Association of Cooperatives (MAC) rebranded and expanded to a two-state footprint, the organization represents member cooperatives in twelve sectors: credit unions, dairy, energy, farm credit, farm supply/fuel/grain, food, housing, health care, livestock/genetics, mutual insurance, processing/marketing, and telecommunications. Named members include Land O'Lakes, Organic Valley (CROPP Cooperative), GROWMARK, CoBank, Dairyland Power, Basin Electric, Group Health Cooperative, Genex, Country Visions, Heartland Credit Union, Allied Cooperative, United Cooperative, the Wisconsin Credit Union League, and the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association.

The organization delivers its value through legislative and regulatory advocacy (grassroots lobby days, PAC management, resolution-based policy development), member education (an Online Director Education Series of six video tutorials on cooperative governance), annual events (the Cooperative Network Summit & Annual Meeting and Co-op Day at the Capitol), and member benefit programs (the Passkey discount purchasing program via FCC Services and .coop domain registration through Domains.coop). It also operates the affiliated Minnesota Cooperative Education Foundation (MCEF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that administers the Edward Slettom Cooperative Leadership Scholarship and the Cultivating Agricultural Educators Scholarship (endowed with a $50,000 CHS Foundation contribution).

The business model is a subscription-recurring membership model: member cooperatives pay dues to fund advocacy, education, and benefit programs. The go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct outreach by the Executive Director and member-services staff, with awareness generated through content marketing, the website, annual events, and earned media such as the Cooperative Builder Award and Co-op Month campaigns. There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML capability, and no disclosed revenue, budget, or headcount figures.

Name

Cooperative Network

Legal name

Cooperative Network

Website

https://cooperativenetwork.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cooperative Network is a Madison, Wisconsin-based nonprofit trade association serving as the unified advocacy and member-services voice for cooperatives across twelve sectors in Minnesota and Wisconsin, delivering legislative representation, member education, and benefit programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cooperative Trade Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Federations/Centrals & Cooperative Banking Networks (2nd-Tier Co-ops) (FSABAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Member-Owned Food Cooperatives (CRAHALAA), Electric Cooperatives (Rural/Member-Owned Utilities) (EUADABAC), Cooperative Banks (Member-Owned Commercial/Retail) (FSABAEAF)

Keywords

• Cooperative advocacy
• Legislative lobbying
• Trade association
• Membership services
• Cooperative education

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison, Wisconsin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Cooperative Network generates revenue through membership dues from cooperatives across twelve sectors in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Members receive advocacy representation, educational programming, grassroots lobby day access, and various discount programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Cooperative Network is a trade association providing legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots lobbying, director education, and member benefit programs to cooperatives across twelve sectors in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Core offerings include policy resolution development, PAC management, the Online Director Education Series, the Passkey discount purchasing program, scholarship programs, and flagship events such as Co-op Day at the Capitol and the Cooperative Network Summit & Annual Meeting.

Product overview

Cooperative Network is a trade association serving as the unified voice for cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The organization provides a portfolio of advocacy services including legislative representation, grassroots lobbying, and PAC management. Member benefits include the Online Director Education Series (six video tutorials on cooperative governance), the Passkey discount program for purchasing power, and .coop domain registration assistance through Domains.coop. The organization also supports cooperative education through the Minnesota Cooperative Education Foundation (MCEF), which administers the Edward Slettom Cooperative Leadership Scholarship and the Cultivating Agricultural Educators Scholarship. Annual programming includes the Cooperative Network Summit & Annual Meeting and Co-op Day at the Capitol, along with the Cooperative Builder Award recognizing cooperative leaders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Government Affairs & Legislative Advocacy Legislative and regulatory advocacy services for cooperative businesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including grassroots lobbying, PAC management, and policy resolution development.
• Online Director Education Series Six-video virtual tutorial series on cooperative leadership topics including The Seven Cooperative Principles, governance, director responsibilities, board-management relations, and cooperative finances, available exclusively to member cooperatives.
• Passkey Discount Program National purchasing discount program administered by FCC Services that combines cooperative purchasing power to provide business and personal discounts to member employees, directors, and members.
• .coop Domain Registration Assistance Partnership with Domains.coop offering Cooperative Network members their first year free on .coop domain registrations, exclusively available to cooperatives and cooperative service providers.
• Cooperative Builder Award Annual award program honoring individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advance cooperative philosophy and ideals at local, state, and national levels, with up to three recipients selected each year.
• Edward Slettom Cooperative Leadership Scholarship Scholarship program for high school, college, graduate, and law school students pursuing cooperative careers, with awards of $500-$1,000 based on scholastic achievement and leadership.
• Cultivating Agricultural Educators Scholarship Endowed scholarship supporting students pursuing careers in agricultural education, with $50,000 endowment from CHS Foundation, available to students in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota.
• Cooperative Network Summit & Annual Meeting Annual flagship event bringing together cooperative members for education, networking, and the annual meeting, held in December at the Holiday Inn Eau Claire South.
• Co-op Day at the Capitol Annual advocacy event where cooperative members convene at the Minnesota State Capitol to lobby for cooperative-supportive policies and legislation.
• Co-op Month Annual October campaign celebrating and educating the public about the cooperative business model and its benefits to communities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50,000 Minnesota companies (aging 55+ owners) may change hands in the coming decade, impacting nearly 600,000 jobs - Cooperative Network advocates for worker-owned cooperative transitions.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments12 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• FCC ServicescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFCC Services administers the Passkey discount program for Cooperative Network members. The program combines cooperative purchasing power nationally to provide numerous discounts on both business and personal purchases for member employees, directors, and members.
• Domains.coopcoreTechnology or IntegrationCooperative Network partnered with Domains.coop (a subsidiary of NCBA CLUSA and ICANN accredited registrar) to offer members their first year free on new .coop domain registrations. The .coop domain is available exclusively to cooperatives and cooperative service providers.
• CHS FoundationcoreOthersCHS generously contributed $50,000 to begin an endowment for the Cultivating Agricultural Educators Scholarship, honoring William Nelson's commitment to agricultural education. This scholarship supports students pursuing careers in agricultural education in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• National Cooperative Bank (NCB): Customer-owned cooperative bank serving cooperatives nationwide. Adjacent financial institution peer that supports the cooperative ecosystem Cooperative Network represents, but operates as a bank rather than a trade association.

Regional players

• Wisconsin Farmers Union: Wisconsin-based farmer advocacy organization representing family farmers and cooperatives. Comparable as a regional cooperative/farmer advocacy body, but narrower in scope (farmer-only) than Cooperative Network's 12-sector model.
• Minnesota Farmers Union: Minnesota-based farm organization with cooperative advocacy roots. Regional peer to Cooperative Network on the Minnesota side, though focused specifically on farmer members rather than all 12 cooperative sectors.

Direct peers

• Credit Union National Association (CUNA): National trade association for credit unions. Cooperative Network explicitly supports CUNA advocacy for its credit union sector members, making it a direct functional peer in the credit union vertical.
• National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC): National trade association representing farmer-owned cooperatives across commodity and supply verticals. Closely comparable to Cooperative Network's farm supply, dairy, livestock, and processing/marketing sector representation.
• Farm Credit Council: National trade association for the Farm Credit System. Direct peer for Cooperative Network's farm credit sector vertical, and the parent body that FCC Services (Cooperative Network's Passkey partner) is affiliated with.
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA): National trade association for rural electric cooperatives, including member co-ops like Basin Electric and Dairyland Power. Directly comparable as a sector-specific cooperative federation that Cooperative Network overlaps with on the energy vertical.
• National Association of Housing Cooperatives: National trade association for housing cooperatives. Directly comparable to Cooperative Network's housing sector vertical and a logical counterpart for the ~75% of U.S. senior housing co-ops located in Minnesota.

Emerging players

• Cooperative Development Foundation: 501(c)(3) foundation focused on cooperative development domestically and internationally. Comparable to the MCEF (Minnesota Cooperative Education Foundation) subsidiary in mission and structure, but with broader geographic scope.

Broad incumbents

• National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA): National U.S. trade association for cooperatives across all sectors. Direct functional peer as a multi-sector cooperative federation, but operating at the national level rather than regionally. Operates the Domains.coop registrar that Cooperative Network partners with.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cooperativenetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Cooperative Network