COUNCIL OF STATE ARCHIVISTS

What COUNCIL OF STATE ARCHIVISTS does

The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization that serves as the sole national association exclusively representing the 56 state and territorial government archives of the United States (50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia). Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, CoSA provides leadership, education, research, and advocacy to help these archives preserve and provide access to government records. Its institutional membership base controls over $500 million in annual spending decisions on records management and preservation.

CoSA's core offerings are programmatic and educational rather than commercial technology products. Flagship programs include the State Electronic Records Institute (SERI) — a 10-year digital preservation education partnership with Preservica — and the Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) curriculum, originally developed with $2.6 million in FEMA funding (2008-2011) following Hurricane Katrina. The CoSA Resource Center aggregates over 20 years of best-practice frameworks (BACKER, PREPARE, AWARE, MoVE-IT), and the Pocket Response Plan (PReP) provides an emergency-response template toolkit sold alongside physical Tyvek envelopes. Auxiliary services include a monthly News Brief newsletter reaching 1,500+ subscribers, an Annual Meeting, an Awards Program, a Job Board, and structured committees and affinity groups.

The business model is a hybrid of membership dues, multi-tier corporate sponsorships ($500 to $10,000+), grants from federal agencies and private foundations (Mellon Foundation, FEMA, historically IMLS), individual donations, and modest product sales (PReP envelopes). CoSA monetizes its position as the convening authority for U.S. government archives by underwriting programming with corporate partners (Preservica, Ancestry, FamilySearch, Atlas Systems, APPX, FromThePage, SMA, Gaylord Archival) and by leveraging federal and philanthropic grants to build educational infrastructure. The organization operates with a lean staff of approximately 5 employees and is currently navigating a federal funding transition after the April 2025 termination of IMLS grants.

Name

COUNCIL OF STATE ARCHIVISTS

Legal name

Council of State Archivists

Website

https://statearchivists.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization that provides leadership, education, research, and advocacy for all 56 U.S. state and territorial government archives, generating revenue through membership dues, corporate sponsorships, federal and foundation grants, and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Records Management and Archival Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

IT Governance, Risk & Compliance (IT GRC) Platforms (HDAEALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Privacy, Data Protection & Cyber Governance (GRC) (BPAHAFAF)

Keywords

• Government archives advocacy
• Digital preservation education
• Records management training
• Emergency preparedness archives
• Membership association services

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues from state and territorial archives institutions across the 50 states, 5 territories, and DC. The organization launched a new membership dues structure which is being evaluated.
2. Corporate Partnership Program: Mutually beneficial programmatic partnerships beginning at $10,000/year where corporate partners underwrite specific CoSA programming such as SERI, research, publications, and accessibility initiatives. Benefits can be tailored to business needs.
3. Corporate Sustainer Program: Annual financial commitments at $5,000 or $3,000 levels providing logo placement, newsletter recognition, meeting support opportunities, advertising discounts, and report access.
4. News Brief Advertising: Monthly newsletter advertising reaching 1,500+ subscribers. Banner ads at $300/issue, $1500/6x package, or $2,200 for 12-month package.
5. Lifeline Emergency Preparedness Sponsorship: Annual fundraising campaign each May supporting the Disaster Recovery Fund. Sponsorship levels of $500, $1,000, $1,500, or $2,000+ for challenge matches.
6. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations to support CoSA's mission of providing programming, education, and research. Year-end appeals with suggested gift of $75 or more to the General Fund.
7. Store Sales: Sale of PReP Tyvek envelopes (pack of 10 for $15 including shipping) and potentially other educational materials.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

CoSA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization that provides leadership, education, research, and advocacy to strengthen the 56 state and territorial government archives across the United States. Its core offerings include the State Electronic Records Institute (SERI) for digital preservation education, the IPER emergency preparedness curriculum, the Pocket Response Plan (PReP) toolkit, the Resource Center of best practices and guidelines, an annual meeting, an awards program, and a monthly newsletter.

Product overview

CoSA is a non-profit membership organization that does not offer a single software product but rather provides a suite of programs and services for state and territorial government archives. Core offerings include the CoSA Resource Center (research and best practices repository), the State Electronic Records Institute (SERI) for digital preservation education in partnership with Preservica, the IPER emergency preparedness curriculum, and the Pocket Response Plan (PReP) template toolkit. Additional services include a Job Board, monthly News Brief newsletter, Annual Meeting, Awards Program, and online store selling PReP envelopes. Funded initiatives like BACKER and AWARE support capacity building for electronic records management and territorial archives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CoSA Resource Center Online resource hub gathering standards, best practices, policies, tool information, and links for government archivists and records managers, currently undergoing restructuring funded by Mellon Foundation.
• State Electronic Records Institute (SERI) CoSA's primary education and training program for digital preservation and electronic records management, offered in partnership with Preservica, including a three-part virtual workshop series covering AI applications for automating records transfers and metadata enrichment.
• Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER)

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% participation rate across 56 states and territories for IPER trainings at launch in 2011.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered major, supporting and core.

• National Archives FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 June 2025CoSA partnered with the National Archives Foundation on America's 100 Docs initiative for the 250th anniversary celebration in 2026. This is a nationwide online history game inviting all Americans to vote on the country's most historically significant records.
• Gaylord ArchivalsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Gaylord Archival is a Lifeline Sponsor for emergency preparedness efforts, providing supplies and support for archives recovering from natural disasters. Their Resource Center is promoted through CoSA channels.
• PreservicacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPreservica is a corporate sponsor and partner in the State Electronic Records Institute (SERI). The partnership includes a 10-year collaboration celebrating a new 2025 Digital Preservation Education and Advocacy program, including a three-part virtual workshop series for archivists and records managers. Preservica provides expertise and support for digital preservation education.
• AncestrymajorGTM or Marketing PartnerAncestry is a corporate sponsor of CoSA, providing the Ancestry Leadership Award as part of CoSA's awards program. The partnership supports archival work and provides visibility to genealogists and family history researchers.
• FamilySearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFamilySearch is a corporate sponsor that co-hosts events including the RootsTech conference where CoSA held its mid-year board meeting in Salt Lake City. FamilySearch provides hosting support and facilities tours, enabling CoSA to connect with archivists and genealogists.
• APPXsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerAPPX is a corporate sponsor providing solutions for archives and records management. Partners receive advertising and marketing opportunities through CoSA's newsletter and events.
• Atlas SystemssupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerAtlas Systems is a corporate sponsor providing resource management solutions. Partners receive marketing visibility through CoSA channels.
• FromThePagesupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerFromThePage is a corporate sponsor providing crowdsourcing transcription software for archives. Partners receive visibility through CoSA's marketing channels.
• SMA (Analogue Imaging)supportingGTM or Marketing PartnerSMA is a corporate sponsor providing imaging and preservation services. Partners receive marketing visibility through CoSA channels.
• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoSA collaborates with NARA on shared advocacy concerns including NARA location closures and the essential attributes of the Archivist of the United States. CoSA issued joint statements with NAGARA and SAA on NARA matters.
• National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoSA partners with NAGARA on advocacy issues affecting archives. The organizations issued joint statements on matters including NARA location closures.
• Society of American Archivists (SAA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoSA partners with SAA on advocacy initiatives. Joint statements have been issued on issues affecting the archival profession and government records.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA): Membership association for government archivists and records administrators. Closest peer in scope (government-focused), and CoSA already partners with NAGARA on joint advocacy. Directly comparable audience and overlapping programmatic goals.
• Digital Preservation Coalition: International membership organization focused on digital preservation. Directly comparable on the SERI/BACKER program dimension and shares the convening-authority business model for digital preservation practitioners.
• ARMA International: Global association for information governance, records management, and information protection professionals. Comparable membership/education/certification business model serving records management professionals adjacent to CoSA's government archives constituency.
• Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA): Association of state-level library agency heads with comparable government-archive peer structure. Direct structural parallel to CoSA's state-archive membership model, though focused on libraries rather than archives.
• National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO): Membership association for state CIOs. Comparable convening model for state-level government technology and records officials, with overlap on digital records management and information governance themes relevant to CoSA's mandate.
• Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T): Professional association for information science specialists. Comparable membership/education model serving information professionals and overlapping with CoSA on information organization and access themes.
• Coalition for Networked Information (CNI): Membership organization advancing the transformative promise of networked information technology for the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual productivity. Comparable convening/advocacy model and overlapping interest in digital preservation and records.
• Society of American Archivists: National professional membership association for archivists in the U.S. Directly comparable as a peer association serving the archival profession; CoSA and SAA even issue joint advocacy statements, reflecting significant overlap in mission and constituency.
• National Federation of Advanced Information Services (NFAIS): Membership organization for information services and content providers. Comparable nonprofit membership model and overlapping focus on information stewardship, though more industry-oriented than government-focused.

Broad incumbents

• American Library Association (ALA): Large established association serving libraries and information professionals. Comparable as a national membership association with advocacy, education, and grant-funded programs, but broader in scope than CoSA's archives-specific mandate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/StateArchivists
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@statearchivists
• Facebookfacebook.com/CouncilOfStateArchivists
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/council-of-state-archivists

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about COUNCIL OF STATE ARCHIVISTS