Hidden in Procurement: The Stewardship Advantage Small-College CFOs Often Overlook
Faith‑based colleges are experiencing one of the most challenging periods in their history. Financial pressures, demographic shifts, and political uncertainty are converging at the same time, creating unprecedented strain—especially for small, tuition‑dependent institutions. Since 2020, more than 80 private nonprofit colleges, many of them Christian, have closed or merged. And with the number of high‑school graduates projected to drop by 13% over the next 15 years, many leaders worry that their business model won’t be sustainable without major change.
Colleges and universities spend as much as 55% of their total operating budget on goods and services. That’s a massive chunk of addressable spend.
But that’s exactly why this moment also presents extraordinary opportunity—particularly for school business leaders who are being asked to do more with less. Our missions remain unchanged and unwavering; it is how we choose to navigate the hurdles that will help us adapt and thrive.
The Pressures Are Real—and Rising
Faith‑based institutions feel today’s higher‑ed disruptions more sharply than most. Many rely heavily on tuition and donor support, lack large endowments, and operate with small, overextended staff. The result: every dollar and every hour matters.
Here are four major forces reshaping the landscape:
1. Financial Strain
Inflation, rising operating costs, and years of tuition discounting are catching up with institutions. Nearly one‑third of U.S. colleges are running deficits, and more than 70% have cut budgets across most departments. For small institutions with lean teams, the margin for error is shrinking fast.
2. Demographic Declines
The long‑forecast “enrollment cliff” has arrived. With fewer high‑school graduates entering college in the years ahead, tuition‑driven institutions face unavoidable revenue pressures.
3. Political & Funding Volatility
State and federal support is increasingly uncertain, and even small policy changes—from financial aid changes to tax provisions—can disproportionately impact private colleges. Faith-based institutions can be especially susceptible.
4. Resource Constraints
Finance and business teams are smaller than ever, even as expectations from campus leadership continue to rise. Burnout is becoming common, and “doing more with less” is an everyday reality.
Faith‑based colleges have a unique strength: mission‑driven communities that persevere, adapt, and collaborate.
Yet even amid these challenges, faith‑based colleges have a unique strength: mission‑driven communities that persevere, adapt, and collaborate.
That’s a powerful mindset and a powerful ally. With the right strategies, institutions can not only stabilize but gain new momentum.
Four Strategies That Can Change the Game
1. Cooperative Purchasing: The Road of Least Resistance
If your institution hasn’t fully embraced cooperative purchasing, this alone may be your most accessible opportunity to meaningful cost reduction—without cutting programs or personnel. The best cooperative contracts are plug-and-play—the work’s already been done by a trusted partner and they are already comprehensively vetted with the best pricing, terms, and conditions.
By leveraging pre‑solicited contracts through best-in-class purchasing cooperatives, even the smallest colleges can access volume pricing normally achievable only by the largest universities. The savings are real and can be significant.
Recent pricing pilots have shown:
- 19–35% savings on identical products and services
- Average reductions of 25–30% across key purchasing categories (e.g., office supplies, technology, facilities and MRO)
- Avoiding significant time and resource drain by eliminating unnecessary RFPs
If you’re anything like the many small-school business leaders we know, it’s you and your trusted assistant. On any given day, you get to wear a half-dozen different hats—and your trusted assistant probably wears just as many.
There is a better way—and it can make a massive difference. A trusted cooperative can extend your team’s reach exponentially, reduce administrative burden, and help ensure every dollar is truly maximized.
2. Cost Containment: Making Every Dollar Count
Many campuses have already cut travel and entertainment, deferred renovations, and paused hiring indefinitely. What’s left to trim? A lot—if you know where to look.
Cost containment today is about buying smarter, not simply tightening belts. Through meaningful spend analysis, institutions often uncover:
- Off‑contract spending
- Duplicate vendors
- Missed opportunities for category consolidation
- Uncontrolled price variations for the same products across different departments
In a recent comprehensive spend review with the NCAA, participating colleges identified average savings of 28% simply by aligning purchases with cooperative contracts and rationalizing product choices.
Cost containment also includes:
- Locking in pricing to hedge against inflation
- Rationalizing supplier agreements
- Coordinating purchasing across departments
- Encouraging a campus‑wide culture of value stewardship
The best part?
These efforts protect your mission. They reduce expenses
without impacting the student experience—clearly a top priority for faith‑based institutions.
3. Alternative Revenue: Rebates, Incentives, and Other
Balancing budgets isn’t just about reducing costs. It’s about building resilience through diversified revenue streams—especially critical for small Christian colleges.
Many institutions are generating new income successfully through:
Rebates & Incentives
Many cooperative contracts will offer rebates as part of your school’s utilization. This rebate may grow with increased participation—such as by an multi-member association like ABACC—and based on meeting certain thresholds. There’s always strength in numbers.
In other cases, a cooperative group may offer patronage and other refunds to members.
Prompt-Payments
Many payment methods (like virtual cards) return rebates to the college or university when transactions process quickly and electronically. You’ll also avoid potential late fees.
Automation
Manual purchase orders are time-consuming, inefficient, and prone to error. Many suppliers will extend savings for going electronic and automating your business processes with them. These savings can really add up over time and across your supply base.
No single idea is a silver bullet, but every new revenue opportunity can bridge gaps—especially when combined with direct and deliberate procurement cost savings.
4. Procurement Transformation: From Transactional to Strategic
One of the most important shifts happening in higher ed business is the elevated role of procurement.
That matters even if you don’t have a procurement office or a procurement officer (remember the earlier analogy—you wear “a half-dozen hats” at any one time).
Industry experts assert that most modern colleges and universities spend as much as 55% of their total operating budget on goods and services. That’s a massive chunk of what we define as “addressable spend.”
Small, faith‑based institutions can gain enormous value by modernizing how they procure—starting with even simple steps.
Digital Tools Make a Big Difference
Colleges adopting e‑procurement, automation, and data analytics report:
- Increased spend visibility
- 25–30% reductions in processing costs
- 50–80% faster purchasing cycle times
- 20% or more increased spend-on-contract
- Better compliance
- Fewer manual errors and breakpoints
For lean teams, automation can act like an extra staff member (or two!) that you don’t have to hire.
Strategy Over Transactions
Procurement is no longer about just issuing Purchase Orders. It is about:
- Shaping financial strategy
- Ensuring alignment with mission
- Providing actionable data to leadership
- Helping prioritize campus spending
- Holding suppliers accountable
- Identifying new revenue opportunities
Conclusion
Business leaders at Christian colleges can adapt and thrive by looking at procurement and the supply chain more strategically, by recognizing that it is addressable spend, and by embracing emerging practices—like cooperative purchasing, spend analytics, and holistic cost‑of‑ownership approaches.
Most important to recognize is that procurement transformation (even at a small school) doesn’t require a massive budget. Even the small initial steps—improving workflows, consolidating vendors, or using cooperative tools—can reap significant, lasting benefits.
About the Authors
Jon Kokos and Mike Price are Sourcing Consultants with E&I Cooperative Services, the only nationwide, member-owned, non-profit procurement cooperative focused exclusively on education.
Jon has more than 21 years of experience in higher education finance, where most recently he was CFO and Vice President for Business & Finance at Newberry College. Prior to this he was Vice President of Finance & Business Affairs, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer at Lees-McRae College. Early in his career, Jon held financial positions at Catawba Valley Community College, Gaston College, and Point Park University.
Mike has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, including several years as Chief Financial Officer at both Crown College and Bethel University. Prior to this, he spent 25 years leading successful higher-education enrollment teams that consistently exceeded institutional enrollment goals.
Meet the E&I Team at ABACC 2026 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida!
