A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Cooperatives are based on the values of democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and who are willing to accept the responsibilities of membership without consideration of gender, social status, race, political affiliation, religion, nation of origin,, age, or physical disability. We are truly an open community for everyone.
Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are also organized in a democratic manner.
Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.
Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.
Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general - public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.
Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.
A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Cooperatives are based on the values of democracy,
A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Cooperatives are based on the values of democracy,
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirationsthrough a jointly-owned enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically owned by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors. Cooperatives may include:
A cooperative is a specialized form of business. Having more in common with a traditional business than, say, a nonprofit organization, a cooperative distinguishes itself by a member ownership, benefits, and control model which puts power in the hands of the customers rather than a single owner or small group of partners.
Traditional businesses concentrate the power of ownership in a single individual or sometimes a small group of partners. This idea is turned completely on its head with the cooperative model, where every customer is a member and every member a part owner. Cooperative member owners share equally in control of the organization. They meet regularly to analyze operations reports and elect members from among themselves to a board that hires administrators to tend to day-to-day operations.
It would be hasty to equate cooperative members directly to shareholders in a traditional company. A single person can seize control of a stock-issuing company by buying a majority of shares, thus gaining superior voting power. With a cooperative, no member can buy or control the share of another. Each member has equal voting power and decisions must be made in conjunction with the wishes of the majority. Power truly rests in the hands of lowest common denominator -- the customer.
Cooperatives around the world operate according to the same set of core principles and values, adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance. Cooperatives trace the roots of these principles to the first modern cooperative founded in Rochdale, England in 1844. These principles are a key reason that America’s electric cooperatives operate differently from other electric utilities, putting the needs of their members first.
A collective is an overarching term for any group of legal entities working together because of some shared goal or interest. A cooperative, on the other hand, is a collective specifically formed for mutual benefit, generally of an economic type, such as making money or saving money by working together.
Cooperatives span many different activities and services from childcare to transportation, farming to solar energy, financial services to purchasing school supplies. Cooperatives are owned by their members, which could be consumers, producers/farmers, workers, businesses or organizations, municipalities, and other co-ops.
Here we define cooperatives by type of membership, or more simply, who owns the cooperative.
Consumer cooperatives are owned by members who use the co-op to purchase the goods or services that they need. By combining member demand, the co-op can provide better availability, selection, pricing, or delivery of products or services to individual consumers. The model is used in many sectors and includes credit unions, grocery co-ops, telephone and electrical distribution, housing and childcare.
Worker cooperatives are businesses that are owned by their workers. Ownership allows the worker-members to control the operations and strategic direction of the business and to directly benefit from the business’s success. Profit distribution to worker owners is based on some combination of job position, hours worked, seniority, and salary. Worker cooperatives are found in a wide variety of industries.
Producer cooperatives are owned by people who produce similar types of goods or services. The members use the cooperative to more effectively negotiate prices and to access larger markets. The cooperative can further process member products to add value and increase producer returns. Some producer cooperatives also pool member demand for production inputs to obtain better pricing for those inputs. Many agricultural cooperatives provide both types of services to their members.
Purchasing cooperatives combine member demand to achieve better pricing, availability, and delivery of products or services. The members of purchasing cooperatives are businesses or organizations, rather than individual consumers, that use the cooperative to more efficiently manage their operations. Purchasing co-ops are used by hospitals, independent retail stores, farm supply cooperatives and educational institutions for cost-effective wholesale purchases. /p>
Also referred to as hybrid or solidarity model cooperatives, multi-stakeholder cooperatives are owned by two or more types of members who have different roles and interests in an enterprise that more broadly benefits them all. Member classes may include consumers (either individuals or businesses), producers, workers, or investors.
