r/cooperatives • • Apr 10 '15

/r/cooperatives FAQ

120 Upvotes

This post aims to answer a few of the initial questions first-time visitors might have about cooperatives. It will eventually become a sticky post in this sub. Moderator /u/yochaigal and subscriber /u/criticalyeast put it together and we invite your feedback!

What is a Co-op?

A cooperative (co-op) is a democratic business or organization equally owned and controlled by a group of people. Whether the members are the customers, employees, or residents, they have an equal say in what the business does and a share in the profits.

As businesses driven by values not just profit, co-operatives share internationally agreed principles.

Understanding Co-ops

Since co-ops are so flexible, there are many types. These include worker, consumer, food, housing, or hybrid co-ops. Credit unions are cooperative financial institutions. There is no one right way to do a co-op. There are big co-ops with thousands of members and small ones with only a few. Co-ops exist in every industry and geographic area, bringing tremendous value to people and communities around the world.

Forming a Co-op

Any business or organizational entity can be made into a co-op. Start-up businesses and successful existing organizations alike can become cooperatives.

Forming a cooperative requires business skills. Cooperatives are unique and require special attention. They require formal decision-making mechanisms, unique financial instruments, and specific legal knowledge. Be sure to obtain as much assistance as possible in planning your business, including financial, legal, and administrative advice.

Regional, national, and international organizations exist to facilitate forming a cooperative. See the sidebar for links to groups in your area.

Worker Co-op FAQ

How long have worker co-ops been around?

Roughly, how many worker co-ops are there?

  • This varies by nation, and an exact count is difficult. Some statistics conflate ESOPs with co-ops, and others combine worker co-ops with consumer and agricultural co-ops. The largest (Mondragon, in Spain) has 86,000 employees, the vast majority of which are worker-owners. I understand there are some 400 worker-owned co-ops in the US.

What kinds of worker co-ops are there, and what industries do they operate in?

  • Every kind imaginable! Cleaning, bicycle repair, taxi, web design... etc.

How does a worker co-op distribute profits?

  • This varies; many co-ops use a form of patronage, where a surplus is divided amongst the workers depending on how many hours worked/wage. There is no single answer.

What are the rights and responsibilities of membership in a worker co-op?

  • Workers must shoulder the responsibilities of being an owner; this can mean many late nights and stressful days. It also means having an active participation and strong work ethic are essential to making a co-op successful.

What are some ways of raising capital for worker co-ops?

  • Although there are regional organization that cater to co-ops, most worker co-ops are not so fortunate to have such resources. Many seek traditional credit lines & loans. Others rely on a “buy-in” to create starting capital.

How does decision making work in a worker co-op?

  • Typically agendas/proposals are made public as early as possible to encourage suggestions and input from the workforce. Meetings are then regularly scheduled and where all employees are given an opportunity to voice concerns, vote on changes to the business, etc. This is not a one-size-fits-all model. Some vote based on pure majority, others by consensus/modified consensus.

r/cooperatives • • 16d ago

Monthly /r/Cooperatives beginner question thread

8 Upvotes

This thread is part of an attempt by the moderators to create a series of monthly repeating posts to help aggregate certain kinds of content into single threads.

If you have any basic questions about Cooperatives, feel free to ask them here. Please also remember to visit this thread even if you consider yourself a cooperative veteran so that you can help others!

Note that this thread will be posted on the first and will run throughout the month.


r/cooperatives • • 7h ago

How to start a housing cooperative?

14 Upvotes

I'm interested but I have no idea where to start! I live in a high cost of living area. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


r/cooperatives • • 1d ago

worker co-ops 10.24 Community Meeting based in Cooperatives

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16 Upvotes

I wanted to share the work that Our Bronx is doing for National Cooperative Month. On Saturday October 24 at 11, they will be hosting their community meeting/ mini summit to engage community more with cooperatives. There will be three breakout groups:

  1. The first one will be Co-opoly for folks who are newer to worker cooperatives

  2. The second one will be about the intersection between health justice and economic justice with Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA), Hemp on the Move and A Birthing Place as the panelist

  3. The third one will be a presentation from the Coalition of Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) around the "Opportunity to Own" legislation

This is an open, in-person meeting, and if you are in the Bronx (or close enough) and are interested, please email info@ourbronx.org so they can have enough food


r/cooperatives • • 2d ago

Win-Win Negotions in Union Cooperatives

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41 Upvotes

Ariana Levinson discusses her recent article on labor agreements in unionized cooperatives. 


r/cooperatives • • 2d ago

Intentional communities /communal living BC

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11 Upvotes

r/cooperatives • • 3d ago

Bulk bin scoop holder discontinued

8 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I'm looking for this specific part for our bulk bins- NL4231 holster clip, shown on this diagram as item #5. There's no place to order it online, nothing on ebay, nothing at all. I was wondering.... has anyone 3D printed one and has a design they're willing to share with a fellow co-op? Or did you encounter the same problem and find a different solution? Thank you!! Peace.


r/cooperatives • • 10d ago

Are there examples of cooperative organizations creating other decentralized cooperatives?

23 Upvotes

I'm passionate about creating Tiny House Village Cooperatives with Space to Homestead. Combining Tiny Timbers Agrihood in Wisconsin with the Escapees co-op Rv parks models. If this model works, what would be the best way to help it spread: advising people to start their owns or creating a non profit that'll pool resources and expertise and replicate these villages?


r/cooperatives • • 11d ago

consumer co-ops The food co-op I work at has a community board. Do other co ops have a solid policy for what can/cannot go on it?

29 Upvotes

We had a customer verbally abuse an employee about something that was on the board. We want to have our points of view but keep our employees safe. Obviously no policial statements, but what else should be kept off? Help please!


r/cooperatives • • 12d ago

Maybe It's Fate LCA co-op launches MaybeOS for other community co-ops

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33 Upvotes

Hi r/cooperatives. We're Charley and Rebecca, co-founders of Maybe It's Fate cooperative, a member-owned art exhibition space and salon-style social club organized as a Kentucky LCA in Louisville. We’re proving a model of community-owned community space. We're about 450 members and host almost 200 events a month.

When we started MIF, we stitched together software but nothing really fit all of the needs to run a member-owned space. These were expensive SaaS apps, spreadsheets, Zapier connections, etc. to cover things like membership, dues, events, communication, governance, door access, and reserving rooms. Not only did it all cost a lot, it took a lot of admin time to manage.

MaybeOS is what we built to fix that for ourselves. It's one integrated system for running a cooperative or membership-based community space. MIF runs on it every day now.

We're sharing it because the problems we hit aren't unique to us. Small co-ops and community spaces shouldn't have to spend scarce money and volunteer hours on tools that weren't designed for them.

Some ways to use it, both free:

  • Open source: the full code is available to self-host, modify, and contribute to.
  • Free hosted version: if you don't have a tech person, we'll host it for you at no cost for communities under 100 members. (paid versions for larger groups)

It's early, and we'd love feedback from people running co-ops, community centers, and membership spaces. What's the most painful tool or workflow in your operation right now? We'd like to build toward what you need too.

maybeOS.org

Best, Charley Miller & Rebecca Norton


r/cooperatives • • 15d ago

Artisans Cooperative (co-op alternative to Etsy) launches beta marketplace, now open to all crafters and makers

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181 Upvotes

The co-op transitioned their marketplace to a new technology and is now allowing non-member sellers.

Shop and sell genuinely handmade and support cooperative ownership: https://artisans.coop


r/cooperatives • • 15d ago

What do you think about a citizen-owned trust that benefits all Americans?

35 Upvotes

I'm working on a concept called the American Resource Trust and I'd like feedback specifically on the ownership, governance, and distribution aspects of the idea.

The basic concept is:

  • Every American citizen owns one equal, non-transferable ownership share.
  • Ownership begins at birth and ends at death.
  • Ownership cannot be bought, sold, traded, transferred, or inherited.
  • Citizens elect a Board of Trustees.
  • The Board hires professional management to operate the Trust.
  • The Trust invests in productive assets and long-term revenue-generating opportunities.
  • Trust assets are managed independently from politicians and political parties.

The long-term goal is to create an institution that serves current and future generations of Americans.

Any profits generated by the Trust would generally be used for:

  • Reinvestment and growth.
  • Annual dividends to eligible participants.
  • Emergency reserve funding.
  • Operating expenses.
  • National benefit initiatives that support the country and its citizens.

What I'm interested in discussing is:

  1. What are the biggest flaws in the ownership model?
  2. Is an elected Board of Trustees a reasonable governance structure?
  3. What safeguards would be needed to prevent corruption or political influence?
  4. What are the strengths and weaknesses of distributing benefits directly to citizens?
  5. What would make you support or oppose a structure like this?

I'm intentionally not focusing on the funding mechanism in this discussion.

I'm more interested in whether the ownership structure, governance model, and distribution system make sense on their own merits.


r/cooperatives • • 15d ago

Could Nerdfighteria help the Detroit People’s Food Co-op? 💚

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11 Upvotes

Here is one possible solution to help try save the Detroit People Food coop from going out of business idea. Thoughts? Thanks.


r/cooperatives • • 17d ago

Cooperative-Based Grocery Store in Detroit Struggling

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41 Upvotes

r/cooperatives • • 18d ago

Worker co-op in denver

11 Upvotes

Does anyone have a good idea on what kinds of working co-ops their are in denver Colorado that are accepting help right now? Thanks :D


r/cooperatives • • 20d ago

What’s wrong with the idea of starting a national resource trust?

14 Upvotes

Hey guys,I've been working on a concept called the American Resource Trust.The basic idea is that a small percentage of existing tax revenue would be invested into productive assets instead of being spent immediately. Every American citizen would own one equal, non-transferable ownership share. The trust would be independently managed, overseen by an elected board, and designed to operate for future generations.I'm not looking for praise. I'm looking for criticism.What is the biggest flaw you see in this concept?


r/cooperatives • • 20d ago

What’s wrong with the idea of starting a national resource trust?

15 Upvotes

Hey guys,I've been working on a concept called the American Resource Trust.The basic idea is that a small percentage of existing tax revenue would be invested into productive assets instead of being spent immediately. Every American citizen would own one equal, non-transferable ownership share. The trust would be independently managed, overseen by an elected board, and designed to operate for future generations.I'm not looking for praise. I'm looking for criticism.What is the biggest flaw you see in this concept?


r/cooperatives • • 20d ago

worker co-ops Conversions about Conversions and Succession Planning

6 Upvotes

Howdy!

I am newer to the cooperative space, and as part of my works, I am engaged more with conversions (a quarter of all businesses in my area are owned by people 65+), and as a part of the conversation on succession planning, I am talking with people about the idea of converting to a worker cooperative.

Are there any folks here who either were part of a business that converted to a cooperative or who has supported in that kind of conversion who can give some insights?


r/cooperatives • • 21d ago

Q&A People who have worked for multiple worker cooperatives, what sector or individual coop would you recommend?

31 Upvotes

I read Enshitification, Techno-feudalism, and started watching More Perfect Union videos around the same time and something broke in me. If I ever had any belief that B Corps or any other “values-based company” won’t enshitify themselves or be bought out by private equity and then enshitified, those beliefs are long since died. I am sick of my soul-sucking button-pushing job for a private-owned media company. I am also ashamed of the boarder consequences of the work that I do. My job is to give old people their daily dose of rage and give advertisers their eyeballs. I also hate the lack of control I have as an employee.

I’m ready to pivot to other industries and what little hope I have of feeling like I’m a valuable part of something bigger and also being proud of the fruits of my labor, I have put that hope in cooperatives (specifically worker cooperatives) and unions. I don’t live in theoryland though so I want to get a job at a cooperative or union to check if my assumptions are correct. I am wondering what economic sectors have good cooperatives that treat its workers well? What roles are desirable in worker cooperatives by its workers? Any resources to help me understand the workers perspective of cooperatives this is helpful.


r/cooperatives • • 21d ago

Revolution Now! w/ Peter Joseph | Ep. 61 Integral's COS Production Syste...

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9 Upvotes

True Community Service Cooperatives - Integral


r/cooperatives • • 23d ago

Greater Levels of Solidarity: An Interview with Matt Noyes

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11 Upvotes

"I went to the New School for graduate school to study political economy, and it was through that experience that I got particularly interested in worker self-organization. I started out with a group of students doing strike support for unions that were on strike [the Student-Worker Solidarity Committee]. There was a wave of strikes in the late 1990s/early 2000s. And then I dropped out of graduate school and got into adult and worker education. "


r/cooperatives • • 24d ago

Rajasthan's cooperatives are helping migrant women artisans escape decades of exploitation

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49 Upvotes

Inside a modest home in Indira Nagar, a neighborhood in the border district of Barmer in India’s western state of Rajasthan, several women gather in a small room one afternoon, preparing their needles and yarns for the hours of work ahead.

The women have gathered, as women in these villages often do, to work through a batch of orders, moving between one another’s homes to stitch, talk, and help one another along...


r/cooperatives • • 24d ago

Community Bonds: A New Way to Raise Funds for Housing Co-ops

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23 Upvotes

Creating housing co-operatives is an excellent way to help alleviate housing shortages, but building them comes with a big price tag. Luckily, there are innovative solutions. In this webinar, Lindsay Harris, Executive Director of Propolis Housing Cooperative, talks about how her Kamloops-based co-op raised $1.1 million using community bonds. She shares key learnings from years of hard work, including navigating the technical aspects of issuing community bonds and building community support. Save time and headaches by learning from Lindsay's years of experience in this informative, one-hour session.


r/cooperatives • • 24d ago

Unionize Your Classroom!

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19 Upvotes

r/cooperatives • • 24d ago

COYOTE Media’s Soleil Ho talks cookbooks, freelancing, and running a worker-owned newsroom

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3 Upvotes

Soleil Ho has always had a lot of irons in the fire. For a decade, they worked as a chef while freelancing as a writer. In 2019, they joined the San Francisco Chronicle, where they served as the paper’s restaurant critic until 2025, nabbing a James Beard Award in the process. These days, when they’re not collaborating with chefs on cookbook projects, they’re helping to run COYOTE Media Collective, a Bay-area-based worker-owned newsroom.