Cultivate.Coop

Cultivate.Coop - Main Page

Cultivate.Coop is an online hub for pooling knowledge and resources on cooperatives. It is a space to collect free information for those interested in cooperatives and where people can build useful educational tools for the co-op community.

Cultivate.Coop Demonstration Video - Watch this to see how Cultivate.Coop works.

Featured Article

Starting a cooperative

In a nutshell, cooperatives and credit unions are types of corporations. They may incorporate in the state in which they do business or perhaps in another state whose statutes regarding cooperatives may be more favorable. They enjoy some tax exemptions because they are not obligated to seek profit for investors, but are created to meet members’ needs. Generally, a group of people committed to starting a co-op forms a steering committee to guide the process of creating Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, mission and vision statements, member agreements, business and marketing plans, financial documents, etc., as well as to oversee an equity drive and the election by members of the first board of directors. (Read more...)

Featured Educational Resource

Reaching Consensus in Group Problem Solving (Workshop)

People generally know how to solve problems. What they have difficulty with is the give and take involved in agreeing with a group of other people with differing opinions about the outcome of each step of the problem solving process. This workshop is meant to help individuals - from the same co-op or different co-ops - learn how to use consensus decision making when solving problems in their cooperative. (Read more...)