CO-OP
COOP
COOPERATIVES
CO-OPERATIVES




COOPERATIVE

COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLES

COOPERATIVE LINKS



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SECTION 1



COOPERATIVE




A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is
a business organization owned and operated by
a group of individuals for their mutual benefit.

A cooperative is defined by the International
Cooperative Alliance's Statement on the
Cooperative Identity as "an autonomous
association of persons united voluntarily to
meet their common economic, social, and
cultural needs and aspirations through jointly
owned and democratically controlled enterprise".

A cooperative may also be defined as a business
owned and controlled equally by the people who
use its services or by the people who work there.
Various aspects regarding cooperative enterprise
are the focus of study in the field of cooperative
economics.



Cooperative
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative



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SECTION 2



COOPERATIVE
PRINCIPLES




The US Department of Agriculture listed
three principles that uniquely characterize
a cooperative organization:



•The User-Owned Principle:

The people who own and finance the cooperative
are those who use the cooperative.



•The User-Control Principle:

The people who control the cooperative are those
who use the cooperative. They democratically elect
a board of directors. The board sets the overall
operating policies, approves the annual budget,
oversees its operation, and distributes the
benefits derived from use of the cooperative to
members. The board also hires professional
management to handle the day-to-day operations.



•The User-Benefit Principle:

The cooperative's sole purpose is to provide
and distribute benefits to its users on the
basis of their use. While the goal of
agricultural cooperatives is not to generate
a return on investment, they, like all
businesses, must cover costs and generate
capital to cover expansion and unforeseen
emergencies.



The Statement of Cooperative Identity;

which it adopted in 1995 contains seven cooperative
principles that are more socially-minded:



•Voluntary and Open Membership

•Democratic Member Control

•Member Economic Participation

•Autonomy and Independence

•Education, Training and Information

•Cooperation Among Cooperatives

•Concern for Community




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SECTION 3



COOPERATIVE
LINKS




America's Credit Unions
http://www.creditunion.coop/

Canadian Co-operative Association
http://www.CoopsCanada.coop/

.COOP
http://www.nic.coop/

Co-op America
http://www.coopamerica.org/

Coop Directory Service
http://www.coopdirectory.org/

Co-op Month
http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/qbcc/NDCCC/coopmonth.htm

Co-op Principles
http://www.ncba.coop/ncba/about-co-ops/co-op-principles

The Co operative Bank
http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/



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Co-operatives UK
http://www.uk.coop/

Cooperative Forestry
http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/

Cybercafes.com.
http://www.cybercafes.com/

Dairy Field
http://www.dairyfield.com/

The Dairyland Power Cooperative
http://www.dairynet.com/

The European Union Project Credit Cooperatives
http://www.credit-coops.ru/

Family Dairies USA
http://www.fdusa.org

Farm Direct Coop
http://www.farmdirectcoop.org/

Grease Works
http://www.greaseworks.org/



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The Healing Co-Operative
http://www.thehealingcoop.org/

International Cooperative Agricultural Organisation
http://www.agricoop.org/

International Co-operative Alliance (ICA)
http://www.ica.coop/

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION - United Nations
http://www.un.org/ga/20special/coop.htm

International Co-operative Alliance
http://www.ica.coop/

International Co-operative
Alliance ICA

http://www.coop.org/

International Day of Cooperatives
http://www.copac.coop/idc/

National Cooperative Bank
http://www.ncb.coop/



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National Cooperative
Business Association

http://www.ncba.coop/

National Commission for
Cooperative Education

http://www.co-op.edu/

National Credit Union
Foundation, NCUF

http://www.ncuf.coop/

National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association (NRECA)

http://www.nreca.org/

National Rural Telecommunications
Cooperative-NRTC

http://www.nrtc.coop/us/

Nonprofit Jobs Cooperative
http://www.nonprofitjobscoop.org/

Organizations Serving Cooperatives
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/cir1sec5.pdf

TEC-The Education Cooperative
http://www.tec-coop.org/

Upstate Homeschool Co-op
http://www.upstatecoop.org/



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