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 democratically controlled by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors. Cooperatives may include:
.coop is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended for the use of cooperatives, their wholly owned subsidiaries, and other organizations that exist to promote or support cooperatives.
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by every worker-owner who each have one vote.
The National College of Business and Arts or NCBA is a private educational institution in the Philippines with campuses located in Cubao, Fairview and Taytay.
The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is a non-governmental cooperative organization founded in 1895 to unite, represent and serve cooperatives worldwide. The ICA is the custodian of the internationally recognised definition, values and principles of a cooperative in the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity. The ICA represents 315 co-operative federation and organisations in 107 countries.
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to good and services.
Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) is an umbrella group consisting of 23 economic development organizations that integrate highly skilled volunteers into programs. VEGA is usually contracted by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for specific projects that involve one or more of the Member organizations. The organization is headquartered in Washington, DC and its members have offices around the world in developing/transitioning economies where USAID operates.
Cooperative economics is a field of economics that incorporates cooperative studies and political economy toward the study and management of cooperatives.
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative for student members. Members live in alternative cooperative housing that they personally own and maintain. These houses are designed to lower housing costs while providing an educational and community environment for students to live and grow in. They are, in general, nonprofit, communal, and self-governing, with students pooling their monetary and personal resources to create a community style home. Many student housing cooperatives share operation and governing of the house. As with most cooperatives, student housing coops follow the Rochdale Principles and promote collaboration and community work done by the members for mutual benefit.
Sung to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", The Battle Hymn of Cooperation was widely popular throughout the American consumers' cooperative movement from the 1930s onward. It remained a favorite until well after the Second World War, for example at the annual meetings of the Consumers Cooperative Association of Missouri, where thousands of members joined in singing it. The hymn can be considered as the official song of the Cooperative League of the USA (CLUSA), later renamed the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA).
Organic Valley (OV) is an organic food brand and independent cooperative of organic farmers based in La Farge, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1988, Organic Valley is the nation's largest farmer-owned organic cooperative and one of the world's largest organic consumer brands.
DotCooperation LLC is the Registry of the Top-Level Domain (TLD) .coop.
The Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization engaged in cooperative development in the United States. CDF administers revolving loan funds, provides grants, and fosters economic development through the formation of cooperatives. CDF is partnered with the National Cooperative Business Association.
The history of cooperatives in the United States extends to pre-independence times. With the exception of credit unions and mutual banking institutions, most cooperatives have held a comparatively light footprint on the economic history of the United States in comparison to the economies of Europe.
James Peter Warbasse was an American surgeon and advocate for cooperatives. He founded the Cooperative League of the United States of America and was its president from 1916 to 1941.
Co-operative Central Exchange, founded in 1917 and known from the spring of 1931 as Central Co-operative Wholesale, was the coordinating entity of a network of consumers' co-operatives located primarily in the states of the American Upper Midwest. Based in the Great Lakes port city of Superior, Wisconsin, located adjacent to the Finnish enclave of Duluth, Minnesota, the Co-operative Central Exchange produced an array of its own branded products under the "Red Star" and "Co-operators' Best" brand names and did annual volume well in excess of $1 million from 1928 on.
The cooperative movement in Canada is a social and economic movement that started in the middle of the 19th century and continues until today.
