Step 5
directors small. Five to seven people wil l be plent y. Meetings with large groups tend to be tedious and accomplish little. Once you’ve decided that a co-op is feasible, the next step is to purchase a name, and then apply for of f icial incor poration as a co-operative with your province. For more detailed infor mation about reg ister ing a co-operative, visit Having a lega l ly incor porated not-for-prof it co-operative can help with insurance, ta x breaks, and fundraising. If possible, open your cooperative’s bank account with a credit union, as bank fees wil l likely be lower or waived a l l together. kbc was built in two phases. Phase one was funded by membership fees, and phase two was funded by a grant from Mountain Equipment Co-op ( mec).
Ensure that you have a low, one-time lifetime membership fee ( l ike the $ 5 mec fee), and then charge annual fees on top of this. This is important because a co-operative is lega l ly entitled to refund a membership if requested by a member, which would put the f inancial well being of the co-op at r isk.