The 9 patron classes
Nine member groups — five along the path of a product, three levels of government, and a civic class — each with its own way to earn a share of the cooperative’s profits.
Most companies serve outside shareholders. This cooperative serves the nine groups that actually use or supply into it. Each group gets a fixed number of board seats and a year-end share of the surplus sized to how much it contributed.
Find your group
Every member is a of one of nine classes. Each class’s “” is the specific unit of activity that, at year end, earns you a share of the cooperative’s surplus.
| # | Class | In plain English | What earns your share (patronage definition) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consumer | Shoppers who earn and spend cooperative-issued credits at the register | Dollar-volume of qualifying purchases made through cooperative infrastructure |
| 2 | Importer | Importers who attach a credit to a product at the port of entry | Dollar-volume of imports cleared with a credit attached at SKU level |
| 3 | Retailer | Stores that sell credit-bearing product | Dollar-volume of credit-bearing product sold through the point of sale |
| 4 | Brand | Brands that sponsor consumer rewards and donate inventory through the cooperative | Dollar-volume of advertising and sponsorship spend channeled through cooperative rails, plus donated inventory at fair market value |
| 5 | Manufacturer | Domestic producers whose verified output backs cooperative-issued credits | Dollar-volume of verified domestic manufacturing output earning innovation yield |
| 6 | Federal Government | Federal agencies routing public-purpose spend through the cooperative | Dollar-volume of public-purpose spend (procurement, grants, credit purchases) at the federal level |
| 7 | State Government | State agencies, same model | Same as Federal, at the state level |
| 8 | Municipal Government | City and county agencies, same model | Same as Federal, at the municipal or county level |
| 9 | Civic | NGOs, non-profits, and the 501(c)(3) that sponsors the charitable channel | Dollar-volume of grants plus member-hours contributed to civic-class programs |
Why nine? Five classes map to the commercial path of a product (Consumer, Importer, Retailer, Brand, Manufacturer). Three split government because federal, state, and municipal procurement and tax interfaces are materially different. Civic is the ninth so mission-aligned non-profits — including the 501(c)(3) that sponsors the cooperative’s charitable channel — have governance representation independent of the commercial classes.
A quick decision tree
Pick the row that sounds most like you. A single organization can occupy more than one class (a brand that donates intangibles wears both Brand patron and donor hats).
You buy groceries and want credits to show up in your wallet when you shop.
Consumer
You make or sell a consumer product and want your inventory or campaigns to back credits.
Brand (most likely) or Manufacturer (if you operate a domestic factory)
You run a store and want your registers to validate and settle credits.
Retailer
You handle imports and want credits attached at the port of entry.
Importer
You work for a federal, state, or municipal agency considering routing public-purpose spend through the cooperative.
Federal, State, or Municipal (whichever matches your level)
You run an NGO, food bank, or 501(c)(3) and want to host the cooperative’s charitable channel or certify beneficiaries.
Civic
You want to put founding-round capital into the cooperative without taking a patron seat.
Investor-member unit — a separate, bounded category with a capped return. Not one of the nine patron classes.
Open any class for the full breakdown
Each class card opens to its full patronage definition, the mechanics of its dividend allocation, who qualifies, how credits are earned, and notes specific to that class.
The mechanics, defined
A is the cooperative’s annual surplus, returned to each patron in proportion to that patron’s during the year. The board sets each class’s and the year’s . Per cooperative tax rules (), at least 20% of any allocation must be paid in cash; the remainder can be retained as equity capital in the cooperative with the patron’s consent.
Investor-member units are different.They are a separate, bounded category — available only in the operating cooperative’s founding round, with a capped return per Subchapter T’s capital-subordination requirement. Investor returns sit junior to the nine patron classes’ patronage dividends. Outside investors do not receive patronage dividends; patrons do not get the capped investor return for being patrons. The two seats are independent.
Find your class and apply
Founding-Wave-1 patrons help set their class’s patronage definition, claim class-weighted board seats, and earn the inaugural year’s patronage. The application asks you to pick a class — use the decision tree above if you’re unsure.