Cooperative

A cooperative ("coop"), co-operative ("co-op"), or cooperative ("coop") is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual, social, economic, and cultural benefit.[1] Cooperatives include non-profit community organizations and businesses that are owned and managed by the people who use its services (a consumer cooperative) or by the people who work there (a worker cooperative) or by the people who live there (a housing cooperative), hybrids such as worker cooperatives that are also consumer cooperatives or credit unions, multi-stakeholder cooperatives such as those that bring together civil society and local actors to deliver community needs, and second and third tier cooperatives whose members are other cooperatives. In the United States, the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) serves as the sector's national membership association. It is dedicated to ensuring that cooperative businesses have the same opportunities as other businesses operating the country and that consumers have access to cooperatives in the marketplace. A voluntary association or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, unincorporated association, or just an association) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body (or organization) to accomplish a purpose.[citation needed] Strictly speaking, in many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association. In some jurisdictions, there is a minimum for the number of persons starting an association. Some jurisdictions require that the association register with the police or other official body to inform the public of the association's existence. This could be a tool of political control, and also a way of protecting the economy from fraud. In many such jurisdictions, only a registe ed association is a juristic person whose membership is not responsible for the financial acts of the association. Any group of persons may, of course, work as an association but in such case, the persons making a transaction in the name of the association all take responsibility for it. An unincorporated association has been defined as existing: "...where two or more persons are bound together for one or more common purposes by mutual undertakings, each having mutual duties and obligations, in an organization which has rules identifying in whom control of the organization and its funds are vested, and which can be joined or left at will."[1] In most countries, an unincorporated association does not have separate legal personality, and few members of the association usually enjoy limited liability.[2] However, in some countries they are treated as having separate legal personality for tax purposes.[3] However, because of their lack of legal personality, legacies to unincorporated associations are sometimes subject to general common law prohibitions against purpose trusts. Associations that are organized for profit or financial gain are usually called partnerships.[4] A special kind of partnership is a co-operative which is usually founded on one person—one vote principle and distributes its profits according to the amount of goods produced or bought by the members. Associations may take the form of a non-profit organization or they may be not-for-profit corporations; this does not mean that the association cannot make benefits from its activity, but all the benefits must be reinvested. Most associations have some kind of document or documents that regulate the way in which the body meets and operates. Such an instrument is often called the organization's bylaws, regulations, or agreement of association.

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