.Coop eNewsletter 

November 19, 2009

Winners of DotCoop Global Awards Announced in Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland -DotCoop, the sponsor of the .coop domain name, announced the winners of the first-ever dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence. The three winners are:

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, a fertilizer production and distribution cooperative based in India. IFFCO won in the category of large cooperatives with more than $50 million in revenue or assets.

National Cooperative Grocers Association, a business services organization for retail food co-ops. NCGA won in the category of medium cooperatives with $1 million to $50 million in revenue or assets.

Pachamama Coffee Cooperative, a cooperative based in the United States and owned by 150,000 coffee farmers worldwide. Pachamama won in the category of small cooperatives with less than $1 million in revenue or assets.

The dotCoop Global Awards are given to those cooperatives who demonstrate a strong commitment to the cooperative business model. DotCoop also looked for co-ops whose missions and practices clearly demonstrate cooperative values, especially in their web site.

DotCoop awarded honorable mentions to Cabot Creamery Cooperative of the United States and Crédit Coopératif of France in the large business category; The Phone Co-op of the United Kingdom and the Wedge Community Co-op of the United States in the medium-sized business category; and CAC Santa Maria Magdalena of Peru and FESAN (Federacion Nacional de Cooperativas de Servicios Sanitarios, Ltda) of Chile in the small business category. Additionally, the judges awarded a special recognition award to the Co-operative Press Limited, which received recognition for its overall contributions to the cooperative movement in the United Kingdom and the world as the oldest cooperatively-owned newspaper.

Robynn Shrader, chief executive officer of the NCGA, said the award will help her members market the cooperative advantage. "These awards can help bring awareness to the distinct differences between our stores and conventional food retailers," Shrader said.

The awards were presented on November 18th by the dotCoop board chair, Louie Doering, at the International Cooperative Alliance General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

The winning cooperatives received funds to travel to the meeting as part of their award. "We received over 50 applications, from around the world and across cooperative sectors," said Carolyn Hoover, chief executive officer of dotCoop. We‟re extremely pleased with the turnout of this year‟s competition, and expect an even greater turnout in 2011."

The next awards will be presented at the ICA General Assembly in 2011. Cooperatives can sign up for a reminder of the next awards at www.globalawards.coop

Sign the ACT! Petition on Climate Change Today

Many people have already signed the ACT! climate petition,which calls for there to be a successful outcome to the Copenhagen Climate Conference. Have you?

www.actonclimate.coop

Recent media stories, suggesting that there will not be a good or binding Agreement at Copenhagen, were compounded by a civil society announcement on 17th November in Brussels, where Cooperatives Europe were told that any binding Agreement was now highly unlikely.

It is essential that cooperators all over the world sign the ACT! climate petition. The cooperative voice is needed now more than ever and we must unite to put pressure on those global leaders who will be calling the shots in Copenhagen. The ACT! climate petition is partnered with the UN "Seal the Deal 2009‟ campaign in a bid to maximize impact.

The ACT! campaign urges co-operatives to encourage their member to sign up to both the petition and the 10:10 pledge. The 10:10 pledge allows cooperative businesses, schools and cooperators to commit to reduce their emissions by 10% in 2010. A simple idea, but one that is achievable and sends a clear message to our politicians, that we are prepared to address the climate threat. So sign up to 10:10 and pledge to take one less flight next year or get the bus to work one day a week, it‟s that easy.

The third aspect of ACT! is the collection of case studies of co-operative climate action. This is needed to create evidence that will support any future lobbying in the area. It will also act as a networking tool and a forum for sharing ideas, and finally allow us to promote and gain recognition for the work of cooperatives, which will strengthen the global brand of cooperatives as a more sustainable business model.

Finally, ACT!  wishes to promote the use and creation of renewable energy, which is key to fighting the climate threat and is an area in which cooperatives can take a lead and in many cases have already done so.

Remember the co-operative values of equity and social responsibility. Visit www.actonclimate.coop  sign the petition if you have not already done so and get your co-operative to support ACT! through sharing case studies and mailing members

Yours in Co-operation,

Bob Burlton,

"Climate change is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time, causing suffering to hundreds of millions of people" Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Anan

Putting our Mission into Words

In 2009, the dotCoop Board undertook the task of crafting a formal mission statement. Although dotCoop has always been guided by the cooperative values and principles in both our application of the dotCoop Verification Policy and in our business dealings, the formation of a mission statement requires reflection on not only day-to-day business but our long-term goals. The Board has defined the current Mission Statement as

To strengthen the global cooperative movement by providing tools for promoting cooperative identity on the Internet. The Board and dotCoop staff will be using this mission statement to assist in formulating our yearly goals and in guiding our communications to the cooperative community as it defines the beliefs and values that gives direction to our business.

The Board will next move to formulating the related Vision statement which will extend the Mission statement by looking to the future and focusing our plans on projects that support a forward-looking organization.

In Their Own Words. . .

MONGOLIA.COOP

Mongolian Cooperative Network- Cooperatives in Mongolia play an increasingly important role in the development of the market economy especially in the rural areas. In order to provide effective and sustainable services for their members, there is a strong need for improved market access, information and promotional services.

RUS.COOP

Central Union of Consumer Societies of Russian Federation (Centrosoyuz of Russia)

We are a non-profit organization and a voluntary association of consumer societies of Russia. Our tasks are:

• Development of the consumer co-operative system, protection of democratic basics and values of the cooperative movement;
• Realization of innovative business projects aiming to the foundation of modern infrastructure in different spheres of the economy
• Coordination of consumer societies and unions and representing their interests in administrative and municipal authorities and international organizations
• To provide protection of property rights and other rights of consumer societies and their members

COOMPANION.COOP

KOOPERATIV UTVECKLING SVERIGE (Sweden)- To start a company requires not only knowledge and resolve but also dreams and ideas.

Where people can make their visions into reality there will be growth -economically and socially.

Through our work and knowledge of cooperative enterprising -the form of enterprise of this century -we have helped many cooperative enterprises to start and to be successful. If you want to start a cooperative enterprise Coompanion's advisers can also help you with start-up and development. Our advice is free of charge. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions on cooperative enterprising.