The primary goal of the non-profit organisation “Co-Fund” is the facilitation of new social and solidarity productive initiatives to rise and the support of the expansion of existing ones. The members of the Co-fund are obliged to follow its rules of procedure, that specify its way of functioning.
The Non-Profit Company under the name “Co-Fund”, within the scope of its general objectives, as those are laid-out in the company’s statute, has as its primary objective the facilitation of the creation of new, or the growth of already existing Social and Solidarity Economy ventures. At the same time, by supporting such projects, Co-Fund seeks to promote wider networks of collaboration with Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) Companies, consumer cooperatives and other social ventures that are inspired and operating on the principles of social solidarity and cooperation. In this way, Co-Fund aspires to contribute to the creation of a more integrated (as far as possible) democratic economic space, designed to meet the needs of primarily its participants but also the social needs in general, such as the need for work and the protection of the environment. Moreover, its operation will be aligned with values and practices contrary to those of the dominant profit-led economy, competition and indifference to workers’ needs and to the environment.
To achieve the above-mentioned goals, the prime and foremost activity of Co-Fund is the accumulation of a financial capital, aiming to fund start-up or existing SSE companies. Both the accumulation of capital and the financing of SSE companies will be done on the basis of solidarity. In short, the financial resources come mainly from small, periodic contributions by individuals or collectives that have the capacity and inspiration to donate. The financing of SSE projects aims to create new jobs of cooperative logic, as well as the participation of the funded ventures to the accumulation of capital, through reimbursement of the funding they received, and further contribution to it. The funding of each SSE project is done in a way that ensures viability for itself and its employees, thus securing both the reimbursement of the received amount, as well as the venture’s further contribution to the fund, in order to ensure that the funding capital serves its purpose. At the same time, Co-Fund tends to adopt measures for the reciprocation of the solidarity demonstrated by capital contributors, and encourages benefiter ventures to do the same, in the direction of shaping community and mutuality bonds between the above-mentioned parts.
For the precise arrangement of the rules governing its above mentioned activity, Co-Fund, by decision of its General Assembly, adopts these Rules of Procedure, the members of which undertake to abide by.
The Rules of Procedure organize and describe how Co-Fund operates concerning the following:
1) Financing of the company
2) Financing of SSE projects by the compan
The financing of the company is done through subscriptions from any individual or legal entity who accepts the purpose and the manner of operation of the company, as stated in its Statute and its Rules of Procedure, and wishes to contribute financially to the achievement of its above-mentioned objectives.
The subscriptions may be of a regular nature or may be given irregularly at a frequency and amount chosen by the subscriber. The minimum amount of contribution is set at five (5) euros. The subscription is in the form of donation and does not necessarily imply a reciprocation of the company to the subscriber. However, the company seeks to build participatory or reciprocatory relationships with its subscribers, depending on the degree of their engagement. In addition, the company aims mainly to attract regular subscribers, in order to secure stable revenues.
The company encourages its subscribers to make subscriptions on a regular and long-term basis, at a constant rate and regular periods, by registering in the subscriber register on the company’s online platform and by paying via direct debit to the company’s account. The company offers the subscriber the payment options of monthly, semi-annual and annual subscriptions. Τhe subscriber can choose the payment option, but it cannot be less than 5 euros per month (or 30 euros per semester or 60 euros per year).
A regular subscriber is considered the individual who completes one full year and one day of regular subscriptions without any interruption, from the date of their initial registration (having completed at least 13 monthly or 3 semi-annual or 2 annual donations). Regular subscribers acquire the right to participate in certain decisions, in a manner decided by the company and specified in these Rules of Procedure.
A supporter is considered the individual who has donated at least one time to the company, or an individual who donates at a varying frequency and rate of their choice (in any case the amount of the subscription must be equal to or greater than the minimum subscription rate, as this is specified in paragraph 1.2). Supporters have no further involvement in the operation or decision-making of the company, nor do they receive any reciprocation for their subscription.
The amount and frequency of the regular subscription may be subject to changes by the subscriber according to their preferences (provided that this change complies with the subscription amount specified in paragraph 1.2). If a regular subscriber discontinues their subscription, they are considered as an inactive subscriber and lose their regular subscriber rights. A subscriber automatically regains their status and participation rights, if they re-activate their regular subscription within six months from the date of the initial discontinuation. After the period of six months, the subscriber shall be deleted from the subscriber register of the company. To become a regular subscriber again, the regular subscription period will have to be renewed (as it is specified in paragraph 1.3).
The company’s income is solely used to finance SSE projects and to cover the company’s operating expenses. The operating expenses of the company, cannot exceed the upper limit (35% of its annual turnover) as it is defined in its Statute (no.10, paragraph 7).
The company undertakes to publish a detailed expense report on an annual basis, and a summary of its revenues, while protecting the personal data of its subscribers.
Any group of individuals or partnership of SSE ventures wishing to establish a new SSE project and lacking sufficient capital may submit a financing application to the company at any time. The same applies to any existing SSE project that is planning some form of expansion of its activities. The company examines and evaluates the financing applications submitted to it in stages and on the basis of criteria defined in these Rules of Procedure, and decides whether or not to proceed with the financing of each application. Any SSE project that ultimately receives financing undertakes to repay the amount received in installments, the duration and amount of which are determined according to its capacity, and is encouraged to participate as a regular funder of the company after the repayment has been completed.
At the beginning of each year, the company announces the estimated total amount it can allocate to the financing of SSE projects during the year, namely the available financing capital for that year. This amount is determined by the company on the basis of the financial report of the previous year and the budget of the current year. More specifically, the company sets the level of available financing capital taking into account: (a) the cash reserves at the beginning of the year, (b) the estimated operating expenses for the year, (c) the estimated revenues until the end of the year, (d) the expected repayments of financing granted in previous years, and (e) its overall risk management approach. In the event of a material change in one or more of the above factors, the company may revise the estimated available financing capital, which it shall announce accordingly.
A financing application, in order to qualify as adequate for further examination, must meet the following requirements:
a) a draft statute to be lodged or a statute already lodged by the applicant venture, which proves its cooperative structure, and declares the participation of any legal entities in it.
b) a resume of the members of the applicant venture, or at least the Board of Directors or any other administrative body provided by its statute, if the venture consists of a large number of members. The resume must include any participation of this member in other legal entities.
c) in case of participation of legal entities in the applicant venture, or participation of individuals in other legal entities, the financing application must provide information on the activity of these legal entities (area of activities, sources of revenues, legal status, shareholding or any other information that the company may require).
d) a clear explanation of the planned scope of work, for the accomplishment of which the particular financing application is being filed.
e) a business plan demonstrating the viability of the proposed venture, in the case of a venture under establishment, or of the planned expansion of activities, in the case of an existing venture. The business plan must sufficiently specify the amount of financing requested, the planned investment for which the applicant venture seeks financing (e.g. purchase of specific equipment), the location of its registered office and the geographical area in which its economic activity will take place, as well as the repayment plan for the requested financing amount.
f) profit and loss statements or balance sheets of the applicant venture covering the years of its operation, if it is not under establishment, for a maximum of the last three years.
g) participation of the applicant venture in the financing of the company as a regular subscriber, no later than the date of submission of the financing application. Alternatively (or in addition to the applicant venture), at least one individual who is a member or supporter of the venture and agrees to support its financing application must be a regular subscriber no later than the date of submission of the application.
As long as a financing application meets the requirements of paragraph 2.2., the company shall evaluate it based on the following criteria:
a) The maturity level of the business proposal, that is, to what degree the business sustainability plan is adequately documented.
b) The social utility of the proposed project. Businesses in the primary and secondary sector whose activities are considered to be closer to the basic societal needs (food, clothing, machines), are more likely to be approved.
c) The ecological footprint of the activity as outlined in the business plan. Applications for an eco-friendly business plan that contribute to protecting the environment or anticipate a milder environmental impact than others, are more likely to be approved.
d) The risk assessment of the funding derived from the business plan and the financial results achieved so far (if any) of the applicant venture.
e) The ratio between fixed and variable capital for which the requested financing is intended. The company favors applications with a higher ratio of fixed to variable capital, as this enables it, in case of failure of the venture, to recover part of the financing more easily through the sale of fixed assets, thereby reducing risk.
f) The ratio of the requested funding amount to the turnover of the project for the previous year. A funding application with a lower ratio implies lower risk and is therefore viewed more favorably.
g) The amount of the requested financing in relation to the company’s available financing capital for the current year. Applications requesting lower amounts are evaluated more favorably, with the aim of supporting as many different ventures as possible.
h) The ratio of the number of jobs that, according to the submitted business plan, are expected to be created during the full development of the project, to the funding capital requested by the project. Funding applications predicting the creation of more jobs are viewed more favorably compared to applications predicting fewer jobs.
i) The nature of jobs which the applicant venture is expected to create. The company favors the financing of cooperative jobs with full, equal legal integration of the employee in the applicant venture, and the effective participation of the former in the collective management of the latter. Employment jobs may be approved only by exception, provided that they are adequately justified and that decent working hours, salary and other working conditions are ensured.
j) The degree of partnership with other SSE ventures or the degree of integration into SSE networks. To the extent that the business plan of a funding application results from the collective planning of a group or network of SSE projects, the application is viewed more favorably compared to others.
k) The existence or not of other SSE ventures with the same object of activity in the same geographical area. If the object of activity of the applicant venture is not covered by other SSE ventures in the same geographical area as the area of economic activity of the applicant venture, then the application is more likely to be approved.
l) The duration of participation of the applicant venture (or of the members or supporters backing its application) in the Co-Fund financing community. Applications associated with longer participation are evaluated more favorably.
m) The total amount of contributions paid by the applicant venture to Co-Fund, as derived from the sum of the subscriptions supporting its financing application. Applications associated with higher contribution amounts are evaluated more favorably.
n) The repayment timeframe of the requested financing. Applications that foresee a faster repayment are evaluated more favorably.
o) The number of fundings the applicant venture has received from Co-Fund in the past. Applications from ventures that have received fewer fundings from Co-Fund are viewed more favorably, with the aim of supporting as many different ventures as possible.
The company reviews and evaluates the funding applications it receives in three stages.
a) In the first stage, each application shall be examined in relation to the eligibility criteria referred to in paragraph 2.2. If an application does not meet these criteria, it is rejected without further evaluation. Otherwise, the application is considered sufficient and goes to the next evaluation stage. The company’s General Assembly is responsible for examining the first stage.
b) In the second stage, each application that passes the first stage is examined on the basis of the criteria set out in paragraph 2.3. In particular, a financing application may be rejected on the basis of criteria (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (i) and (k). In such a case, the company may propose changes to the business plan of the applicant venture in order to bring it more closely in line with the above criteria, and, if the applicant venture accepts these changes, the company may re-examine the financing application. The General Assembly of the company is the competent body for the examination of the second stage. Each member of the company evaluates each application against each criterion of paragraph 2.3 on a scale from 1 to 5, and the final score per criterion is derived from the average of the members’ scores. This scoring is published and serves both as an example of the application of the company’s financing policy and as consultation to the subscribers in the event that the third stage of evaluation takes place.
c) Every financing application approved at the second stage of examination is considered an application for implementation. If the company’s available financing capital is sufficient to cover all approved applications, the company proceeds with their implementation without further assessment. Otherwise, the applications for implementation proceed to the third stage of evaluation, where their order of priority for implementation is determined.
d) In the third stage, applications are evaluated by the company’s regular subscribers — including the members of the General Assembly — through electronic voting. The financing applications are published on the company’s online platform, and the company informs its regular subscribers accordingly. Each subscriber is invited to rank the financing applications in order of preference, and the final priority ranking of the applications is determined by aggregating the subscribers’ preferences in accordance with the following algorithm:
Application score = 1 x number of first places + ½ x number of second places + ⅓ x number of third places + …
The duration of the voting period is determined by the company, when it completes the first two stages of the applications’ evaluation.
During the three stages of the examination of a funding request, the applicant venture shall provide the company with any additional information or documents concerning itself or the natural and legal persons involved in it, if the competent body of the company deems it necessary.
All financing applications that proceed to the third stage of evaluation are implemented in order of priority, as determined by the outcome of the voting at that stage. The company may approve such a number of applications whose total financing amount exceeds the available financing capital announced prior to their approval. In such a case, if the company has the required surplus in its funds, it may revise the available financing capital upwards. Otherwise, it proceeds with the immediate implementation of part of the applications, in accordance with the established order of priority, until the available financing capital is exhausted. The implementation of the next approved application takes place after the period required for the company to accumulate the corresponding capital from its revenues. This process is repeated until all applications approved within the same evaluation cycle have been implemented. Any additional approvals granted in a subsequent evaluation cycle are assessed only in relation to their priority among themselves and are implemented only after the completion of the financings already pending.
Each financing application is implemented through contractual agreements entered into between the company, the applicant SSE venture, and the banking institution with which the company cooperates.
When repaying the amount of funding, it is possible, with the agreement of the company, to review the amount and the number of installments to ensure the viability of the SSE venture that has received funding, if deemed necessary by itself.
The company seeks to expand its composition with additional members, in order to be able to engage in more activities to achieve its goals. In particular, the participation of people who are already members of other SSE ventures is sought, with the aim of better grounding the company within the SSE ecosystem and its needs.
Any individual who regularly contributes to the company via subscription for at least six months can apply to join the company. If the company’s General Assembly approves the request, the person who requested it must participate in the company’s activities as a candidate member for a period of six months, without interrupting their subscription. During this period, the candidate member can participate in the General Meetings with the right to speak and contribute to the implementation of GA’s decisions. At the end of the period, as long as the active participation of the candidate member and good cooperation with the other members is established, the General Assembly decides on their inclusion in the company composition as a member with full rights.
The company may invite its supporters to assist in its activities, as long as it considers that their special knowledge and skills are useful for the better implementation of its goals. For the regular or non-regular participation of a supporter in actions or General Assemblies of the company with the right to speak, no special relationship or other condition is required between them.
