Services
Cooperatives are founded on the promise of creating wealth for membership. That promise requires a strategy — and someone accountable for executing it.
Every cooperative is founded under the promise of creating wealth for its membership. A critical factor determining whether a cooperative fulfills that promise — or merely operates with democratic bylaws — is equity strategy and its execution.
Equity strategy encompasses how a cooperative capitalizes itself, how it accumulates and allocates equity among members, how it manages the tension between growth capital needs and member distributions, and how it ensures the long-term financial sustainability of membership wealth.
Done well, cooperative equity strategy turns a good idea into a generational institution. Done poorly — or ignored entirely — it creates cooperatives that are cooperative in governance but not in the financial reality their members experience.
Building the right equity structure for your cooperative from the ground up — or restructuring an existing one that isn't serving members. Membership fee structures, equity interest categories, Class A vs. B distinctions, preferred return design. We make sure the structure in your bylaws actually creates member wealth rather than just describing it.
A revolving equity fund retains a portion of patronage over time and systematically redeems oldest equity first. Properly managed, it funds growth without external debt while creating a real, redeemable asset for long-term members. We design the schedule, manage the liability, and communicate it to your board and membership.
Annual patronage allocation must be calculated correctly against each member's use, split between cash and retained equity at rates that balance current benefit and future capitalization, and treated properly under Subchapter T of the tax code. We execute this process from calculation through board resolution through member communication.
Every member of your cooperative should be able to see their current equity position, patronage history, and projected redemption timeline. We build and maintain the member equity ledger that makes this transparency possible — and keeps your cooperative accountable to its ownership promise.
Bringing in new members, issuing equity to raise capital, or restructuring existing equity creates dilution risk for current members. We analyze equity transactions for dilution impact, design membership structures that protect existing member equity, and model the long-term equity outcomes of different growth scenarios.
Equity strategy is only as strong as the governance documents that support it. We review and advise on bylaw language governing equity, patronage, and member rights to ensure your documents actually deliver on the cooperative promise — and stand up to scrutiny from lenders, regulators, and members.
One of the most valuable tools for evaluating your cooperative's equity performance is comparison against sector peers. RBI maintains a cooperative industry composite — an aggregated financial benchmarking dataset built from cooperatives we work with.
When you engage RBI for equity management, your anonymized data contributes to this composite and you gain access to benchmarks on equity ratios, patronage rates, revolving fund structures, and member equity growth that aren't available through any public source.
Ask About the Composite →Benchmark Snapshot — Illustrative
Composite data from RBI client network. Contact us to contribute your data and access full benchmarking.
Course 3 of RBI's Coop Education Series covers cooperative equity management in depth — designed for board members and leadership who want to understand the mechanics, not just delegate them.
Explore the Education Series →