Administrative Agency:

Nonprofit (National): Cooperative Development Foundation

Program Goals:

The Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) is a non-profit organization working to improve lives and communities by supporting economic development based on cooperatives. It is made up of several funds, each supporting a different cooperative sector.

Resource Provided:

CDF supports cooperative development through linkages, grants, and loans. There are several different CDF funds: -The MSC and Jacob M. Kaplan Funds focus exclusively on cooperative development that enhances the quality of life for seniors. -The Bowers Fund promotes and develops consumer-owned food cooperatives and consumer cooperative education in the United States. -The Hillman-Dubinsky Labor Cooperative Fund helps to provide affordable, desirable, limited-equity co-op housing for America's working men and women and their families with pre-development financing. -The Kagawa Funds promote student cooperatives, particularly housing co-ops. -The NCBA and Sollars Funds work to strengthen the cooperative form of business in the U.S. and overseas. -The Sullivan Fund offers educational grants to attend professional development seminars or classes related to cooperatives. -The CDF Fund is used to give larger grants to potentially significant cooperative projects that don't fall under any of CDF's other funds. Please see http://www.cdf.coop for information on CDF and http://www.cdf.coop/funds.html for information on specific funds.

Eligibility:

Cooperatives, cooperative development organizations, and groups forming cooperatives are eligible. Cooperatives * Are owned and democratically controlled by their members--the people who use the co-op's services or buy its goods--not by outside investors; co-op members elect their board of director from within the membership. * Return surplus revenues (income over expenses and investment) to members proportionate to their use of the cooperative, not proportionate to their "investment" or ownership share. * Are motivated not by profit, but by service-to meet their members' needs for affordable and high quality goods or services. * Exist solely to serve their members. * Pay taxes on income kept within the co-op for investment and reserves. Surplus revenues from the co-op are returned to individual members who pay taxes on that income.

Program Contact:  (Primary Contact listed first.)

Ellen Quinn, Funds Manager
Cooperative Development Foundation
2011 Crystal Drive
Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (703) 302-8094
Fax: (703) 647-3498
e-mail: equinn@cdf.coop
Web site: http://www.cdf.coop