Technical assistance and education
Common Shares runs an sliding scale fee-for-service consulting service that brings together skilled cooperative developers, organizers, and other service providers to offer high quality support to cooperatives, mutually owned businesses, and democratic organizations.
We have bilingual English-Spanish team members and may be able to support interpretation and translation of meetings and materials as needed depending on our current resources.
Reach out today for a no-cost consultation and a member of our team will be in touch!
OUR SERVICES
Early stage co-op organizing support
Business and feasibility planning, with connections to co-op friendly business loans
Co-op conversion planning for traditionally structured businesses
Legal services (incorporation, development of key documents, and more)
Community organizing and political education
Coaching and facilitation for organizational transitions towards shared leadership, sociocracy, and decentralized and/or democratic management, including for worker-self-directed nonprofits
Project management and systems design
Cooperative culture and education program development
EDUCATION & TRAINING FOR GROUPS
Common Shares also offers training and education for groups and companies focused on the following topics such as Co-op 101, training on the 7 Cooperative Principles, Shared leadership and democratic decision making, and community organizing.
PRICING
Common Shares has negotiable, sliding scale pricing, and knows that especially start up businesses may lack resource. We are always seeking grant funding to offer these services at a reduced rate, and we are eager to brainstorm and think creatively about how to collaborate to find resources for our work together (and for your project long term!). We are open to bartering! There are lots of options and we will find a way to make it work.
Thanks to our partnership with Keystone Development Center, Common Shares is currently offering sliding scale low to no-cost services to rural cooperatives from now until September 2027 or until program funds run out. At this time, this funding is provided by the USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant, and is limited to co-ops in rural areas. The USDA’s definition of “rural” excludes cooperatives in: Roanoke, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, Richmond, the Newport News-Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Hampton area, and certain areas in Northern Virginia (such as some parts of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties). If you’re not sure if you’re eligible, let’s talk anyway!