Join our co-operative

A maximum of 250 cooperative shares can be acquired. Further details can be found in the Articles of Association of wechange eG and in the Cooperatives Act .

The Articles of Association stipulate that 20% of profits are to be allocated to a statutory reserve and 40% of profits are to be invested in the further development of the wechange platform. The Annual General Meeting decides on the remaining amount. A distribution to members is conceivable in principle, but has not been practised to date.

Yes, to cancel your membership, please send it to us by post. Membership and individual shares can be cancelled with two years' notice to the end of the financial year.

No. If you only want to use the online platform wechange.de, you can simply register at wechange.de/signup/.

We decided to set up a co-operative for several important reasons:

• Fair and democratic: In a cooperative, every member has one vote, regardless of the amount of financial resources contributed. This guarantees fair and democratic decision-making in which all members participate equally.

• Independence from big capital: By choosing the cooperative form, we prevent investors with large amounts of capital from determining the course of our organisation. We want to ensure that our values and goals are not influenced by external financial interests.

• Protection against sale: A cooperative cannot simply be sold to the highest bidder. This protects our organisation from takeovers and ensures that we can act in the interests of our members and our shared vision in the long term.

• Sustainable management: We see the co-operative as a sustainable alternative to the traditional capitalist system. Our aim is to operate in a long-term and responsible manner, focussing on the benefits for the community.

• Co-creation: As a member, you have the opportunity to actively participate in decisions and help shape the direction of our cooperative.

• Network: Join a network of like-minded people, share ideas, resources and experiences and build valuable relationships.

• Education: Expand your knowledge of co-operatives and your skills by exchanging ideas with other members.

• Impact: Make a real difference in the world by investing your money in a company that is committed to a sustainable and just future.

Our cooperative endeavours to grow and improve continuously. New members play a crucial role in this. There are several reasons why we are always on the lookout for committed members:

• Financial stability and further development: We increase our equity with every new member. These financial resources enable us to continuously improve our products and services, remain innovative and maintain a high level of quality. In addition, financial contributions help us to become less dependent on fluctuations in the project business and ensure long-term planning security.

• Voluntary commitment and network: Our members are more than just financial supporters. They contribute their skills, ideas and commitment to the cooperative. Volunteering, such as serving on committees or acting as community influencers, is invaluable to us. By engaging our members, we can build a stronger community, increase our reach and achieve our goals more effectively.

If you would like to become a member of the cooperative, you will be making a financial contribution to the cooperative. You will own a part of our organisation and have co-determination rights.

When you create an account on wechange.de, you use the freely accessible online platform provided by wechange eG for effective collaboration between people, initiatives and organisations.

You can do both independently of each other.

The Annual General Meeting is the annual meeting of the cooperative's members, who are entitled to vote on certain decisions. The invitation is issued annually and the agenda and information on participation are communicated in advance by e-mail.

A cooperative is a democratically organised form of company in which the members are joint owners and pursue common interests. It is based on the principles of self-help, self-responsibility, self-administration and solidarity.

As a member, you have the right to attend the Annual General Meeting, the right to information at the Annual General Meeting and the right to vote with one vote, regardless of the number of shares subscribed.

The most important obligation is to pay for the shares purchased in the cooperative. All other activities are optional, e.g. attending meetings, taking part in surveys or socialising. Members who deliberately harm the cooperative can be excluded.

Natural persons or legal entities can become members. We reserve the right to review all membership applications in order to get to know candidates better.

Fill out the Online form to join the co-operative . You will then receive a letter from us and all you have to do is sign the form and send it back to us.

In addition to the General Meetings, which take place at least once a year, you have the opportunity to contribute your knowledge and skills via an internal member area. Several times a year, you will receive information on current developments in the cooperative and calls to get involved.

The co-operative is the most insolvency-proof legal form in Germany because it is double-checked. We are a member of the Auditing Association of German Consumer and Service Cooperatives (PdK), which regularly audits our profitability and management of the cooperative. In addition, we are regularly audited by the General Meeting and the Supervisory Board. Members are only liable for their capital contribution and are not obliged to make additional contributions.

A co-operative share costs €100 and at least 5 shares must be purchased upon joining. Accordingly, membership costs at least €500 once.

A virtual Annual General Meeting is held at least once a year. The basis for this is provided by the Digital agenda of the #GenoDigital initiative created a few years ago. You will receive an invitation in advance with all the usual attachments and information on access. Among other things, we use our self-operated video conference BigBlueButton, which is hosted in Germany, and we also provide a free video conference tool in the members' area that you can use to exchange information with each other.

The majority of our expenditure is made up of personnel costs. The remaining expenses are mainly third-party services, hosting costs, rental costs and legal and consulting costs.

We develop and operate sustainable digitalisation solutions for collaboration and networking. There are three basic business models with which we earn money:

• Portal business: We create and operate Portals for online collaboration and networking for organisations, municipalities and associations. This business segment accounts for the majority of our sales. We currently operate 20 such portals.

• wechange.de Community: Over 60,000 people who want to organise themselves digitally are registered on the wechange.de platform. A solidarity-based payment model generates revenue that is used for the operation and further development of the platform.

• Mitwirk-O-Mat: We create and operate Tools for playful engagement matching for more than 30 municipalities and volunteer agencies.