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Collected by Olivia Henry with the support of the Sustainable Economies Law Center
This is a collection of bylaws and governance documents of cooperative news and media organizations. I hope this serves as a resource for people exploring what democratic ownership and governance might look like in their workplace or community. Each example is different, so be sure to pay attention to:
Who gets to be a member of the cooperative
Who sits on the board and how they’re elected
What rights and responsibilities belong to members not on the board
Who gets dividends and how much
All notes below are based on the documents available. Please let us know if any of these documents are out of date, the descriptions contain errors or if you want to add your bylaws to the collection.
WORT
WORT
Read the full bylaws here.
Organization description:
WORT, also known as Back Porch Broadcasting Inc., is a nonprofit radio station in broadcasting in South-Central Wisconsin.
Types of members:
Staff member: This type of member can be a full-time, part-time, or temporary employee.
Participating member: These members have fulfilled a volunteer requirement or have petitioned the board to demonstrate commitment to the station.
Listener-Sponsor (non-voting): People who have made an annual listener-sponsorship level contribution to the organization.
Board of Directors
Composition
1 full-time staff member: Only members of the staff collective can elect this position. This director cannot serve as a board officer. Part time and temporary staff members cannot hold this position. The stated rationale is that it would be a conflict for part time and temporary staff to have some oversight over supervising, full-time staff members.
6 participating members: All voting members can elect this position. 4 listener-sponsor members: All voting members can elect this position.
Other board governance issues
Members may vote only on directors, proposed amendments to the bylaws, and any other noted items.
Permanent committees (executive, finance and personnel) restricted to directors.
Standing committees and work groups are not restricted to directors.
Community Advisory Board in compliance with the Communications Act of 1934.
Voting
Quorum
A quorum for meetings and votes is a majority of registered members.
Finances
There is no profit-sharing with members and board members are not compensated.