01
One member, one vote
Co-owners elect the board and approve the budget once a year. No founder shares, no preferred stock, no investor veto.
Company model
GROUNDWORK is owned by the people who use it.
We are not a venture-backed platform skimming rent off your initiatives. GROUNDWORK is structured as a member cooperative: every co-owner pays the same annual due, holds one vote, and shares the surplus.
02
Annual due, no equity sold
Membership costs $20 per year. The due funds servers, staff and legal — never dividends to outsiders.
03
Surplus returned to members
Anything we don't need to operate gets returned to co-owners in proportion to use, or reinvested in new tooling by member vote.
Ready to join?
Become a co-owner
Co-ownership requires registering your personal details (legal name, billing address, jurisdiction). It is an annual, non-transferable membership — handled on a separate page.
Loading roster…
Sign in to become a co-owner
Personal-info form · sign-in required.
What your due pays for
- InfrastructureHosting, backups, security audits.
- StewardshipA small staff that maintains the register and answers organisers.
- Legal & complianceFiling fees, counsel for the cooperative, escrow oversight.
- Member toolingNew features prioritised by member vote each quarter.
What co-ownership is not
The annual due buys you membership and voting rights in the cooperative that runs GROUNDWORK. It is not a pledge to any single initiative on the register, and it is not a tradable share. Pledges to specific initiatives are made separately on each initiative's page.
Platform under the same rules
The cooperative is on the public record too
Every co-ownership of GROUNDWORK itself is published on an anonymised ledger: start date, renewal date, and dues paid. Names withheld; structure visible.