~8 min read

Manifesto

Fifteen things we stand for.

The full case for GROUNDWORK, written as a single document so it can be read aloud at a meeting, cited in a charter, and argued with on its merits.

1. 01

   The problem isn't capital

   Most communities already know what they want to own together. The block. The newspaper. The fibre line. The clinic. The money isn't missing. What's missing is a public floor where neighbours and workers can stand up and say so — and become a legible institution before a single backer is asked for a euro.

2. 02

   The wrong thing to build is another crowdfunder

   Kickstarter solved 'collect money for a thing.' It never solved 'organize a durable institution where every member has a seat at the table.' GROUNDWORK is not a fundraiser. It is a register — a public hall where institutions show up under their real names.

3. 03

   Governance on the table before money on the table

   Before an initiative asks for a euro, it has to show the floor: who decides, who can override whom, who can be recalled by whom, on what terms. We call this the legitimacy ladder. Nothing gets funded that won't first put its constitution in the open.

4. 04

   Five visible stages, earned in public

   Unverified. Identity verified. Governance disclosed. Governance reviewed. Eligible. Every step requires real artefacts on the record. No marketing copy. No 'community-first' as an adjective worn like a lapel pin.

5. 05

   Refuse the theater of democracy

   A free-text 'about us' page is the loophole through which founder-run companies dress up as co-ops. We replace it with structured fields: governance model, founder veto, quorum, amendment rule. You can perform democracy on a homepage. You cannot perform it in a schema.

6. 06

   Disclosure is a discipline, not a press release

   Every change to an initiative's charter writes a permanent diff to its public changelog. Drift — the slow slide of power back to a small group — becomes visible by construction. The contract with members is enforced by the record itself.

7. 07

   Separate identity from authority

   Pseudonyms can pledge. Light verification can organize. Strong verification is required to hold real governance authority. Authority over other people's money and time has to come with a face — that is the price of the gavel.

8. 08

   Count every person once. Surveil no one.

   We need each member to count exactly once — no inflated rolls, no bot majorities. We do not need to know everything about anyone. The minimum identity required for the role is the identity we ask for. Not a byte more.

9. 09

   Power maps, not org charts

   Every initiative page shows a governance map: nodes for bodies and roles, edges for authority, accountability, and advice. In fifteen seconds, any member can read who can override whom — and where their own vote actually lands.

10. 10

    Ownership has many seats

    Economic ownership, voting rights, and editorial rights can sit with different groups — workers, members, founders, the public. Our ownership view shows each slice separately, so nobody mistakes a share certificate for a seat at the table.

11. 11

    We do not hold your money

    GROUNDWORK never custodies funds. Pledges are public signals of solidarity, not transactions. When money moves, it moves under the initiative's own legal structure, in the open. We are organizing infrastructure, not a payment processor.

12. 12

    Appeals are a feature, not a complaint

    Every initiative carries a report channel: governance concern, misrepresentation, capture. Reports are visible to the initiative's stewards, and every resolution is written into the public changelog. Members never have to lobby in private to be heard.

13. 13

    We live by the same rules we ask of others

    GROUNDWORK is itself a member cooperative. Co-owners pay an equal annual due, hold one vote, and elect the board that runs the register. The platform stands inside the same constitution it asks every initiative to write.

14. 14

    Political position is constitutive

    We will not host initiatives whose explicit purpose is racism, dehumanization, or authoritarian capture. This is not a moderation preference. It is a foundational limit of the infrastructure — written into the cornerstone, not subject to the next vote.

15. 15

    What this is for

    GROUNDWORK exists so the next generation of durable, member-owned institutions has a public hall to organize in. Open enough to be challenged. Legible enough to be trusted. Stable enough to outlive the people who founded it — because in the end, the institution belongs to its members.