New Member Orientation & Support (Public)

• Onboarding Steps/Overview
• To archive- Onboarding New Members to the Co-op
• Orientation Overview
• Membership
• Paying Monthly Dues

Onboarding Steps/Overview

1. New members express interest by filling in the Interest Form.
   • The responses to the interest can be found on the subscribers page of MailerLite
2. Create/update MailerLite event form for upcoming onboarding session/potluck social. The event form should include RSVP options for both the potluck social and onboarding.
3. Send MailerLite event form to:
   • Newsletter (around 1st of the month)
   • People who have subscribed to the mailing list since the last onboarding (see email template here)
   • Other organizations/outlets, such as 730 DC, Free DC, and Ward 2 Mutual Aid (optional, but encouraged)
4. Check RSVPs periodically (no automatic notifications when new responses received). Form responses are populated in a table under "Events" in MailerLite. 
5. Send reminder to those who have RSVP'd on/around the day of the event. 
6. Confirm number of attendees for onboarding (check on the day of the event at a minimum) and collect emails/names for expected participants, which can be found from export of MailerLite table. 
7. Hold onboarding meeting:
   • Gather materials: QR code sheet for membership/dues, list of tasks & roles, list of products, sign in sheet, and zine if available.
   • Manage door/phone number for arrivals.
   • Give presentation for onboarding and hold Q/A.
   • Show shop to participants.
   • Verify interested people, give QR code sheet or note on sign up sheet.
8. Send follow-up email to onboarding attendees with reminder to sign membership agreement and pay dues (see template here).
9. Check for dues payments and membership agreements daily for a week after onboarding meeting.
10. Once people have paid dues and signed membership agreement:
    • Send an email with link to join WhatsApp community (they should join General Chat at a minimum) and instructions on how to sign up for wiki and Meso app (see template here)
    • Add them to Airtable and Google Group
11. New members are considered “trial members” for 3 months after signing the membership agreement. Details on trial membership can be found here.

To archive- Onboarding New Members to the Co-op

1. New members express interest by filling in the Interest Form.
   • The responses to the interest can be found on the subscribers page of MailerLite
2. Every month we schedule two onboarding meetings on two different days:
   • At 5:30pm before monthly social (second Sunday of the month)
   • Another day, ideally a weekday, determined by member availability 
   • Make sure at least one person is available for each of these
3. Send a save-the-date email to people who have subscribed since the last onboarding
   • Email should include a way to sign up to the events. See sample form here
     
   • Should link to:
     • Membership agreement
     • FAQ

   • Hi all!

     
     

     Greens & Beans Grocery Co-Op is hosting a new member onboarding session <date> at Luther Place Memorial Church. It will take about 15 minutes. If you are interested in becoming a new member, we would love to see you there! Sign up to attend <Insert your form link here, or tell them to apply to the e-mail>.

     
     

     In the meantime, check out our membership agreement and FAQs.

     
     

     Following the onboarding, there will be an opportunity to meet other co-op members, listen in on a discussion, and shop our products. Bring your own reusable containers, or use one from our collection. 

     
     

     You are receiving this email because you are on our mailing list and/or have filled out our interest form. Please let us know if you no longer wish to receive these emails and we will remove you from our list.

     
     

     Thanks!

     
     

     - Your friends at Greens & Beans Grocery Co-op

4. Include onboarding dates in monthly newsletter to be sent out at least 1 week (ideally 2 weeks) before first onboarding scheduled 
5. Send a reminder email about the onboarding event to those who have registered a day before it happens
6. At the event
   • Have a sign in sheet
   • Give orientation
   • Have a QR code for people to sign up to pay dues.
   • Link to the membership agreement form
   • Have a print out of the task list and descriptions
     • People can sign up to shadow right there.
     • Task Sign Up spreadsheet
   • Note thoughts and feedback
7. After the event
   • Note who attended
   • Send everyone the following:
     • Dues payment info 

     • Hi!
       
       Thanks for attending the Greens and Beans orientation yesterday. To join, next steps are as follows:
       
       1. Agree to  our membership agreement.
       2. Pay dues.
       
       Once you've done that, we'll add you to our google group, invite you to our WhatsApp, the task signup list, and you'll be able to shop at the store!
       
       Thanks,
       Simon

8. Once they've signed (required; can be found here) and paid dues (optional; can be found here): 
   • Send them:
     • Shopping times
     • Task list (for shadowing)
     • WhatsApp invite
     • A link to sign up to this wiki
       
   • Add them to the google group
     
   • Add them as a customer in Airtable
9. New members are considered “probationary members” for 3 months after signing the membership agreement. Details on probationary membership can be found here

Orientation Overview

Quick and dirty overview of everything

Co-op Overview

• Mission statement

• Greens & Beans Grocery Cooperative is a community-driven grocery cooperative that challenges traditional grocery and economic models through collective buying power to increase access to affordable and value-aligned products.

• We are a labor-based co-op. We all contribute labor to keep things running (and running smoothly)

Membership

• Requirements

  • Sign membership agreement 

  • Pay dues: $5-$20/month (or $60-$240 annually) sliding scale based on social and economic circumstances. See table below for suggestions
    

  • Contribute at least one labor shift per month (monthly sign up offered at the beginning of the month)

• Benefits

  • Hold leadership roles

  • Attend meetings/events

  • Shop

(inspired by payment system for Common Good City Farm)

Committees

• Administration: Manages finances, governance, and legal/compliance for the co-op
• Facilities: Manages physical space, infrastructure, and material resources needed to operate the co-op 
  

• Products: Manages products and inventory, including ordering products, ensuring product quality, and maintaining relationships with suppliers
  

• Internal Membership Engagement: Handles member experience, communication, and internal community-building, such as the onboarding process, meeting management, and event/social planning 

• External Community Engagement: Leads public-facing, activities, outreach, and external relationships, which may include organizing tabling and external communications (social media, newsletter)

Logistics

• Location: Luther Place Church basement 

• Regular activities:

  • Sunday 6 pm: Open shop and meeting 

  • (Second Sunday of the month is reserve for community social from 6-8)
  • Wednesday 6 pm: Open shop

Next Steps

• Sign membership agreement

• Pay monthly or annual dues (see info here)

• Get added to WhatsApp community and Google group 

• Get involved! Join a team! Come to a meeting!

Membership

You can sign this here.

This document outlines the rights and responsibilities of members of Greens & Bean Grocery Cooperative. This membership agreement applies to our current situation where Greens & Beans does not have a fixed physical location. This is a living, mutable document, subject to change through general membership voting at any time.

Rights as a member

• Shop at the co-operative

• Elect members to serve as representatives on the Coordinating Committee (if member for longer than 3 months)

• Run for positions and serve as a representative on the Coordinating Committee (if member for longer than 3 months)

• Inclusion in communications such as the general email lists and whatsapp groups

• Participate in groups events like meetings and potlucks

• Submit agenda items for general meetings and working group meetings

• Participate in votes for the entire co-op (if member for longer than 3 months)

Responsibilities as a member

• Payment of monthly dues and order fees

• Finance committee will verify dues payment seven days after the monthly due payment reminder

• General appropriate conduct at group events and in group communications

• Inappropriate conduct includes expression of racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or other discriminatory sentiments. Such expressions will not be tolerated in members, and will result in termination of membership.

• Other inappropriate conduct includes acting against the interests of the coop through actions such as embezzlement or theft. Such offenses will result in termination of membership.

• It is the responsibility of any coop member who: 1) becomes aware of inappropriate behavior, 2) self-determines that they are safe to call out such behavior, to intervene against inappropriate behavior. 

• The coop will not litigate interpersonal conflict between members, and expects that members should handle such conflict outside of the coop space.

• Regularly contribute time/labor in order to sustain Greens & Beans

Membership Process

• Fill in interest form

• Pay dues

• Attend an orientation

• Fill in the membership agreement form

• New members will have to wait 3 months to be eligible for voting in votes.

Once all of these have been completed, you will be added as a member of the co-op.

Leaving the co-op

• A member can leave the co-op whenever they want. Dues they have already paid will not be returned to them

• A member who has not paid dues in 3 months will be considered in arrears and will be sent a reminder to pay dues. A member in arrears will no longer be able to shop in the co-op unless an exception is granted.

• You can get back if you pay your dues when you show up

• A member who has not paid dues in 6 months will be considered to have voluntarily given up their membership

Dues payment

Our co-op requires a financial contribution from our members to run properly. There are several costs associated with our co-op that we can only cover if people pitch in $5 - $20 each month ($60-$240 each year). However, not everyone is able to contribute to these costs at the same rate. We ask members to reflect on how much they can afford, and pay dues accordingly. The amount of dues paid does not impact the “one member one vote” principle of the co-operative.

You can pay your dues and check/edit your re-occurring payment amount at OpenCollective by clicking here.

Here are some things to reflect on as you think about how much your dues are.

Consider paying less for dues ($5, $10) if you…

Paying Monthly Dues

Monthly dues are paid on a sliding scale to promote equity and inclusion in our membership. Members can pay between $5 - $20 per month, depending on their economic and social circumstances.

To pay dues, pay through our Open Collective page.

Members are encouraged to pay dues between the 1st and 10th of the month.

How much should I pay in dues? Check out our membership agreement.