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Governance is the task of defining the goals and standards of an organisation and ensuring that there are effective management and other structures that will enable the organisation to achieve those goals and standards. There are four key elements to good governance in housing co-ops:

This guidance is designed to support good governance and management in new or existing co-operative and community-led housing organizations (referred to for ease of reference as organizations throughout the guide). It is intended to be of use by the governing bodies, their members, their staff and other staff working to support the sector and other partners.

Co-operation is derived from the Latin word “Co-operari”, ‘Co’ means “with” and ‘operari’ means “to work”. Hence co-operation means Working Together with others for a common purpose. Aristotle, a Philosopher of Ancient Greece, recognized the social nature of man when he said, “Man is a Social Animal”. Man cannot lead a happy and contented life if he lives in isolation. Therefore, there is a great need for Co-operation, which can be considered as the basic principle underlying human life.

This Code of Governance has been developed for community led housing organisations. Community led housing organisations can include housing co-operatives, tenant management organisations, community land trusts, mutual home ownership societies, cohousing schemes, development trusts and various other organisations.

Cooperatives are characterised by mutual-benefit coordination mechanisms aimed at the fulfilment of members’ participation rights and welfare, consistently with the normative principles of democratic involvement, independence and care for the community. This ideal situation may find, in practice, obstacles within the internal characteristics of the cooperative as well as in the nature of relationship with other actors in the socio-economic environment. Building on evidence from the literature, the paper systematises and highlights some of the potential problems in the governance of cooperative firms concerning the accomplishment of cooperative mutualistic aims by way of means that do not hamper other stakeholders in the socio-economic environment.

IN CARRYING OUT THIS DUTY, DIRECTORS MUST EXERCISE THEIR POWERS AND DISCHARGE DUTIES HONESTLY, IN GOOD FAITH, AND IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CO-OPERATIVE TO THE STANDARD OF A REASONABLY PRUDENT PERSON.

Worker cooperatives are built on a framework of democracy, but this does workers very little good unless the means to exercise their rights and enjoy the protections this framework provides are in place – this is what an effective governance system does. The governance system primarily focuses on how a democratic firm’s policy is established, how this information is communicated throughout the firm, and works to protect the personal rights of the members. It provides the means for matters of organizational direction and policy to be dealt with democratically.

Nonprofit organizations are required to have a board of directors, a governing body, as stated in the organization’s bylaws. The governing board is the leadership of the organization. The board of directors consists of volunteers, are not compensated for their role as a director and have displayed an interest in the purpose of the organization; such as a cause, industry, or profession (cure for cancer, disaster relief, nurse, financial planner, realtor, or alumni association).

It is the policy of the United States to provide, ,,within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States

It is recognised that different co-operatives may choose to apply the provisions of the Code in different ways and that ‘one size does not fit all’. Co-operatives may feel that it is not appropriate for them, due to size and turnover, to comply with a particular Code provision. In such cases they must explain in their annual report the background to the situation and give information about what they have chosen to do instead.

The policy templates in the guidance can be adapted to produce what is appropriate for local circumstances. It will require governing bodies of CLH organisations to carefully consider each issue to come up with the approach that is right for them. Some of the policies in the guidance may be fundamental to the CLH organisation – others may be less important and could be worked on later.

The Board is elected by and serves the membership, working towards AMIA’s greatest potential in fulfilling its mission statement. On behalf of the membership, the Board steers the organization towards a sustainable future, focusing on the organization’s mission, strategy, resources, and goals.

This Executive Summary presents our survey methodology and a profile of the respondents, and then reports on the findings in key categories: composition and recruitment, structures, policies and procedures, roles and responsibilities, and performance. Over the years, BoardSource has received thousands of inquiries from nonprofit leaders interested in comparing their boards to the "norm." Few simple answers apply universally to all boards. The results of the Nonprofit Governance Index 2004 reveal patterns and tendencies in nonprofit governance. Remember, however, that common practices are not necessarily best practices, nor should they be interpreted as ideal examples to be adopted by every board.

Data presented in this report reflect governance practices across a variety of nonprofit organizations with a wide range of board performance. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that statistics presented should not be interpreted as standards for excellence, but rather a snapshot of the state of nonprofit governance. Subsequent reports of the BoardSource Nonprofit Governance Index 2012 will focus on analyses of the data in a variety of focused areas, including factors contributing to board performance, diversity and inclusion, and CEO–board chair relations. BoardSource is collaborating with a nationwide network of governance researchers to produce a series of in-depth and useful research- to-practice publications.