Overview | Representatives | Decision Steps | Budget Options | Multiple Choice Vote | Penny Vote | Leaders | Workplace | Where is it used | How is it better

How Budget Options Are Chosen

1. Disbursing Profits

   There are millions of ways we could spend the bank's profits for the greater good. How do we decide which ones to put on the ballot?

   First of all, only nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive part of the bank's profits. Of course they in turn can distribute funds to a wider variety of initiatives.

   Second, to qualify for a place on the ballot, an organization must have significant support from the members of the bank, in the current year:

   1. The organization must be supported financially by at least ten members of the bank AND
   2. The organization must receive at least $1,000 in donations (in aggregate) from members of the bank.

   This qualifying procedure encourages members to contribute to the nonprofits of their choice and to recruit additional contributions from other members. This increases financial support for local, national and international nonprofits even before the bank's profits are distributed.

2. Recommending Loans

   For the most part, the bank's lending officers, general manager and board of directors will decide which specific loans the bank approves, influenced by the broad lending priorities set by the member depositors, but constrained by what lending opportunities are actually available.

   However, member depositors can greatly influence the bank's approval of specific loans to small businesses or for specific community initiatives by investing in them directly, contingent on the bank's participation. Members can choose to invest any amount in a given project, at any interest rate up to half a percent over the planned rate of return on bank stock. This gives the bank's lending team a clear sense of how much community confidence and support there is for that project, which will result in safer investments, strongly aligned with the community's values.