The cooperative story will get a boost next year, thanks to the United Nations proclaiming 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives.

In December the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on cooperatives in social development, laying the groundwork for a year-long celebration of cooperation.

“[We] encourage all member states, as well as the United Nations and all other relevant stakeholders, to take advantage of the International Year of Cooperatives as a way of promoting cooperatives and raising awareness of their contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and to overall social and economic development,” U.N. Resolution 78/175 states (PDF).

Members of the International Cooperative Alliance are working with UN Member States to set a theme, slogan and objectives. We’ll let you know as soon as more details are available.

Tell the Co-op Story

A global focus on cooperation creates an opportunity for the world’s 3 million cooperatives, including more than 30,000 co-ops in the United States, to tell — and strengthen — their stories.

Cooperatives — democratically governed businesses that operate on an at-cost, not-for-profit basis — are unique in their ability to focus on the needs of their members, not on profits. Utility Pioneers often tell the story of how telco and electric co-ops connect communities, but are you aware of how other types of cooperatives serve your community?

• Marketing co-ops provide nationally known branding for local products (Blue Diamond Almonds, Organic Valley, Tillamook Creamery), and added food nutrition labels to products long before it was required by federal law.
• Credit unions fought off the destructive cycle of payday loans by creating salary advance loans with low rates that placed part of the borrowing into a savings account helping members escape a cycle of debt.
• The average grocery food co-op purchases from 281 local farms and producers, connecting members to local food and farmers, and 38% of total food co-op sales are certified organic products.

2025 may seem far away, but it’ll be here before you know it. Here are a few things you can do now to celebrate the power of cooperatives:

1. Showcase Shared Principles

Co-ops share a common foundation of seven principles. Do your staff and members know them? At Pioneer, we list our co-op principles on our website with ways our members can see each principle in action. Each of our staff members has a shirt listing the co-op principles, too.

In 2023 Pioneer created a free co-op education campaign using the theme, “Explore the Merits of Cooperation.” The campaign highlights the co-op principles, and includes customizable print ads, a flyer and social posts that can be updated and used throughout the year.

As you look ahead to 2025, find ways to help your principles shine.

Email us to get the “Explore the Merits of Cooperation” campaign

One of the easiest ways you can get staff excited about working for a cooperative is through food. Stock your staff break room with local and national treats created through cooperation. Be sure to tell staff how electric and telecommunications co-ops are part of this story, too.

3. Plan Co-op Education

Plan storytelling moments to celebrate cooperation. Not only does this help foster a sense of purpose for a new employee; connecting staff to the cooperative story supports staff retention.

• Pioneer celebrates National Cooperative Month each October both with our members and — importantly — with our staff. Watch our one-hour staff training video, “Why Co-ops are Cool,” and ask your Pioneer account manager or editor for the slides if this is something you’d like to personalize for your team.
• Kathryn Green, of Southern Rivers Energy, shares how her utility gets staff excited about “Living that Co-op Life” on Episode 258 of “The StoryConnect Podcast.”
• Sylandi Brown, now working internationally to champion cooperation, talked about how to use your co-op identity to attract talent on Episode 209 of “The StoryConnect Podcast.”
• Do you work with other co-ops in your community? If not, now is the perfect time to start. Look for community events this fall — anything from a chamber of commerce breakfast to a community fair — and co-sponsor with your local credit union, food co-op and other types of local co-ops.

Whether you are onboarding staff or sharing your story with your entire community, plan to educate internal and external audiences about the power of cooperation.

4. Give Cooperatively

Cooperation is more than a business model. It’s a way to invest in our communities. Pioneer’s team of storytellers runs in the annual Cooperative Development Foundation 5K, a virtual and in-person cooperative fundraising run, every spring. Consider joining us April 20 – May 3, 2024, or make plans to participate in 2025.

You can also plan to give cooperative gifts. Each summer Pioneer holds our Content in the Wild contest, a fun and rewarding way to see pictures of Utility Pioneers with something they created with our co-op. The first year of the contest we gave winners generic $50 gift cards. Then we realized our gifts had the chance to tell a story.

For the last two years we’ve given contest winners $50 gift cards to the Recreational Equipment Inc. co-op, known by its outdoor enthusiast members as REI. We pair the gifts with a link to REI’s cooperative story.

Do you have a member or staff contest? Look for ways to gift cooperation to winners. Not only does this support the sixth co-op principle, it shows the bigger story of how cooperatives like yours make life better for everyone.

5. Tune in to Cross-Sector Cooperative Stories

We found out about the UN resolution because as your communications co-op, we follow news from many different types of cooperatives and co-op champions. Here are a few of the co-op groups we follow:

• National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International and the association’s magazine, Cooperative Business Journal.
• Cooperative Development Foundation
• University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives offers research on America’s co-op economy.
• International Cooperative Alliance
• U.S.D.A Rural Development Cooperative Working Group
• Cooperative Communicators Association

On “The StoryConnect Podcast” we’re interviewing cross-sector cooperative leaders to identify ways to build your co-op story. Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform so you don’t miss these ideas.

We can’t wait to celebrate the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives with you!

As details develop, we’ll let you know how the world plans to celebrate our shared business model. Please send us your cooperative storytelling ideas so we can share them with other Utility Pioneers. Happy cooperating!