Oikocredit’s Cooperative Identity Process: why it matters, results so far and how you might get involved

Oikocredit’s founders decided in 1975 to establish the organisation as a cooperative, jointly owned and democratically controlled by its members. Today, as Oikocredit approaches its 50th anniversary, our ways of working and our relationships with and between our stakeholders continue in the same cooperative spirit.

How can we ensure that, as a cooperative, we continue to evolve qualitatively and to grow our social and financial impact? What is the right balance between capital, community and impact, when achieving a financial return is a prerequisite for quantitative growth?

To address these and related challenges, Oikocredit’s members have launched what we’re calling the Cooperative Identity Process.

What the Cooperative Identity Process is about

The Cooperative Identity Process is an open discussion about the future of the cooperative. It covers aspects such as Oikocredit’s governance, membership (what keeps members engaged and what may hold them back from further involvement?), mission and vision, our ecumenical roots, and the nature of our business activities.

The process was initiated jointly by the Members’ Council, Supervisory Board and Managing Board during the Members’ Meeting in June 2024.

A core team of seven member representatives are leading the process, supported by staff. There is a steering committee for oversight and advice comprising the Chairs of the Members’ Council and Supervisory Board and the Managing Director.

The process aims to ensure that Oikocredit is well prepared to grow and thrive, and fit for another 50 years of impact investing in an increasingly competitive environment. We want to be certain that all our key stakeholders will benefit as much as possible from our work: members and investors; investee partners, their clients and low-income communities (the people we serve); board members and staff; support associations and volunteers; strategic partners and donors.

The first round of dialogue sessions has provided valuable input

From November 2024 to February 2025 we held a first round of online dialogue sessions involving Oikocredit support association board members, managers and staff, and cooperative members. Conversations took place in English, French, German and Spanish around an initial set of general questions. Close to 100 participants joined one of the sessions, representing 35 member organisations from 17 countries.

We thank all participants for their engagement and contributions to date and look forward to their further engagement.

Based on these sessions, the core team has identified the following main topics as outcomes:

• Vision and heritage. A vision emerged of a truly global movement, including developing membership and investment opportunities in the Global South. The key challenge appears to be finding ways to adapt and grow while preserving Oikocredit’s longstanding defining values, including its ecumenical roots.
• Profitability, results and efficiency. Oikocredit must be more effective and efficient in both raising capital and achieving positive social impact and financial results through its investing. This will help the cooperative generate income through development financing, pay a fair regular dividend, and attract new members and investors.
• Membership. Oikocredit’s membership proposition requires further reflection. Currently there is a lack of clarity, especially in the Global South, about expectations and benefits, and members engage to very different degrees. Members in the Global South are keen to see Oikocredit’s impact on their churches and communities.

Next steps and how to get involved

Following the first round of conversations, we are moving into the second round of the dialogue process. Now is an excellent time to engage and help shape our cooperative’s future!

Round 2 takes place between March and July 2025. In this round we aim to explore the following main questions (and more specific sub-questions), based on the broad outcomes from round 1:

• To what extent is Oikocredit a global movement or just another financial institution? Which values underpin Oikocredit’s future and to what extent should the values and faith/ecumenism of its founders be actively maintained?
• How well do Oikocredit’s current products and services stand up to competition from other impact investors – and what, if any, changes should we make to enhance the cooperative’s growth?
• What forms of membership should the cooperative have in the future, and what kinds of decision-making power should members have?

We plan to continue with round 2 of the dialogue in discussions at the support associations’ spring meeting in March 2025 in The Hague, within support associations, with Oikocredit members at the Members’ Meeting in June 2025 and in smaller working groups.

In the third round of the process, from July to November 2025, we aim to combine the best ideas we have generated and use them to build scenarios and create implementation options to help Oikocredit move forward successfully in the coming decades. Let’s grow our cooperative together!

For more information about the Cooperative Identity Process, please contact Arjen Overweel (Senior Relationship Manager) at [email protected] or the core team directly at [email protected].