Download Center

Welcome to our Cooperative Housing Download Center — your gateway to a vast collection of educational materials.
Use the search box to explore and filter downloads by book type (Articles, Guides, Books, Reports, and Journals) or by category to quickly find the information that best fits your needs.

Our Portal Library is a comprehensive resource curated from trusted cooperative and housing organizations. It brings together a wealth of articles, guides, books, reports, and journals focused on cooperative housing, governance, leadership, and community development. Each publication is selected for its relevance and practical value, helping cooperative board members and leaders strengthen their knowledge in areas such as: 

Governance and Legal Frameworks –

Understand your duties, responsibilities, and ethical obligations.

Financial and Business Planning

Learn strategies to keep your cooperative strong and sustainable.

Operations and Maintenance

Gain insights into maintaining property value and community trust.

Marketing and Member Engagement –

Explore proven ways to build community participation and satisfaction.

Sector-Specific Studies

Dive into focused research on housing, agriculture, finance, and more.

Whether you’re seeking research-based insights or practical management tools, our Download Center serves as a one-stop hub for cooperative knowledge—supporting informed decisions and effective leadership across all cooperative communities.

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When you click on an item below, you’ll be taken to a page with a quick overview of that resource so you can learn more before downloading it. At the bottom of each page, you’ll see a five-star rating section — please take a moment to rate any items you’ve looked at! Your feedback helps me know which resources people find most useful and which ones might need to be updated or removed.

Cover Image Govern More, Manage Less Govern More, Manage Less

The agenda listed several significant items, including the approaching legislative session, a fund-raising campaign, and selecting the site for the 2018 conference.

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image Governance and Related Topics - 501(c)(3) Organizations Governance and Related Topics – 501(c)(3) Organizations

The Internal Revenue Service believes that a well-governed charity is more likely to obey the tax laws, safeguard charitable assets, and serve charitable interests than one with poor or lax...

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image Governance During a Pandemic Governance During a Pandemic

The executive committee met in secret, without the full board and disinviting the executive director.

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image governance How cooperatives are Controlled governance How cooperatives are Controlled

Cooperatives have a unique governance structure that reflects their ownership and control by their members.

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image Governance Makeover Governance Makeover

Organizations are streamlining governance processes. It may be a revamp of the bylaws, fewer committees, a smaller board, or elimination of ex officio seats at the board table.

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image Governance Review Governance Review

It’s the common reply by boards when asked about their rationale as to why they meet so often, why they sustain ineffective committees, or why the agenda is primarily “reports...

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image Governance tip sheet Governance tip sheet

These tips are based on the governance areas most likely to be a challenge for boards of small-to-mid-size nonprofit organizations, as identified in Leading with Intent

Article  Coop Governance
Cover Image grievance policy procedure grievance policy procedure

The purpose of a grievance procedure is to enable employees to raise grievances related to their employment, seeking satisfactory solutions, and to allow the employer to resolve grievances in a...

Article  Coop Policy
Cover Image Group Think at Board Meetings Group Think at Board Meetings

Eager-to-contribute board members often voice their ideas with great passion.

Article  Board Meeting Board
Cover Image guide to investment policy for housing co-operatives guide to investment policy for housing co-operatives

Co-ops should put the money they have to work. This means investing in assets that increase in value or produce income over time.

Article  Coop Finance
Cover Image Guide to Meeting Rules of Order Guide to Meeting Rules of Order

The importance of maintaining order and advancing the meeting's agenda greatly benefits from relying on the Rules of Order.

Article  Board Roberts Rules
Cover Image Guidelines-for-co-operative-elections Guidelines-for-co-operative-elections

A coop board is elected each year at its annual general meeting

Article  Coop Elections
Cover Image Guiding Principles Guiding Principles

Part of our Theory of Change is that when nonprofits are well-led, well-resourced, and well-connected, they achieve mission success.

Article  Board Skills
Cover Image harassment policy harassment policy

The objective of this policy is to define what the co-op considers to be harassment and outline the actions the co-op will take in response to a reported case of...

Article  Coop Policy
Cover Image HC1-5 Overview of affordable housing indicators HC1-5 Overview of affordable housing indicators

There is no international consensus on how to define or measure housing affordability, and no single measure fully captures the range of concerns surrounding the ability of households to secure...

Article  Coop Affordable
Cover Image Help Wanted in Committees Help Wanted in Committees

Committees are important to organizations, supplementing the work of the board, developing leaders, and engaging members. Most associations are finding it increasingly difficult to attract willing volunteers.

Article  Coop Committees
Cover Image Helping Children Cope with Disaster Helping Children Cope with Disaster

Disasters may strike quickly without warning. These events can be frightening for adults, but they are particularly traumatic for children if they are unsure of what to do.

Article  Coop Emergency Preparedness
Cover Image History of Cooperatives UW History of Cooperatives UW

Cooperative organizations have been established throughout history to address various needs, often in response to economic and social pressures.

Article  Coop History
Cover Image History of NonProfits History of NonProfits

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th 1776, declaring independence from Britain.

Article  Coop History
Cover Image Exploring Your HOA Meeting Minutes HOA Meeting Minutes- Dos & Don’ts

Meeting minutes are an official, legally binding record of the actions taken by board members at a board meeting.

Article  Coop Minutes
Cover Image Home emergency supplies kit Home emergency supplies kit

Some families prefer to store their emergency supplies in one location. Choose a place in your home that would be relatively safe in the event of an earth­quake

Article  Coop Emergency Preparedness
Cover Image Housing Affordability and Stability end homelessness Housing Affordability and Stability end homelessness

This focus is informed by the powerful connection between homelessness and access to housing people can afford.

Article  Coop Affordable
Cover Image Housing Affordability Recommendations for New Research to Guide Policy Housing Affordability Recommendations for New Research to Guide Policy

When considering whether and how to address the issue of housing affordability, policymakers seeking to base their decisions on empirical evidence will encounter gaps in the existing research.

Article  Coop Affordable