community-rule/messages/en/create/customRule/membership.json

{
  "_comment": "Create flow — membership / how members join (compact card stack)",
  "page": {
    "compactTitle": "Who belongs to your group\nand how do people join and leave?",
    "compactDescriptionBefore": "Pick a card for each part of membership, from joining to leaving. Combine them or ",
    "compactDescriptionLinkLabel": "add",
    "compactDescriptionAfter": " your own.",
    "expandedTitle": "Who belongs to your group and how do people join and leave?",
    "expandedDescriptionBefore": "Pick a card for each part of membership, from joining to leaving. Combine them or ",
    "expandedDescriptionAfter": " your own.",
    "seeAllLink": "See all membership cards"
  },
  "confirmModal": {
    "title": "Confirm selection",
    "description": "Confirm to select this option.",
    "nextButtonText": "Confirm"
  },
  "addPlatform": {
    "nextButtonText": "Add card"
  },
  "removePlatform": {
    "nextButtonText": "Remove"
  },
  "sectionHeadings": {
    "eligibility": "Who it covers and why",
    "joiningProcess": "How it works",
    "expectations": "Expectations and limits"
  },
  "methods": [
    {
      "id": "open-admission",
      "label": "Open admission",
      "supportText": "Anyone who agrees to follow this Rule can join and start on the work the same day.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Anyone who agrees to follow this Rule can be a member. We keep the door wide because the people who come to us, for help or to help, can run this group with us. Aid never depends on joining, and everyone who gets aid is welcome to join. If our Rule has levels of membership, people who join here start at the first level. If our Rule has another way to admit voting members, that decides who votes and our work stays open to everyone.",
        "joiningProcess": "A person joins by coming to a shift, a meeting or one of our channels and telling a member they want to take part. That member explains what we do, shares this Rule and asks if they agree to follow it. Once they say yes they are a member and can start on the work that day. The member adds them to our roster with only a name or nickname and one way to reach them, kept where only two members the group names to keep it can see it.",
        "expectations": "Members follow this Rule and can leave at any time. Nobody is turned away for who they are. Open doors pull against safety and against keeping our culture as we grow, and they break when newcomers outnumber the members who can explain how we work. Then we slow down and welcome people in crews, or add a second door for deciding, rather than closing this one. Someone who may make others unsafe can be paused at once under our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "worker-owner-candidacy",
      "label": "Worker-owner candidacy",
      "supportText": "Every worker has a dated path to ownership, from candidate to a member vote to a member share.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Every worker who stays with the co-op has a dated path to becoming a worker-owner. Ownership means one member one vote, a share of any surplus by hours worked and the duties that come with both. Candidacy gives the candidate and the members time to see if it fits. We judge every candidate against the same written criteria and never by whether they are like us.",
        "joiningProcess": "Founding members are worker-owners once they adopt this Rule. Every later hire becomes a candidate, with the books, the bylaws and this Rule open to them from the first week. Candidacy lasts nine months. A worker-owner meets the candidate every month to answer questions and give feedback. At six months the candidate and two worker-owners review the work in writing against our written criteria. At nine months the worker-owners vote, and the candidate joins with more than half of those who vote, if our quorum votes. The new worker-owner buys one member share, the same price for everyone, paid over a year or longer if asked, and by payroll only with written consent. Candidates are not yet members, and only worker-owners vote on the co-op’s business.",
        "expectations": "Worker-owners attend member meetings and vote. A candidate who is not approved hears why in writing and can stand again once after three months. After a second no, our bylaws say whether their job continues. Candidacy pulls against equality, so it never runs past twelve months, and a vote not held by then is taken at the next member meeting. The co-op is an employer, so candidates have the same written protections against harassment and discrimination as members. Removing a worker-owner follows our conflict process and our bylaws."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "join-by-contributing",
      "label": "Join by contributing",
      "supportText": "Anyone can start on the work, and after two shifts or two accepted contributions they become a member by asking.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use this when doing the work together is the best way to know each other, as in a crew that runs shifts or an open source project that reviews contributions. Anyone can start without asking. Every kind of work counts, including shifts, admin, care for other members, writing, design, code and working group meetings. If our Rule also keeps our work open to everyone, this decides who becomes a member.",
        "joiningProcess": "A newcomer picks up an open task, a shift or a first contribution marked for newcomers, with a member nearby to answer questions. After two shifts, or two contributions a member has reviewed and accepted, within three months, the newcomer can ask any member to add them as a member. That member checks the work happened, adds them to our roster and tells the members where every member will see it. A member with a safety concern raises it within three days, and the person waits while two members look into it. The person hears the concern and can answer it. If it still stands, it is a decision of the whole group.",
        "expectations": "Members keep taking part in some way. A member who has taken no part for six months and does not answer a friendly message within a month moves to former members and can come back by asking. Contributing earns membership, and more say comes only through the levels our Rule sets, on the same terms for everyone. Joining by work favors people with free time, so we count every kind of work and keep tasks small enough for people with jobs, children or disabilities. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "membership-by-token",
      "label": "Membership by token",
      "supportText": "Anyone who holds our token is a member, with written limits so that money alone cannot buy control of the group.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Our members are the people who hold our token, a record on a public blockchain that shows who belongs. Anyone who holds at least one token is a member. Tokens can be bought and sold, so money can buy say in the group, and we accept that only within the written limits below. Work for the group earns tokens without paying, and our Rule’s methods for deciding set how much say each token gives. Aid never depends on a token.",
        "joiningProcess": "A person becomes a member when they hold a token in a wallet, an account on the blockchain. They can buy one where tokens are offered or earn tokens for work the members approve. We ask a lawyer before offering tokens for sale, since selling tokens can bring them under investment law. A member we name sends each new holder a short welcome and this Rule. Holdings are visible to anyone, so members who need privacy use a wallet that is not tied to their name. If our work is open to everyone, anyone can take part in our work and discussions, and only holders vote. Where our Rule lets people join by contributing, that work earns a newcomer their first token.",
        "expectations": "No holder can cast more than one tenth of the votes on any decision, and wallets we can tie to one person count as one holder. Every member can see every holding, vote and payment from shared funds and can raise a concern through our conflict process. Decisions can be undone the way they were made. Members can leave at any time by giving up their tokens. A holder removed under our conflict process loses roles, spaces and votes where our token terms allow and can sell us their tokens."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "volunteers-and-core-members",
      "label": "Volunteers and core members",
      "supportText": "Volunteers do the work, and core members who take part every month also hold keys and make the big decisions.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We have two kinds of members. Volunteers are everyone who takes part, and they can do any open task, join working groups and speak at any meeting. Core members are volunteers who have taken on more. They hold keys, logins and private channels and make decisions of the whole group. Core is a job, not a status, and every core member has one vote. In this Rule active members are core members who are not on leave.",
        "joiningProcess": "A volunteer who has taken part for one season of three months can ask to join the core. The request is posted where every core member will see it. The volunteer joins if no core member raises a reasoned concern within fifteen days, and a concern that stands goes to a vote of the core by our supermajority share. If our Rule sets another way to approve members, that governs this step instead. Core members do at least one shift or task for the group each month, and admin, care for members and working group meetings count. At the start of each month two members who keep our roster check who did, looking only at the month just ended.",
        "expectations": "The roster keepers message any core member who missed the month, asking how they are and offering leave. One who does not take leave within two weeks, backdated if they wish, returns to volunteer for now and hands back keys, so quiet months never leave us short of a quorum. They rejoin the core after one month at the floor by asking, with no new approval. Tiers can harden into a ladder, so the core is open to every volunteer on the same terms. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "contributors-and-maintainers",
      "label": "Contributors and maintainers",
      "supportText": "Contributors become reviewers and then maintainers through steady work and a nomination, on the same written terms for everyone.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Our project has three steps. Contributors are anyone who has had work accepted. Reviewers can approve work in the areas they know. Maintainers accept work into the main project, publish releases, hold the project’s accounts and decide changes to this Rule, so in this Rule active members are maintainers not on leave. Each step is a job open to everyone on the same written terms, and every maintainer has one vote. If our Rule also has core members, maintainers are the core.",
        "joiningProcess": "A contributor who has had at least five pieces of work accepted over three months can be nominated as a reviewer by any maintainer or can nominate themselves. A reviewer who has reviewed work steadily for six months can be nominated as a maintainer the same way. A nomination is posted where every maintainer will see it and passes if no maintainer raises a reasoned concern within fifteen days. A concern that stands goes to a vote of maintainers by our supermajority share. Our records say what each step can do and who holds each step.",
        "expectations": "Maintainers review work within two weeks or say they cannot. A reviewer or maintainer who has not taken part for six months and does not answer a message within a month moves to former maintainers, keeps their credit, hands back access and can return by asking. The ladder pulls against equality and favors people paid to work on the project, so every kind of work counts, including docs, design, support and sorting reports, and we look at who climbs each year. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "companions",
      "label": "Companions",
      "supportText": "Each new member is paired for their first season with a companion who explains how we work and why.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Every new member gets a companion for their first season of three months. A companion is a member who joined at least one season ago. They are a peer, never a boss or a judge. Their job is the why behind how we work, so our culture passes on along with our methods. Whoever started the group is the first companion.",
        "joiningProcess": "When someone joins, a member pairs them with a companion who has time that season. A companion has at most two newcomers at once. They meet in the first week and do at least one shift or task together each month. They talk about how we decide, who holds which keys and why our rules say what they say. In the second month the companion asks what the newcomer sees that we have stopped seeing and brings it to the next meeting, without names if the newcomer prefers. Either one can ask for a new pairing at any time without giving a reason.",
        "expectations": "Companions answer questions, explain and introduce. They never decide whether a newcomer stays, and a newcomer never needs a companion’s approval to take part or to speak. Being a companion counts as work for the group. Pairing pulls against growth because some newcomers will wait for a companion, though never to join or take part. When no companion is free we say so and give a date. Concerns about a pairing go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "joining-in-crews",
      "label": "Joining in crews",
      "supportText": "New members learn together in crews that start on set dates, and each crew is only as big as we can teach.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We bring new members in by crews so that our culture keeps pace with our growth. Drift wins when new people outnumber the members who can say why a rule is there. A crew is a few newcomers who start together, learn together and lean on each other. Anyone our Rule admits can join the next crew, and newcomers who arrive between crews can do the work right away.",
        "joiningProcess": "We name the start date of the next crew at least a month ahead and start a crew every three months, or sooner when five or more newcomers are waiting. A crew takes only as many newcomers as we can pair with experienced members, two newcomers to each. The crew meets weekly for its first month to learn this Rule and the work, and hears what we tried before and what it cost. At every shift one member welcomes anyone who drops in, gives them one task and tells them the date the next crew starts.",
        "expectations": "Newcomers waiting for a crew can still do the work and are welcome at every meeting. Crews pull against reach because some eager people wait. When more people want in than we can teach, we start a second crew or help newcomers start a group of their own rather than cutting what each crew learns. After each crew’s first season we ask how it went and change the plan for the next crew. Concerns about a crew go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "orientation",
      "label": "Orientation",
      "supportText": "New members are invited to a short orientation that reads this Rule aloud and gives the reason behind each rule.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Every new member is invited to an orientation in their first month. It is a welcome, not a test, and nobody waits for it to start on the work or to speak at a meeting. Orientation passes on what is written down. It reads this Rule aloud, explains how we decide, who holds which keys and how to raise a concern, and tells how our rules came to be. Online projects can run it as a written guide with a monthly call.",
        "joiningProcess": "Two members run orientation once a month, or whenever three newcomers are waiting, for about an hour and a half. They read this Rule aloud and pause after each part for questions. For each rule they give the reason, what we tried before and what it cost, and they leave the gossip out. They show where our records live and how to reach the members who hold each role. Newcomers who cannot come get the same walkthrough one on one or on a call. When a newcomer asks a question this Rule cannot answer, the members running orientation bring it to the next meeting.",
        "expectations": "Doing the work and speaking at meetings never depend on orientation. Running orientation counts as work for the group and rotates among members each season. Orientation pulls against time, and it goes stale when nobody updates it, so the members running it update the notes each season. A rule with no reason given is the first thing a capable newcomer will want to fix, so we give the reason with the rule. Concerns about orientation go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "rest-and-workload-limits",
      "label": "Rest and workload limits",
      "supportText": "We cap what any one member carries, set hours off and make the work smaller when the crew cannot cover it.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Burnout is the group’s to fix, not the person’s. It comes from a design nobody chose, where work flows to whoever can least say no. These limits apply to every member, including whoever started the group, and we set them together while everyone is rested. People burn out fastest when they cannot afford to stop, so a group that pays its members pays a wage they can live on and keeps a reserve for leave.",
        "joiningProcess": "No member holds more than two roles at once, and every role has a second person learning it. A group too small for this lists who holds each role and who takes it next. We keep hours when the group’s phones are off and a closed week each season, and in off hours only members on call need to answer urgent messages. Every six months we count the hours members can give and the hours our work takes. When the work takes more, we grow only as fast as we can teach, or we make the work smaller and say who that leaves out. Members are paid back for what they spend on the work. Spending over $50 needs one other member’s written agreement first, and over $500 a decision of the whole group.",
        "expectations": "Any member can say a load is too much without giving a reason, and nobody loses their place, shifts or pay for saying it. A member who takes on more than these limits allow is asked to hand some of it over, as care and not as a penalty. Limits pull against speed and reach, and some work will wait. A smaller mission is not a defeat. We change these limits by a decision of the whole group, never in a crisis. Concerns go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "leave-and-return",
      "label": "Leave and return",
      "supportText": "Members can step back for up to six months without losing their place, and come back without starting over.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Every member can take leave for any reason and does not have to give one. People get sick, burn out, care for family, move or need rest. A clear leave lets them rest without guilt and keeps our counts honest, because members on leave are not active members and do not count toward quorum or any threshold. In a worker co-op, pay during leave follows our bylaws and the law.",
        "joiningProcess": "A member tells the roster keepers they are taking leave and for how long, up to six months. They hand keys, logins and roles to another member before they go, and keep announcements if they wish. Leave can be extended once by telling the roster keepers. When burnout is hurting a member or the work, two members not involved can offer rest leave. Pausing their shifts and roles for up to a month needs the member’s agreement or a decision of the whole group. The member keeps their vote and can ask two other members to review it. Disagreement is never a reason, and paid work follows employment law. To return, they say so and get a catch-up from a member within two weeks.",
        "expectations": "A member on leave keeps their place, their level and their history, and returns with the rights they had. Nobody is pressed to explain a leave or to come back early. Leave pulls against coverage, so a member who holds a role hands it over before leaving. A member away for six months without taking leave gets a friendly message asking how they are. If they do not reply within a month they move to former members and can return by asking. This is not removal."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "leaving-the-group",
      "label": "Leaving the group",
      "supportText": "Members can leave at any time, hand back what they hold, say what they saw and come back later.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Any member can leave at any time for any reason, and nobody is pressed to stay or to explain. A group that is easy to leave should still hear why people go, and a group that is hard to leave, like a worker co-op, should make leaving fair. This covers leaving by choice, not removal or members who drift away.",
        "joiningProcess": "A member who leaves tells any member, who passes it to the members who keep our roster. The departing member hands roles to another member and returns keys, equipment and shared money within two weeks, and their access to private channels and accounts is closed. A member they choose offers a short talk about what they saw, what worked and what made them go, and brings what they agree to share to the next meeting without their name. A departing worker-owner gives the notice our bylaws set and is repaid their share as our bylaws say.",
        "expectations": "Former members are welcome back and return the way our Rule says people join, with no penalty for having left. Their details leave our roster after two years unless they ask us to keep them. We do not gossip about people who leave. Easy leaving pulls against keeping what people know, so we ask for notes on any role first. If several people leave in a short time, the members look at why at the next meeting. Concerns go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "handing-over-roles",
      "label": "Handing over roles",
      "supportText": "A member who steps down from a role gives notice, trains the next person and hands over keys, logins and notes.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Any member can step down from any role at any time, and leaving a role is ordinary and never a betrayal. Knowledge that lives in one head leaves with that head, so every role has written notes and every key and login is held by at least two members. The group owns each role and its accounts, never the person who holds them. This covers stepping down, the end of a term and handing over before leave.",
        "joiningProcess": "A member stepping down tells the members two weeks ahead when they can, or right away when they cannot. They update the role’s notes, a page on how the work is done, and give them to the next holder or the second person already learning it. They do the role together at least once. Keys, logins, passwords and bank access move to the new holder, and two members check that the old holder’s access is closed within a week. When no one takes the role, the members decide at the next meeting whether to pause that work or share it out.",
        "expectations": "Members who step down are thanked in the open, and we mark each handover so that changing hands is something we celebrate. The old holder answers questions for a month if they can and owes nothing more. Handing over pulls against speed because teaching is slower than doing. A role that nobody can hand over has become one person’s job, and we fix that at the next meeting. Concerns about a handover go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "ending-a-membership",
      "label": "Ending a membership",
      "supportText": "We end a membership against someone’s will only as the last step of our conflict process, by our supermajority share.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "This covers ending a membership the member does not want to end. We remove a member only when they have done serious harm or repeatedly broken our commitments, our conflict process has run, and repair has failed or would not keep people safe. Disagreeing, raising concerns, being inactive and who someone is are never grounds. Removal pulls against our open door, so it is the last step and never the first. Our conflict process can pause someone’s access at once, and a pause is not a finding.",
        "joiningProcess": "A proposal to remove a member comes only from our conflict process, with a short summary of what happened and what is disputed, without private details. The member hears the reasons and can answer in writing or in person with a friend present. The person harmed never has to attend or speak. The active members vote within two weeks, by secret ballot if anyone asks, and removal passes with our supermajority share of the active members who vote, if our quorum votes. The member in question neither votes nor counts. If our Rule gives this decision to a named role, that role decides after the same steps. We record only that it was decided, its date and the method.",
        "expectations": "A removed member hands back keys and equipment, their access closes within a day and any member share is repaid as our bylaws say. Removal never cuts anyone off from aid, and if distance is needed we find another way to get them aid. They can ask the members once to reconsider with new facts, and can ask to return after a year. If the vote fails, the case goes back to our conflict process. A group with staff follows employment law and asks a lawyer first. Ending a membership never ends anyone’s right to live in our housing without the court process the law requires. Nobody is locked out or has utilities cut."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "equal-membership",
      "label": "Equal membership",
      "supportText": "Everyone who belongs is a full member with the same rights, the same duties and one vote.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We have one kind of member. Every member can do the work, has the same say in how it is run and in this Rule, and has one vote, whatever they put in and however long they have been here. People who help without joining are supporters, welcome in our work and at our events, and they do not vote.",
        "joiningProcess": "A person becomes a full member the way our Rule says people join, after any trial period or candidacy our Rule sets, and from then on has every right in this Rule. Roles, keys and logins are jobs the members hand out for a term. They are not ranks, and holding one never adds to a member’s vote. Whoever started the group, longtime members and members who put in more money or hours have one vote like everyone else. A supporter who wants a say becomes a member the same way anyone else does.",
        "expectations": "Every member takes on a share of the work they can manage and joins decisions of the whole group when they can. Equal say pulls against speed as we grow, and it breaks when a few members do most of the work while everyone decides. When that happens we consider a core of members who take on more, or limits on what any one member carries, rather than giving anyone a bigger vote. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "starting-with-one-person",
      "label": "Starting with one person",
      "supportText": "One person starts the group, writes the first draft of this Rule and hands their sole say to the first members.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Our group starts with one person who writes this Rule as a draft for the people who join. Their first job is to make room for others. Anyone they invite, and anyone who agrees to this draft and wants to do the work, can be a founding member. The person who started the group gets no title, extra vote or veto once others join. Later members join the way our Rule says.",
        "joiningProcess": "The person who started the group invites the first members, shares this draft and asks each to agree to follow it while it is a draft. They decide alone only as long as our Rule’s methods for deciding allow, and if those name no end, until a second member joins. They record each decision, why they made it and how it can be undone. When the group has three members, or after three months with two, the founding members read the draft together, change what they want and adopt it by a decision of the whole group.",
        "expectations": "Once the Rule is adopted, the person who started the group is one member among equals. Every key, account and login they set up is shared with at least one other member within a month. If they want to keep a role, such as holding the bank account, they ask the members, and the role gets a term and a recall like any other. Keeping control of what you started is tempting, so the founding members review this arrangement after their first season. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "owners-and-staff",
      "label": "Owners and staff",
      "supportText": "Owners have the final say on the business, and staff have written rights to see decisions, raise concerns and appeal.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Our business has owners and staff. The owners, named in our records, have the final say on what this Rule leaves to them, such as hiring, pay, the budget and ending someone’s work. Staff are everyone else who works here, and they are members with every right this part of our Rule does not keep for owners. Because this gives owners power, it limits that power in writing. In a worker co-op, worker-owners are the owners and candidates for ownership are staff.",
        "joiningProcess": "Staff join the way our Rule says and become owners only as our ownership agreement or bylaws say. Owners write down each decision that affects staff as a group, with the reason, where every member will see it. Decisions about one person stay between the owners and that person. Staff can see this Rule, the decisions that affect their work and the pay scale, and can talk about pay and organize, including in a union. Any staff member can ask the owners to explain or change a decision, and the owners answer in writing within two weeks. If they do not answer in time, the question goes to the next meeting of all members.",
        "expectations": "A staff member who disagrees with an answer can appeal through our conflict process, and a decision that breaks this Rule is undone when the appeal finds it does. Nobody loses their place, shifts or pay for raising a concern. We are an employer, so we keep written harassment and discrimination procedures and follow employment law. Before ending anyone’s work, owners give the reasons in writing and hear the person’s side. Owner power pulls against equality, so owners and staff review this arrangement together every year."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "paid-staff",
      "label": "Paid staff",
      "supportText": "Staff we pay have a written role, report to a named member or working group and never decide their own pay.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Some member-run groups hire a coordinator or a few workers so the work does not rest on volunteers alone. A paid role is a job, not a rank. Staff carry out what the members decide and do not become the boss nobody chose. They keep every right the law gives employees, including talking about pay and organizing. Staff who are also members keep their vote, except on their own pay, role or review.",
        "joiningProcess": "We create a paid role as a decision of the whole group, with a written description of the work, the hours, the pay and who the staff member reports to, which is one named member or a working group. Hiring follows written criteria and a fair process open to anyone who could do the job. Staff take direction only through the person or working group they report to. Pay follows a scale every member can read.",
        "expectations": "Reviews happen once a year in the smallest circle that can do them well, and the members hear only the outcome. Concerns about staff go to the person they report to and then to our conflict process, and a group with staff keeps written harassment and discrimination procedures. Ending a paid role follows employment law and our written discipline steps. Paid staff pulls against shared work, so each year we check that members still do the work that matters."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "one-person-one-account",
      "label": "One person one account",
      "supportText": "Each member has one account and one vote, and we check this without collecting documents or legal names.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use this when we meet and vote mostly online and an account could be faked or copied, so that one person might vote many times. Any person can hold one membership account. We never ask for ID, legal names, addresses, photos of documents or biometric data, because collecting them puts undocumented members and the people we work with at risk. Aid and access to our work never depend on an account.",
        "joiningProcess": "A new account becomes a member account once two members confirm they have met its holder live, on a video call or in person, and the holder says this is their only account. In a large network the confirming members can come from the holder’s local group. They record only that they confirmed the account and the date. Accounts that are not yet confirmed can take part in discussion but do not vote on decisions of the whole group.",
        "expectations": "Members keep one account and tell the members who keep accounts if they lose access, so the old account can be closed and a new one confirmed. A member who knowingly holds two voting accounts loses the extra one, and repeated cases go to our conflict process. Live checks favor people who can meet on video in a shared language, so we offer other times, languages and in-person checks. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "trial-period",
      "label": "Trial period",
      "supportText": "New members do the work and help run it from day one, and gain a say in this Rule after one season.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Every new member has a first season of three months that opens three doors in order. The work opens on the first day, and so does a say in how the work is run. A say in changes to this Rule, in who joins and in spending over $500 opens when the season ends, on the same terms everyone has. A group that makes people wait longer to speak gets members who have learned to be quiet. If our Rule has core members, the core opens after this season.",
        "joiningProcess": "During the first season the new member works beside other members and has a companion if our Rule names one. They do not count toward thresholds for the decisions still closed to them. Near the end of the season the new member and two members talk about how it has gone, what the new member sees that we have stopped seeing and what they still want to learn. The season then ends and the member has every right members have, unless a member raises a reasoned concern. The new member hears the concern and can answer it, and the season can be extended once by three months.",
        "expectations": "New members are never on trial for who they are. A concern must be about our commitments or safety. If one still stands at the end of an extension, the active members decide by our supermajority share whether the person gets a say in this Rule. Either way they keep doing the work, and if turned down they can ask again after three months. Waiting pulls against equality, so the season is extended once at most. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "members-approve-new-members",
      "label": "Members approve new members",
      "supportText": "A person who wants to join meets members and joins when no member raises a reasoned concern within fifteen days.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use this when membership carries real power, such as a vote on this Rule, keys or access to shared money, and every member should have a say in who joins. Anyone who agrees to this Rule can ask. We judge everyone against the same written commitments and never by whether they are like us. If our Rule also keeps our work open to everyone, this decides who becomes a member.",
        "joiningProcess": "The person tells any member they want to join and meets members at a meeting or on a call any member can join. Members ask only the questions we agreed in advance about our commitments and the work, the same for everyone, and the person asks theirs. A member then posts the request where every member will see it and raises it at the next meeting. If no member raises a concern within fifteen days, the person is a member. A concern must give a reason tied to our commitments or to safety. The person hears it without private details and can answer it. If it still stands, the active members vote and the person joins with our supermajority share.",
        "expectations": "A person who is not approved hears why in plain words and can ask again after three months. Nobody can block a new member over dislike, a disagreement outside our commitments or who the person is. Approving members pulls against speed and can let a few longtime members guard the door, so once a year we review who asked to join and who was turned away. New members join on the same terms as everyone else. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "application-and-review",
      "label": "Application and review",
      "supportText": "People apply, and a small working group reviews every application against the same written criteria and recommends a decision.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use this when places are limited, roles need particular skills or more people ask to join than members can meet, as in housing co-ops, fellowships and hiring. Anyone can apply. We say what we look for before anyone applies, judge everyone against the same criteria and ask only for what the decision needs. A referral from a member never replaces the review. In a worker co-op this governs hiring, and new hires then follow our path to ownership.",
        "joiningProcess": "The members name a working group of two to five members for a one-year term. It writes a short application and the criteria, and every application gets a reply within a month. Two of its members read each application and talk with the applicant, asking everyone the same questions. They score it against the criteria and recommend a decision. If our Rule has the members approve new members, the recommendation goes to them. Otherwise it takes effect when no member raises a concern within fifteen days, and a concern that stands goes to a decision of the whole group. An applicant who is turned down hears why and can apply again after six months.",
        "expectations": "The working group keeps applications private, shares only its recommendation and reasons with the members and deletes the applications of people who did not join after a year. It cannot add criteria on its own. The members change the criteria by a decision of the whole group. Written applications favor people who write well, so we accept spoken applications and help with forms. If replies fall behind a month, the members name new people to the working group."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "vouching",
      "label": "Vouching",
      "supportText": "A new member joins when two members who know them in person vouch for them and nobody raises a safety concern.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use vouching when our work puts members or the people we work with at risk, such as care at protests, immigration defense or organizing a workplace. Trust is built in person, so a member vouches only for someone they know off the internet. Vouching is a door to membership and never a judgment of anyone’s worth. If our work is open to everyone, it stays open and vouching decides who becomes a member. If the members also approve new members, vouching comes first and their fifteen days follow.",
        "joiningProcess": "Two members who know the person in person each tell the members who keep our roster that they vouch for them. In a group of five or fewer one voucher is enough. Members hear of it by first name in a channel only members can read and have three days to raise a safety concern with the vouchers. If none is raised the person is a member. A concern must name a safety reason, and dislike is not one. The vouchers and the member with the concern then meet within a week with a member both trust. If they cannot settle it, the person does not join this time and can be vouched for again after three months.",
        "expectations": "Vouchers check in with the new member through their first season and answer their questions. A voucher is not to blame for what a new member later does, and nobody loses their place for vouching in good faith. We never ask for documents, legal names or addresses. Vouching favors people who already have friends inside, so once a year we look at who we have not reached and invite people from there. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "membership-agreement",
      "label": "Membership agreement",
      "supportText": "Every member agrees in writing to a short list of shared commitments, and the agreement is the same for everyone.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Anyone who accepts our commitments can agree to them. The agreement is one page that says what we are for, what members commit to and what we will not do, and it points to this Rule for everything else. Whoever starts the group can write it before anyone joins, and the members can change it later. Our other ways of joining decide when a person is asked to agree.",
        "joiningProcess": "A member reads the agreement with the new person, explains the reason behind each commitment and answers questions. The person agrees by signing on paper or by saying yes where a member records it. Both are recorded with a first name and the date only. Members read the agreement aloud together once a year and at the first meeting of each new crew, and anyone can ask what a line means. Changing the agreement is a decision of the whole group, announced where every member will see it at least fifteen days ahead.",
        "expectations": "Members keep the commitments they agreed to. When someone may have broken one, we start with our conflict process and never with removal alone. A commitment nobody can explain is the first thing a new member will want to fix, so every commitment carries its reason. The agreement breaks when it grows into a rulebook nobody reads, so we keep it to one page. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "member-share-or-dues",
      "label": "Member share or dues",
      "supportText": "Members put in a share or dues they can afford, with a waiver on request, and money never decides who gets aid.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Members put in money because they own and run the group together, not to buy a service. A co-op asks each member for one member share at one price. A volunteer group may ask for dues to cover rent and supplies. Money never decides who gets aid, and a member who cannot pay asks for a waiver with no questions asked. One member has one vote however much they put in.",
        "joiningProcess": "A new member pays their share or dues when they join. Dues run on a sliding scale the member chooses. A share can be paid in installments over a year, and a co-op can take it from payroll with the member’s written consent, never taking pay below minimum wage. Two members who keep the books record each payment with a first name and the amount, and a co-op keeps its legal register of shares apart. They never record why a member chose a level or asked for a waiver. The members set the share price, the dues and the scale by a decision of the whole group.",
        "expectations": "A member behind on dues gets a friendly reminder and three months to catch up or ask for a waiver, then moves to former members and can come back by paying or asking. An unpaid share comes out of the member’s future surplus instead. The books are open to every member. A share is returned within a year of leaving unless our bylaws say otherwise, and dues are not refunded. Money pulls against open doors, so we review the scale and how many members use waivers every year."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "roster-upkeep",
      "label": "Roster upkeep",
      "supportText": "Once a month two members update who is active, check in kindly with anyone who has drifted and keep the roster private.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Our counts of active members work only if our roster is current. Two members keep it for a term of one year. The roster holds only what the work needs, a name or nickname, one way to reach each member, their tier and any leave. It never holds addresses, legal names or why someone stepped back. It lives where only the roster keepers can see it, never in shared text or a public channel.",
        "joiningProcess": "In the first week of each month the roster keepers look only at the month just ended. They add new members, mark leaves and returns, and note who took no part. If our Rule sets a monthly floor for a tier, they apply it from this look. A member who has taken no part for six months and is not on leave gets a friendly message saying we miss them, they are welcome back and they can take leave. With no reply within a month, the member moves to former members. The roster keepers post how many members are active, never who is not, where every member will see it.",
        "expectations": "Moving someone to former members is not removal and carries no judgment. Former members can come back by asking and pick up where they left off. Roster keepers never share the roster outside the group and delete former members’ details after two years. Upkeep pulls against privacy, so we keep only what the count needs. If the roster keepers fall behind two months running, the members name new ones. Disputes about the roster go to our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "requirements-for-some-roles",
      "label": "Requirements for some roles",
      "supportText": "Roles that carry real risk, such as giving medical care, have written requirements for skills, training or age.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Belonging to the group never depends on skills, credentials or age. Some roles do, because doing them without the right skill can hurt someone. Those roles, and only those, have written requirements, and a member who does not meet them can do every other job. Until we list our own, the only such roles are medical care beyond basic first aid and any role the law limits to adults, and members under eighteen do not take them.",
        "joiningProcess": "For each role on the list we write down the requirement and how a member shows they meet it. A skill is shown by doing the role at least three times beside members who hold it, until two of them agree the member is ready. A course is shown by finishing it, and a member can show a certificate instead. The member who keeps the list records only that it was seen and when it ends, never a copy or a legal name. We take members at their word about their age and never ask for ID. We pay for or find free courses for any member who wants one of these roles.",
        "expectations": "Members in these roles keep their skills current. A member whose training lapses steps back from the role until it is renewed and keeps their place in the group. Requirements pull against open doors, so we list only roles where the risk is real and check the list every year. A member who thinks a requirement shuts people out for no good reason can ask the members to change it. Anyone can stop a role being done unsafely on the spot. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "member-groups",
      "label": "Member groups",
      "supportText": "Our members are groups that keep their own Rules, and each sends delegates to decide network matters together.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We are a network, and our members are groups rather than individuals. Any group that shares our aims, agrees to our network agreement and keeps its own Rule can join, whatever its size or legal form. A member group decides everything about itself. The network decides only what members agreed to share, such as supplies, spaces, tools or a common voice. If we also have individual members, the rest of our Rule on joining covers them.",
        "joiningProcess": "A group that wants to join meets two delegates from existing member groups and shares a short description of its work and two ways to reach it. One existing member group sponsors it. The delegates post the request where every member will see it, and the group joins when no member group raises a reasoned concern within fifteen days. If a concern stands, member groups decide by our supermajority share, one vote per member group. Each member group names one or two delegates and tells the network when they change.",
        "expectations": "Each member group sends a delegate to network meetings, follows the network agreement when using shared resources and keeps what it learns about other groups private. A member group can leave at any time and hands back shared keys and equipment within two weeks. The network never overrides a member group’s own decisions. One vote per group favors small groups, so we review the balance every year. A member group that breaks the agreement can be paused from shared resources and removed only as our conflict process says."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "common-bond",
      "label": "Common bond",
      "supportText": "Membership is open to people who share a tie we name, such as living in our area or working in our trade.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "Our members share a common bond, such as living in our neighborhood or building, working in our trade or using our shop. Until we name it, the bond is living or working in the area where we do most of our work. The bond draws a clear edge around who decides and never limits who we help. This says who can join, and the rest of our Rule says how. Where our Rule lets anyone join, anyone who shares our bond can join that way.",
        "joiningProcess": "A person who wants to join tells a member that they share our bond. We take their word for it and never ask for proof such as ID, a lease or a pay stub, unless the law requires it, as for a credit union account or income-limited housing. They then join the way our Rule says. A member who moves away or leaves the trade can stay a member for a year and then becomes a former member unless the members agree to widen the bond. The members change the bond by a decision of the whole group, announced where every member will see it at least fifteen days ahead.",
        "expectations": "Members tell us when they no longer share the bond. A bond pulls against reach and can quietly shut out people we mean to include, such as neighbors without a fixed address, so we name it in plain words and write it to include them. Every year we check who the bond leaves out. Doubts about whether someone shares the bond are settled by two members who know the person, never by documents. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "lottery-for-limited-places",
      "label": "Lottery for limited places",
      "supportText": "When more eligible people ask to join than we have places, we choose among them by a lottery members can watch.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use a lottery when places are limited, such as homes in a housing co-op, seats in a program or spots in a crew, and more people qualify than we can take. A lottery is fairer than first come first served, which favors people with free time, and fairer than choosing by who we know. Everyone who meets our written criteria has the same chance. It never replaces our process for approving members.",
        "joiningProcess": "We announce how many places are open, the criteria and the date of the draw at least two weeks ahead. People who meet the criteria add their names by that date, and two members check each entry against the criteria only. On the draw date two members with no one close to them in the pool draw names, by numbered slips or a random number tool any member can check, while other members watch. Names drawn are offered places in order, and the rest form a waiting list in the order drawn.",
        "expectations": "People who get a place join on the same terms as every other member. The waiting list holds only names and one way to reach each person, is seen only by the two members who keep it and is deleted after a year. A lottery pulls against choosing for particular needs, so we can hold a share of places for needs we name before the draw, such as an accessible home. If a draw goes wrong we redo it in the open. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "member-classes",
      "label": "Member classes",
      "supportText": "We have more than one kind of member, such as workers and shoppers, and each class has written rights and seats.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "We use this when different kinds of people own the group together, as in a co-op owned by its workers and the people who shop there, or a group with worker and supporter members. Each class has written rights and duties. Every member has one vote, and each class elects a set share of the seats on any board or council we have.",
        "joiningProcess": "A person joins the class that fits how they take part, the way our Rule says people join, and someone who fits two classes chooses one. Until we set our own shares, each class elects an equal share of the seats. Each class meets on its own when it wants and can bring a proposal to the whole group. Changing what a class can do or its share of seats is a decision of the whole group, announced at least fifteen days ahead, and it also needs our supermajority share of each class it affects.",
        "expectations": "Members move to another class when how they take part changes, by telling the members who keep our roster. Every member can see the books and every decision whatever their class. Classes pull against unity and can harden into blocs, so we review the classes and the seats every two years. A class with fewer than three members has its seats filled by all members until it grows. Removal follows our conflict process."
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "a-voice-for-people-without-a-vote",
      "label": "A voice for people without a vote",
      "supportText": "People who do our work without a vote are heard before we decide anything that touches them.",
      "sections": {
        "eligibility": "This card covers volunteers who are not members, staff who are not owners, contractors and candidates, and the people we serve where they choose to take part. Keeping the vote to members pulls against hearing the people closest to the work. It breaks when they learn of a decision after it is made, or when a voice becomes a reason never to open the vote. A voice never replaces a path to membership.",
        "joiningProcess": "Anyone who has worked with us for a month, and anyone we serve who wants to, can come to an open forum. We hold it at least every three months and before any decision about pay, hours, safety, aid or who may join, except one made alone to prevent immediate harm, which we report to the forum afterward. Those at the forum choose one or two speakers among themselves. Speakers serve six months, come to our meetings and speak on any item, and only the people they speak for can replace them. Anyone this card covers can put an item on a meeting’s agenda by asking any member, and it is heard within two meetings. A proposal that touches their work, pay, aid or safety goes where they will see it at least seven days before we decide, unless waiting would cause immediate harm. Their comments go into our records beside the decision, without names unless the person asks to be named.",
        "expectations": "Within one meeting, members answer each concern from the forum or the speakers in writing, saying what changed or why not. Nobody loses work, shifts, pay or aid for speaking up. Retaliation goes straight to our conflict process and skips its first steps. Once a year the forum hears how to become a member, and anyone can ask a member to walk them through it. Everyone here, with or without a vote, treats others with respect and is treated the same way in every channel, meeting and space. Only our conflict process can end someone’s place in the forum."
      }
    }
  ]
}