Looking for feedback on membership

[mdan...@gmail.com]

Regarding membership, this is what I have so far, I am interested in
your feedback on this:

>>
Membership

Anybody can request to become a member. Except for Investor-members,
member requests are reviewed and approved by existing members through
a majority vote (with a quorum of 2 investor-members, entrepreneur-
members or borrower-members voting)

There are several categories and types of membership:

Entrepreneurs:
- Entrepreneur-members
- Borrower-members

Ecosystem
- Facilitator-members
- Sponsor-members

Investor-members


Membership Approval Process

Investor-members are automatically approved when they commit their
money to the fund. They remain members for the duration of the line
they are invested in (one line of loans per year expected, depending
on fundraising results)

All other members need to go through a very simple approval process:
when you submit a request to become a member of the Entrepreneur
Commons, you will be invited to meet with the members of a local self
help group, to introduce yourself and explain your project or your
interest in joining the Entrepreneur Commons: what you are expecting
from it, what you can bring to the group.
Membership are granted as a result of a majority vote. There needs to
be a minimum of 2 members from the Investor or Entrepreneur category
voting, no maximum.

What are signing for?

Investor-members have no special requirements once an initial
investment was made and for the duration of the line they are invested
in. You are welcome however to join a self help group and contribute
your expertise as mentors to the entrepreneurs involved in the
Entrepreneur Commons.

For all other members, the expectation is that you will attend on a
regular basis the meeting from the self help team you belong to (5 to
7 entrepreneurs, up to twice as many people with facilitator-members
and sponsor-members).


Loan Approval Process

Once you become an entrepreneur-member you can request a loan. Loans
can be made for up to the amount of the line raised divided by 30. So
if the first line of loans is a $3M line, the Entrepreneur Commons
will be able to make 30 loans of up to $100K.

In order to get a loan, you will have to be approved by a majority
vote as well:
- majority vote from the Investor members category, with a quorum of 2
investor-members
- majority vote from the Entrepreneur category, with at least a vote
from a majority of the members involved in your self help group.

In case there is disagreement between investors and entrepreneurs (one
majority vote in favor while the other category is voting against),
the final decision will be made a the Entrepreneur Commons steering
committee (5 people to be elected on a yearly basis and playing the
benevolent dictator role).


Membership Fees

Membership fees are used to pay for staff and infrastructure, and so
that the Entrepreneur Commons is sustainable over the long term.
Since the Entrepreneur Commons is a not-for-profit we will start with
fee that match equivalent organizations providing self help or
mentorship. Then we will adjust fees as we go based on results.

Membership fee are paid by all members, including investor members.

There is different fees depending on whether the entrepreneur is
running a business that is cash flow positive or not, so at least 2
levels:
- discounted membership - for entrepreneurs who are starting, with a
business that is not cash flow positive
- full membership - all others

[Dominique Lahaix]

Hello Marc,

I wonder why Investor are automatically approved.

One way to get social responsible entrepreneurs is to get funding from social responsible investors no?.  Social responsibility is something that money can't buy :-)


Best

Dominique