For you: For Co-ops that have made this change, owners are experiencing more savings under the new benefits program (including dividends and owner-only specials) than they did with discounts at the register.
For the Co-op: It’s a more sustainable method of distributing profits. All Co-ops return profits to owners based on how much they use the services. The discount program returned these profits before we made them. The dividend program allows the board to decide how much profit (if one is made) to return after the books are closed. Patronage dividends allow the Co-op to realize significant tax savings. The dollars that we allocate as patronage stay here in the community. The retained portion of patronage dividends builds financial stability.