Difference between Members and Users

Guilded is a multi-stakeholder cooperative with both freelancer-ownership and employee-ownership classes. Each class of member is given direct decision making power over the type of decisions that impact them. By becoming a member-owner, you get access to decision making power, a patronage account that grows as Guilded grows, and more.

A Patronage account is derived from the margins of the cooperative for any given year. The margins are the difference between that year's operating income and operating expenses. Margins are allocated on an annual basis to the cooperative membership based upon the formula of contracts brought in each year. Each member of Guilded has a patronage capital account, which represents that member's ownership in the cooperative

In order to become a member-owner of Guilded you must meet a set of requirements outlined below.

You must purchase an equity share of $100 from Guilded. This $100 is your investment in the cooperative, and goes directly into your patronage account to grow over time, and you’ll receive annual payouts from your account. You must have processed at least 4 unique contracts through the platform and have processed at least $6,000 worth of invoices. These amounts are not amounts that you pay to Guilded, but rather the total value of contracts that you have run through Guilded over time. Attend or assist 3 co-op relevant training sessions, provided through Guilded, to help you build the skills you need to be a member-owner.

Some example trainings include: Open Book Management Roles and Responsibility for Boards Good Meetings and Facilitation