Philanthrope LLP
7 Nov 2025
At the 2025 Co-operatives UK Practitioners Forum, our Partner Steve Gillan led a session on a topic often treated as routine: member participation.
The session, Widening the Circle: The importance of broadening membership, brought together co-operators from across the UK. From worker-owned businesses to consumer mutuals and advisory-led partnerships, every participant shared a version of the same challenge: if co-operatives are built on democratic ownership, why does meaningful member engagement remain so elusive?
Steve shared Philanthrope’s view that the problem is not intent, but design. Participation fails when it is vague, procedural, or disconnected from daily decisions. People opt out when they don’t see how their voice makes a difference. Solving that is not about motivation, but structure.
What We Shared
Philanthrope proposed a practical, behaviour-based approach to designing for participation. The focus was on enabling action, not demanding involvement.
Know your members. Who are they, what do they value, and why might they not be engaged?
Lower the barriers. Use plain language, visible feedback loops, task-based roles, and rotating observers instead of just committee seats.
Create multiple ways in. Offer small consultations, buddy systems, short-term working groups, and digital tools that make it easy to participate on your own terms.
Recognise contribution. Show where member input made a difference. Celebrate helpful behaviours, not just formal roles.
Build capability. Share simple governance tools, pair new and experienced members, and make participation feel manageable, not intimidating.
This is not theory. It reflects what we do ourselves. Philanthrope is structured as a co-operative. Our consultants and partners share governance. Clients participate through an advisory panel. All three groups share profit. Participation is not a concept. It is built into how we operate.
Why It Matters
Co-operatives talk a lot about inclusion, but many still rely on the same decision formats used twenty years ago. As organisations grow and member relationships change, participation must adapt.
When participation works, it creates accountability, alignment, and belonging. It surfaces better ideas, improves governance, and strengthens resilience. But it only works when people understand how to take part, believe their input matters, and can see the outcomes.
As behavioural science reminds us, people do not act because they are told they can. They act when it feels easy, safe, and worthwhile.
What’s Next
We believe participation design is not a facilitation issue. It is a leadership responsibility. If you want governance to reflect your values, you must design systems that let members contribute meaningfully, without needing to become experts or board candidates.
This will be one of the defining challenges for the co-operative movement over the next decade.
We’re grateful to Co-operatives UK for convening a forum that treats these questions seriously. If you’d like a copy of the participation toolkit, or want to explore how Philanthrope supports co-operative leadership and governance, get in touch.