ACCORD's focus is to assist and research organisations that operate in the "Social Economy" - a term that is widely used in Europe, and is interchangeable with the term "third sector". It is wider in its coverage than the popular United States term "nonprofit sector".

More formally, it applies to organisations that:

• are formed and sustained by groups of people (usually their members) acting voluntarily to provide benefits for themselves or others, and;
• where any material benefit gained by the member is proportional to the members use of the organisation.

Most social economy organisations are democratically governed and re-invest any surplus in the organisation (or a similar organisation, if they should wind-up). A few (eg trading cooperatives) are democratic but can distribute a profit (where the distribution is proportionate to use). A few (eg some charities or nonprofits owned by other nonprofits) are nonprofit distributing but are not democratic.

In this section:

Profiles
Current information and histories of co-operatives and other Social Economy entities

FAQ
Answers to commonly asked questions and more information about the Social Economy, co-operatives and mutual organisations.

Infobriefs
Infobriefs are short briefing papers containing more detailed information that expands on items appearing in the Newsletter.

Commentary
Articles expressing the views and opinions of people from across the social economy about political and economic events, decisions and their impact on the sector.