At a time when there is trust-deficit in all walks of life, cooperatives are the organizations which have trust as their prime component. The principles and values of cooperatives generate trust. People tend to trust cooperatives because they feel that cooperatives are democratic organizations which ensure autonomy. Because of their strong roots in the community, the people trust cooperatives. As cooperatives are not external organizations imposed from above, people feel that cooperatives are people’s organizations, so the trust element is more here. Cooperatives provide ample opportunities for participation and leadership development. People’s aspirations for growth are met in a cooperative, so all this creates a climate of trust.

It is paradoxical that cooperatives whose foundation is built upon trust have to struggle to win the trust of the people in many countries of the world. Despite immense contribution of cooperatives in all fields of socio-economic activities, the people’s perception of cooperatives is clouded by doubt and uncertainty. No doubt, the cooperatives are grappling with the problem of image-building. Due to weak communication strategies, there appears to be a big dis-connect between the people and the cooperatives, due to which the cooperatives are losing the trust of the people. Here are the seven ways in which cooperatives can win the trust of the people;

1] Schools are the institutions which shape the formative stage of trust-building in a society. Cooperatives must play a pro-active role in propagating their principles and values amongst the school children. The cooperative concept has to be popularized amongst the schools , then only school children will act as good ambassadors of cooperative concept later in their career. The parents in this regard should also be involved in this exercise so that they too understand the benefits of a cooperative organisation. It is high time that the communication strategies of cooperatives must have a prime focus on schools. In any case, the strategies of cooperatives should revolve round women and youth, because these are the sections of the society who an important role in shaping the trust-perception of the people towards polity, society, economy and institutions. At present, the cooperatives in many of the countries don’t have desired focus on women and youth.

2] People think that cooperatives are bureaucratic organizations, and are inefficient. In many of the cases, there is unjustified comparison with the private enterprises, and corporates, who thrive on profit. The fact that cooperatives are socio-economic organizations working for community development based on their unique principles and values is not well communicated to the people. As a result, trust perception of people towards cooperatives declines. Cooperatives must devise effective communication strategies so that the people well understand the basics of cooperatives in simple language with their advantages. During the International Year of Cooperatives, ICA devised effective communication strategies in this regard, and its impact is still felt. But, this needs to be implemented by all cooperatives in their respective countries. Cooperatives must also undertake genuine soul-searching exercise so that within their stipulated resources, they initiate steps to work as professional enterprises. The efforts in this direction must be communicated to the people so that people can understand their honest intentions.

3] The ‘corrupt’ image of the cooperatives is also ingrained in the people’s mind in many of the countries, particularly Asia-pacific region. Cooperatives must make people aware they have democratic, membership-based and participatory mechanisms which other organisations don’t have. They must advocate and convince the people that chances of corruption in their functioning is less, as compared to private enterprises, which are driven by profit motive, and where chances of corruption are more. Whenever cooperatives are bogged down by mainstream media’s highlight of few cases of corruption, they should raise their voice in a united manner refuting the claims of mainstream media.

4] Peoples’ trust is shaped by effective communication strategies of organizations which are conceptualized, and implemented by themselves. Cooperatives must highlight their success stories, achievements, landmarks amongst the general public through their own communication medium owned by themselves, and not commercial/business organizations. Coop TV, Coop Radio, Coop Press, etc must be set up so that these can give a distinct publicity to cooperatives. Depending on mainstream media will not enable them to win trust of the people. Few stories in mainstream media on cooperatives do not bridge the huge knowledge-gap about their work amongst the general masses, who are not convinced of the viability of cooperative form of organisation. Collaborative platforms on success stories, innovations, leadership, etc must be explored through on-line methods Today social media is trusted by the people, and organizations of all types are giving specialized attention to this. Cooperatives have yet to make their significant presence in this field. Cooperatives must build up their distinct brand through social media.

5] Cooperatives can generate trust amongst the masses if the people in all walks of life, and diverse fields, feel connected with them, and desire to participate in their programmes/activities. Public awareness programmes on cooperatives through innovative campaigns, and community outreach programmes must be devised in large numbers. Cooperatives due to their strong affiliations with the community are strategically well-positioned than corporates, who are using the tool of CSR to reach the community. The cooperatives should not feel glorified by limiting themselves within the cooperative domain. If they don’t expand their horizons to non-cooperative domain ie non-cooperative institutions, then how can people trust them? This means that wide-ranging collaborations must be forged with private sector, NGOs, trusts, etc. The legal barriers in this regard must be removed. People will trust cooperatives more if they implement ‘ Cooperation among cooperatives’ principle in totality. At present, many cooperatives don’t have well visualized strategies to cooperate with other cooperatives.

6] Peoples’ trust in cooperatives has become low because people feel that cooperatives are not strong organizations to make their presence in the national policy agenda of the countries. Weak advocacy and lobbying strategies of cooperatives is primarily responsible for this. The people feel that cooperative leaders lack dynamism, which is true to a great extent. It is found that in many cases, the leaders continue to remain in power for long, and don’t encourage young leadership.

7] Democracy, and autonomy are the two issues around which cooperative principles revolve. The people will judge the functioning of cooperatives to see that they work in accordance with their principles/values. In many of the cooperatives, the elections are not held regularly, which is a clear case of violation of democratic norms. The government strangle-hold over cooperatives continues to remain in increasing cases. The cooperative law has been reformed in many of the countries to ensure the autonomy of cooperatives, but their implementation is slow and tardy. In this scenario, the people feel that things will remain the same in cooperatives. The cooperatives have not been to evolve as self-reliant institutions which can generate their own resources without depending on government support. Their ability to succeed on this front will build up positive perception of people towards them, and people will not consider them as mere government appendages. To win trust of the people, the cooperatives must assert their identity and find ways act in accordance with their principles and values. This can be the only way to carve out their distinct niche in times to come.

.