Transparent priorities

Priorities should be transparent so that people can contribute towards organisations that they are aligned with.

Principle

Priorities should be transparent so that people can contribute towards organisations that they are aligned with.

Contribution alignment

Transparency of priorities is an important part of enabling anyone to match their contributions with organisations that they are aligned with. Increasing alignment within an organisation can help with maintaining higher levels of enthusiasm and morale from those that decide to contribute due to a collective alignment around what they are trying to achieve as a group.

Collectively agreed priorities

Contributors should be able to share and vote on what they believe are the most important priorities for an organisation. Members of community owned organisations would collectively decide which priorities were most important for that organisation. Contributors would decide in contribution owned organisations. In both of these scenarios all owning members and contributors would be involved in priority setting decisions.

Example long term priorities

Organisations could have a number of different priorities that they decide to adopt. These priorities can influence how they operate on a day to day basis. Determining which priority is the most important to an organisation can be highly beneficial for increasing contribution alignment within the organisation. Collectively agreeing on the most important priorities should be an ongoing process. The choices that are initially made for an organisation could change over time as the contributors learn new things and their preferences adapt and change. Some example long term priorities that an organisation could adopt include:

• Profit focussed - Organisations could be focussed on generating maximum profit. An important default outcome in contributionism is that the contributors involved in an organisation would be fairly rewarded for their contributions.

• Mission focussed - Some organisations could focus on achieving a certain mission above all else. The reward for labour contributions or capital investments may be limited due to this focus and collective alignment around executing an important mission. Charities and not-for-profit organisations could be examples that might have a sole focus on a specific mission.

• Environmentally focussed - Respecting and maintaining the environment and preventing any future harm can be an important priority for organisations that operate more closely with nature. Organisations that create physical products may decide to prioritise environmental concerns over profit to ensure they are environmentally sustainable over the long term.

• Safety focussed - The safety of the consumer is an important priority for organisations that create products or services that can put peoples lives in danger. Pharmaceutical products, heavy machinery or airlines can be examples where safety is often an important long term priority.

• Availability & access focussed - Prioritising access means that an organisation is trying to ensure that the supply of a product or services is always available to the consumer. Services such as water, electricity, heating or internet are common examples that can benefit from prioritising availability and access due to the importance of these services for the consumer.

Principle compliance

Any motives or priorities for the organisation should be set by contributors that govern the organisation. All contributors that govern or operate the organisation should have access to the priorities that have been agreed. Transparent motives and priorities means it will be easier for people to align their contribution efforts with organisations that match their preferences and values.