Types of giftmoots

Giftmoots are voluntary, private and democratic associations formed by members to coordinate non-reciprocal gifting with a particular focus or for a particular purpose. The focus and purpose of these giftmoots can vary dramatically - they can be broad or narrow, competitive or cooperative, large or small. Here I want to outline a few different possible types, including general distribution, industry bodies, investment centres, expert groups, interest groups and community groups.

"Supermarket" general distribution

Perhaps one of the major ways that people would interact with giftmoots is for general distribution, a bit like going to the supermarket. In fact, the model could be incredibly similar to a supermarket, where the giftmoot brings in stock and members choose from the stock. This would be a general distribution centre where people can browse and pick goods out of what is available in order to get their basic needs including food and other essentials. The giftmoot would see what stock is moving quickly, what stock is unpopular, and have feedback channels to determine what sort of goods people desire that are not currently in stock.

The exact type of distribution access and limits would be determined by the members - something that I will discuss in the next few articles in this section and also in the next section.

Industry bodies

Another type of giftmoot would be an industry body. These types of organisations already exist, and perform a variety of duties that would also be beneficial in a non-reciprocal gifting economy, such as coordinating resource use across an industry, developing standards, initiating and sharing research and other knowledge, providing a coordination point for labour pools, developing education for skills and standards within the industry, and providing a collective voice for issues within the industry.

So an industry body for agriculture might share labour resources and knowledge, help train and set standards for new workers, advise when there is oversupply and undersupply of various goods (both that are required for production and which are produced by the industry), and put out information regarding the state of the industry (such as whether they need more resources or workers desperately to respond to some crisis or economic change).

Banks

One of the traditional roles of banks in an exchange economy is to store abstract value such as money. But another important role is to provide capital investment, and scrutinise the viability of such investments. This is a role that giftmoots could also perform. Their job would be to assess business plans, product and logistical viability, social need and benefits, and then choose which of those proposals to fund - either with resources that they have been entrusted with, or acting as a trusted intermediary with other giftmoots or businesses that have resources.

The investment giftmoot would likely have some relevant qualifications, such as being composed of and directing resources to people in the local area, or experience in logistics, business, production, or relations with various industry groups.

Expert groups and interest groups

Similarly, a giftmoot could be composed of experts or interest group members who have a particular experience or focus in a specific area, such as doctors with medicine, or minorities with cultural and identity issues. These groups would similarly be entrusted with relevant resources and discern how to allocate them, such as which conditions, qualified doctors or institutions to dispense medicine to, or perhaps a disability needs giftmoot that has experience and knowledge about how to accommodate people with that disability. Such groups would be best placed to cater to the needs of their members or the people that their members represent.

Community groups

In the same manner, a giftmoot could focus on a local area and its needs, the way that a local council or community group already do, engaging with things such as local requirements with parks, community services, responding to community concerns and dangers to do with pollution, traffic, safety, or the like.

Competition

Importantly, under this particular model of associative democracy, no giftmoot would have a monopoly on any particular subject area or geographical area. For example, there might exist a giftmoot that is composed of doctors and focuses on distributing medical resources. In order to get those resources, this giftmoot would have to show worthiness and expertise. And if others were of the opinion that they were not doing a good job - if, for example, there was mismanagement or if there was a policy that significantly excluded people - they could form a competing giftmoot and make the case that they would distribute the resources more fairly. Someone who is interested in obtaining a particular type of food might find that the giftmoot they are a member of doesn't provide it, and become a member of a different giftmoot as well so that they could successfully find the product that they liked.