MAG 2 -Milano- Alternative financing for social economy

MAG 2 was founded in 1982. It is an initiative run by a group of people working in the Inzago Social Centre (Milan), operating at regional level (Lombardy, Northern Italy). MAG 2 has been very coherent in its basic principles. It aims to support job creation, the development of quality projects and alternatives to the dominant models. MAG 2 itself was set up as a cooperative providing consultancy and financial services for other member cooperatives. Over the years the number of people involved in running MAG 2 has gradually increased and there has been a positive turn over in its coordination group. Today MAG 2 employs 3 full-time staff (on an average salary of 1 million Lire, around 670 US $, a month)and 4 part-timers.

The cooperative is divided into three main branches of activity: a)administration, juridical technical and fiscal services; b)finance, relations with individual and collective members; c)public relations and development of the cooperative itself. Members participate in the life of the cooperativevia regular meetings, newletters, Board of Directors meetings, open to all members and internal referendums on the most important decisions. Requests for loans are evaluated on the basis of the budget and the status of the cooperative presenting the project. A major factor in the decision-making process is the existence of a direct relationship with people carrying out the project and that it havesocial and ecological aims. In principle there are no quantitative limits to the amount of money that can be lent for a project. MAG 2 requests guarantees for the repayment of the credit given, but it may also secure other loans from formal banks signing guarantees for its member cooperatives.

MAG 2’s profits come from interest on loans and from consultancy work mainly requested by member cooperatives for financial, cooperative, technical, juridical, administrative and project development matters. It is one of the most stable MAGs and it has a very consistent social capital. MAG 2 has actively promoted Intermag, a coordination network amongst the various Mags.