Yes you are free to explore the Ideas and Pitches on the site and to find out more about Azudoo. In order to post Ideas and contribute to other Ideas you have to sign up and in order to vote you will need to join as a paid-up full member of the Mutual (a "Member").

Go to the "Sign Up" button on the home page. You will then have the choice as to whether to simply sign-up or join as a Member (more on membership in Section C).

This allows you to use the site and post Ideas and contribute to other Ideas. Your general use of the Website is governed by our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Content Policy and Project Policy. If you join as a Member you will also be governed by the Rules and other governance policies (see Section C below).

A mutual society is type of corporation, which traces its roots back to the end of the eighteenth century and is set up and owned by its members and run for their benefit. A mutual society can include such a wide range of organisations including: a building society; a credit union; a working men's club; a friendly society; and an Industrial & Provident Society (which as a co-operative is what our Mutual is registered as). Our Mutual is incorporated and regulated under English law and is registered with the Financial Services Authority in London.

Yes, we have created a strong and transparent constitution that allows the Members to control the Mutual through a series of democratic processes. Members vote for Ideas and Pitches and also vote on general business of the Mutual through general meetings. See the Project Policy and the Rules for more information.

Azudoo is not just a social network; it is also a fully-fledged corporation registered with the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. All Members have rights and responsibilities that accompany their membership. The Rules are there to govern the relationship between Mutual and each individual Member and set out what the Member's rights and responsibilities are, to create a level playing field for all the Members, to specify the duties and powers of the Board, and to promote an open and accountable process of governance of the Mutual. There are also further governance policies, set out in the Governance Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, Statement of Director's Responsibilities, Board Membership Policy.

As required by law, the Mutual needs a central body to help run the Mutual and protect its interests, in accordance with the Rules and the Mutual's other policies.

In the early stages of the Mutual's life, the Board comprises the founding directors, who have the power to appoint additional directors. See the Rules for more information. However, the Rules specify that the founding directors will in time have to retire or seek re-election and members will at that point have the power to vote in Board directors. Members will also be able, at that time to seek election to Board membership. Watch out for more information on how this will happen in the membership section.

Please click here for the Rules and link to the FSA website.

Click on the "Sign Up" button on the home page and follow the instructions. You will need to choose the Pay option to join as a full member of the Mutual.

Membership means that you have the right to participate in determining how the Mutual allocates its funds for projects and to participate in general decisions about the Mutual, in accordance with the Rules. Please read through, at least once, the full set of Rules as these govern your membership. We will also provide information and regular updates as to Mutual's business and governance in the membership section of the Website.

Your annual subscription as a member of the Mutual helps to pay for the running and set up costs of the Mutual and to contribute to funds available for project funding. Your first payment buys you your membership share and your first year's subscription. Your subsequent payments pay for your subscription for your subsequent periods of annual membership. In order to enjoy the privileges and rights of membership from time to time, you must have a then current membership subscription.

When you pay your own membership subscription, you can make a pre-payment for somebody else's membership. We have introduced this feature to allow those who can afford to pay more than the published membership subscription rate, to help those who can afford it less. If somebody else has pre-paid for a membership, you will have the option, when you join, to take up that pre-paid membership. What you do is up to you – however please don't take up a pre-paid membership if you can afford to pay for your own.

Yes you can. On your personal page you have the option to set your privacy settings, which will determine how much information about you is visible to others. Please also see our Privacy Policy for more details.

No.

You can communicate with the community through message boards and blogs. You can also email them directly if others have opted to let you see their email addresses.

The Mutual will post messages and/or notices to the members in the membership section of the Website. The Mutual may also email a member directly to the last email address given by that member.

Yes you can, please forward the link to your friends.

No. Your subscription is part of the overall funding of the Mutual and is voted on democratically by the Members as to which Ideas are progressed through to the funding stage. Once you have posted your idea and marketed it to your network and other Members it may well be one of those to secure funding – so get posting, promoting and marketing!

Once you have paid your subscription fee you become a part owner of the Mutual equal in status to every other Member with an equal voice and equal rights. As the Mutual develops and funds Ideas which the membership has decided will benefit the Mutual, the Mutual's asset base will expand and hopefully at the same time the membership base will also expand.

An Idea is the starting point for a project that may develop into a fully fledged Pitch seeking funding from the Mutual. Ideas are listed by category on the Website, and members can use the Rock 'n' Roll voting system to rate an Idea, and also contribute to the development and promotion of an Idea. Please see the Project Policy for more details.

A Pitch is an Idea that has achieved a sufficiently high rating through the Rock 'n' Roll voting process and in respect of which the Promoter has provided additional information, as directed on the Website and in accordance with the Project Policy.

This is our voting process whereby Members can rate and support Ideas and Pitches. We will from time to time set the length of each of the stages of the voting process and allocate cycles in each stage during which votes are cast to see if an Idea progresses through the whole process. Check out the Tour for more information .

Only Members can vote.

Each Idea and Pitch can be voted on once per cycle.

No. Once it gets the net votes it needs it moves forward.

A "Rock",is a vote for and a "Roll", is a vote against. "Rock" votes will be netted off against "Roll" votes to give a net score.

Yes you can. You can send details of an Idea or Pitch to your friends and contacts. You can also post a message on the message board for that Idea or Pitch and offer your services to the Promoters of that Idea or Pitch.

This is the part of the voting process where Members use their Rock 'n' Roll vote to rate Pitches that are seeking funding from the Mutual. The Mutual will establish set periods when funding voting takes place, called Money Rock 'n' Roll Cycles. The Website will specify when each voting cycle starts, the length of the voting cycle and when the voting cycle will close. You will be able to view the status of this by looking on your dashboard. At the end of each cycle, the Mutual will match the highest rated Pitches with the available funding in accordance with the Project Policy and then commence due diligence on the Pitches that have been allocated funding.

The Mutual will then examine the Pitch and conduct a due diligence exercise to ascertain that it is in compliance with the Rules, the Project Policy and other applicable policies and that it is legal, decent and honest and that the Promoters are capable of bringing the project to fruition. The Mutual will conduct negotiations with the Promoters regarding the funding for the Pitches. If the Pitch passes the due diligence exercise then the Mutual will enter into contracts with the Promoters and the Pitch will then become a project funded by the Mutual. The Mutual will also conduct project monitoring and follow-up activities, in accordance with its general policies.

The voting process has been designed to allow for fraud checks and to allow the Board to intervene if it suspects any dishonest or inappropriate activity, and there is a due diligence and contracting process before any funds are released.

Not at launch. We may introduce this facility in time. You can make a general donation to the Mutual by using the "Donate" button.

Not any idea. We try to exercise as light a touch as possible, but there are some types of Ideas and Pitches that are not acceptable within Azudoo. For example any Pitch or Idea that is not legal, decent or honest is not acceptable. Furthermore there are categories of Ideas or Pitch that are not acceptable – an example being any Idea or Pitch that promotes war or armed conflict. Please see the Rules and Project Policy for more information.

You will be able to file your Idea under the "Other" category, and from time to time we will update the list of categories.

Yes you can. You can upload media and send the Idea or Pitch to your friends and contacts to try to enlist their participation and support. Go to your dashboard and where your projects are listed, click on "promote".

Yes you can. We hope that the interaction with the community will help ideas to evolve. However, to be fair to the community, if you wish to make a radical change to an Idea, it is best, given that the community may have already cast votes for or against the Idea, to delete the original Idea and start a new one. (See the Project Policy for more information).

It is your responsibility as a Promoter to develop and sustain an Idea or Pitch. If you are concerned to protect an Idea and what you want to share with the community, you will need to read the Project Policy and decide how to present your Idea.

Your Idea can get to the money voting cycle by passing the Ideas voting cycle; completing a pitch proposal form giving the necessary details about the Pitch and the passing the Pitch voting cycle.

When you successfully complete the Ideas voting cycle, you have to complete a Pitch proposal form. Once this has been posted, it cannot be changed, except in limited circumstances as set out in the Project Policy.

Yes, they can send your Idea or Pitch to their friends and contacts and they can contact you through the Idea or Pitch message board to offer their help. They can also by using the Support button, be seen to be supporters of you idea. They also can of course Rock your Idea or Pitch.

You can use the "report abuse" buttons associated with projects displayed on the Website. If you wish to report a member you can use the "Contact" button on the footer menu. Please also see our Content Policy for more details.

Yes, you can email us using the "Contact" button.

You can communicate through message boards established for Ideas and Pitches. You can also email them directly if you have their email addresses.

Yes, press on "Donate".

If you want to help with projects, contact the Promoter. If you want to get involved with Azudoo and the Mutual, contact us!