Templates · Unions

The local runs on dues. The dues run on trust.

For union locals, district councils, and national unions across labor, trade, professional, and freelancer organizing. Member dues collected on the record, strike fund and benefit fund stewardship, executive board approvals visible to the rank-and-file, every disbursement attributable to a documented decision.

Quick answer

EnDAO is the treasury and governance layer for union locals, district councils, and national unions. Member dues collected on the record. Strike fund and benefit fund tracked in separate sub-treasuries with multi-trustee approval. Every executive board decision and disbursement visible to the rank-and-file. Built for the financial-transparency dynamic that matters most in any organizational segment — where the membership trusts the leadership only as far as the books prove it.

What this looks like

A page from one local's treasury ledger.

IBEW Local 1284 · 312 members · Q1 2026

Q1 2026
Jan 15Monthly dues collected · 287 of 312 members+$43,050.00
Feb 04Per-capita to International · $42 per member−$12,054.00
Feb 21Hardship fund disbursement · 2 members, executive board vote−$4,800.00
Mar 14Strike fund contribution · monthly allocation per bylaws−$8,500.00

The secretary-treasurer pain

What erodes member trust in union financials, and what the shared ledger fixes.

Union democracy claims rest on financial accountability. But the typical union local runs its books in three different spreadsheets, a paper-based dues ledger, and the secretary-treasurer's personal email — none of it visible to the rank-and-file. The annual financial report arrives nine months late; questions at a general membership meeting can't be answered with documents in hand; the strike fund balance is taken on faith. EnDAO collapses the documentation layer into a record every member can see.

What goes wrong

  • Member dues collection tracked in a spreadsheet only the secretary-treasurer maintains
  • Strike fund and benefit fund commingled with general operating, or held in accounts only one officer sees
  • Executive board decisions and disbursements visible to the board but not the membership
  • Per-capita assessments to the national or district reconciled annually, not at the transaction
  • When the secretary-treasurer rolls over, the new officer inherits paper files and personal email threads

What EnDAO does

  • Dues collection logged with the member, the period, and the running balance — visible to the membership
  • Strike fund and benefit fund operate as named sub-treasuries with their own trustees and approval rules
  • Every executive board approval visible to the rank-and-file (or scoped to officer-only if the bylaws require)
  • Per-capita assessments captured at the transaction; national and the local both see the same ledger
  • Role transitions transfer cleanly — the new secretary-treasurer inherits the live record, not a binder

What’s built in

The things every union needs, already there.

Member dues collection

Dues collected from members through the channels you already use — ACH, card, payroll deduction reconciliation. Every payment logged with member identity, period covered, and balance owed. The dues book is always live.

Strike and benefit funds

Strike fund, hardship fund, organizing fund, defense fund — each operates as its own sub-treasury with separate trustees and bylaws-derived approval thresholds. No commingling with operating.

Executive board governance

Board decisions recorded with the vote tally, the trustees who approved, and the documented rationale. Configurable per-decision visibility: rank-and-file sees what the bylaws say they see.

Per-capita reconciliation

Per-capita to the international, district council, or central labor body recorded as a transparent line. The receiving body sees the assessment land; the local sees the disbursement. Annual reconciliation is built-in.

Works for

All kinds of unions and member organizations.

  • Labor union locals (industrial, service, public sector)
  • Trade union locals and building-trades chapters
  • District councils and central labor bodies
  • Professional unions and associations
  • Freelancers unions and gig-worker collectives
  • Tenant unions and tenant councils
  • Graduate-worker and adjunct-faculty unions
  • Employee resource groups operating as informal unions

Common questions

Questions union secretary-treasurers and trustees ask first.

How does this compare to eMembership, Union Impact, or Solidarity Tech?
eMembership (Winmill) is the legacy all-in-one platform. Union Impact bundles CRM, dues, communications. Solidarity Tech focuses on organizing and member engagement. EnDAO is specifically the treasury and decision layer — multi-trustee approvals, sub-fund stewardship, rank-and-file financial visibility. We coexist with any of those for member CRM and organizing; we focus on the financial-transparency gap.
Can per-capita to the international or district be tracked at the transaction?
Yes. Per-capita appears as a transparent line on the local's ledger — date assessed, members counted, rate per member, total disbursed. The receiving body (international, district, central labor body) gets read-only visibility into per-capita compliance across all affiliated locals.
How is the strike fund stewardship different from operating?
Strike fund operates as a separate sub-treasury with its own trustees and approval thresholds — typically tighter than operating (super-majority of trustees, mandatory rank-and-file notification, or a configured authorization vote). Commingling is structurally prevented; defensible bylaws compliance at the audit.
What about LM-2 / LM-3 reporting and the OLMS audit?
EnDAO records the underlying transactions and decisions in the format the LM filings draw from. Your CPA or treasurer-of-record prepares the LM-2/LM-3 from clean records; the audit trail behind every entry is one click away. EnDAO does not file with OLMS for you.
Can we keep different visibility for officers vs. the rank-and-file?
Yes. Configurable per decision type and per fund. Some decisions are by-law restricted to officer visibility (personnel, sensitive contracts); other categories are visible to the full membership by default (dues collection, strike fund balance, per-capita compliance). The visibility rules are set once and applied consistently.

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