Everyone will be able to contribute to Cochrane in exciting new ways! Membership pathways will link newcomer’s skills and interests to activities throughout the organization. Clear access points will enhance user experience and reduce waiting times to get involved. Learn about the work being done around Cochrane Membership and what's next.

Membership is a progression based on participation: Interested supporters become active contributors who become Cochrane members.

What is happening in Phase One?

The membership process will create a better experience for newcomers without adding to Group staff workloads. We will create a membership location containing richer data profiles including skills, interests and reports on participation in all groups and activities throughout Cochrane.

Managing all of our data on people in a more detailed central database will allow Cochrane to make better use of its community of willing volunteers who wish be involved. The contributions of all Cochrane supporters will be recorded, whether that is as an author, translator, Crowd participant, Task Exchange contributor or a learner. Groups will be able to assess more reliably the ability and experience of someone who wants to contribute to the Group.

The system will be able to recommend activities to new members to help them build up their skills and experience and make it easier for people to help with the work of Cochrane without burdening Groups.

What’s in it for me?

Membership recognises the valuable contribution of our existing collaborators, so this system will be designed to work for you.

• Central support: We will provide training and support to help Groups get the most out of this new system.
• Better reporting: Groups will have a better overall sense of the Cochrane activity in their country or topic area.
• Detailed User Profiles: Contribution records and individual credentials will make it easier for you to find people to help you do your work.
• Targeted dissemination: An email system will direct information about the work of your Group to the right people.
• Data protection: The new system will handle all data protection issues and keep contact lists up-to-date to save you time.
• Reduced workload: Contacts will be screened to reduce Groups need to redirect email requests.

What will change?

To benefit from the system, Groups will need to contribute any databases of people to the master database and use that resource instead.

The 'Get Involved' links on all websites will link to one page/form which will be centrally managed on the Cochrane.org site.

Anyone seeking to get involved in the future will sign up using one central form to explore all the options available. We will offer choices on how to contribute to the work of Cochrane and save each Group the trouble of doing this each time a new individual makes contact. You will still be able to build personal relationships with contributors where you have need and capacity to do so.

What can Groups do to help?

Overall, we want to build a better understanding of the ways in which people contribute to Cochrane and ensure that we open up Cochrane more fully to everyone. We have been discussing this project with the Executives of Cochrane Groups and have asked them to nominate a main point of contact to provide feedback. These individuals will be updated on progress and will be able to report back to the Group. Please contact your Executive to provide input on for your Group. 

For more information about the development of the membership program, please visit our Membership project pages on the Community Website.