Article 27 of the Saudi Cooperative Societies Law

This article sets out the financial sources from which a cooperative society's resources are made up, which are five:

1. The society's capital: what the members pay for their shares.
2. Donations, gifts, grants, bequests and endowments: in accordance with the rules set by the society's basic regulations, so accepting them is not unrestricted but subject to the rules of each society's basic regulations.
3. The fee the society sets for the services it provides to its members and others. The society may thus also provide its services to people who are not members and charge a fee for them.
4. Subsidies provided by the state.
5. Revenues from the society's activities and investments.

This list shows the variety of a cooperative society's sources of funding, combining members' contributions, charitable giving, economic activity and government support.

The article does not state the amount of government subsidies or their conditions, so it cannot be concluded from this article alone that every society is entitled to a particular subsidy.

Article 28 follows to explain how the society's profits are distributed: 20% to form a statutory reserve, then an amount of no more than 20% of the remainder as profit in proportion to contribution to capital, and an amount of no more than 10% of the remainder for social services, with the rest allocated to patronage returns as the Regulations specify.

Anyone wishing to donate to a cooperative society or endow property to it can consult a lawyer who specializes in commercial and corporate cases.