Capital Credits
Giving back to our members
At Red River Communications, our cooperative thrives because of dedicated members like you. When we succeed financially, we share that success with our member-owners through capital credits.
Capital Credit Update
(August 2025)
Red River Communications Cooperative members are valued partners who are eligible for a share of Red River Communications’ margins. As a Cooperative member, you’ll see your 2024 allocation on your September 2025 bill. If your return is less than $300, it was included as a bill credit on your September 1, 2025, statement. For returns over $300, you received a check by mail in early September. We appreciate your membership!
For any other questions, please contact Red River Communications at 701-553-8309.
Capital Credits—What Are They?
As a member, you are a part-owner of the Cooperative, which means you are entitled to receive money back through Capital Credit Retirements. To help clarify the capital credit process, our team has created an infographic that explains the five steps. As you read and learn, remember one thing: the more Red River Communications services you subscribe to, the larger the allocation of capital credits will be!
How do Capital Credits work?
Capital credits for cooperative members are generated from the surplus of funds remaining after the cooperative conducts its business. As a service subscriber within our cooperative area, you are a member/owner of Red River Communications. Each time you pay your bill, you’re helping build, sustain, and grow a company you actually own.
Step 1
Sign up for Red River Communications’ internet, telephone, cellular, and TV services to become a member/owner of the Cooperative.
Step 2
Throughout the year, your co-op analyzes whether it should use “margins” or profits to pay down debt, invest in network improvement projects, and purchase new equipment necessary to best serve the membership.
Step 3
Following our finalized financial audit, your Cooperative allocates the margins to members as capital credits based on the patronage of services you purchase.
Step 4
If financially feasible, your Board of Directors votes to retire or pay the capital credits. The payout reduces a portion of the member’s capital credit balance based on the years of service being retired.
Step 5
All active members receive an annual patronage allocation statement. Members with qualifying capital credits receive their capital credits check via the mail.
Words to Know
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business owned by its members, who use its services and meet the membership requirements.
Capital Credits
After expenses are deducted from revenues, margins are allocated back to our member-owners as capital credits.
Retirement
At the discretion of the Board of Directors, capital credits are refunded (or paid out) to members. This is called retirement.
Patronage
Patronage is the money you pay the cooperative for the services it provides you.
Allocation
Instead of keeping the surplus as profits, as a traditional business would, cooperatives allocate it to their members based on their use of the cooperative’s services during the year. This allocation is recorded as capital credits in the member’s account.
capital credit faq
The questions and answers below will help you understand our membership and what capital credits mean to you.
As soon as practicable after a member dies, a relative or legal representative should notify us of the member’s death (or, in the case of a corporation or other legal entity, upon dissolution). If the member held the account solely and it has been closed, we will refund the member’s capital credits to their estate. Please provide a copy of the death certificate and a letter certifying legal representation of the estate.
Please contact our office at 701-553-8309 for more information.
If you discontinue service or move out of Red River’s service area, please provide us with an updated mailing address so we can send future statements and refunds to you.
We do not issue lump sum refund checks when customers discontinue service. We will retire (return) your capital credits allocations as they are approved for distribution, just as we do for active members.
Give us a call at 701-553-8309. Our team is happy to talk with you about any questions you may have.
All customers living within our Cooperative territory are members of the Cooperative.
Red River Communications’ Cooperative Area includes the following communities:
Abercrombie, Barnesville (Rural), Barney, Colfax, Fairmount, Galchutt, Geneseo, Great Bend, Hankinson, Hawley (Rural), Kent, Lidgerwood, Mantador, McCauleyville, McLeod, Mooreton, Rollag, and Wyndmere.
If you are still unsure of your membership status, please call our office at 701-553-8309.
unclaimed capital credit checks
We need your help!
We’re trying to locate former Cooperative members with capital credits due to them. Please let us know if you recognize any of the people on this list and have a way to contact them! We appreciate your help in finding these members. If you have information about anybody on this list, please call our office at 701-553-8309 or email [email protected].
Download or View List of Unclaimed Capital Credits (PDF)
Updated September 2025
Customer support
If you’re having trouble with your services, our customer experience team is always happy to assist you. Also, we have created helpful online resources and step-by-step user guides that you can access here at any time.
