Cohousing-L Mailing List: Funding projects?

[S. Kashdan (skashdan]

Hi fellow cohousers,

Thank you all for your valuable ideas and suggestions for dealing with
leftover contingency funds.  I have shared all of the messages related to
the topic (and some of those indirectly related too) with everyone at
Jackson Place, and a number of members have expressed their appreciation for
the wealth of information and ideas provided.

And, now, we would appreciate it if you could help us a little more. We will
especially appreciate responses from folks living in communities that have
been around for a while and have gone through some exploring and
experimenting with these issues. We are hoping to benefit from your most
current knowledge because we are a little tired right now, and we don't want
to just repeat mistakes that others have gone through already. I have
checked the archives, and copied some relevant things, but we are also
hoping for current knowledge and reflections.

We as a group are exploring our process for funding projects in the future
when we no longer have a pot of money hanging around. We think that it will
help clarify what we do with that pot if we also know how we will raise
money in  the future.

So, here are some additional questions we are hoping for responses to:

1) If we assess members through the condo association for a capital
improvement that we have agreed to, can we exempt any households that have
agreed not to block but have stated that they cannot afford their "share?"

2) If we have a fundraiser to voluntarily fund a project, can we funnel that
money into the condo association without tax consequences?  Or is there a
better method for collecting these funds?

3) If we keep funds out of the condo association because of tax
consequences, how should we deal with liability for contractor accidents and
such?  We heard through the grapevine that another cohousing group had this
problem but we are very shy on the details.

4) How do other cohousing groups raise money for optional projects (i.e.
not replacement reserves)?

Sylvie Kashdan
skashdan [at] scn.org

Jackson Place Cohousing
800 Hiawatha Place South
Seattle, WA 98144
www.seattlecohousing.org
where we have one new baby member, just had a successful benefit dinner for
an organization that helps foster children, are enjoying our common meals
and gardens, working on trying to soundproof our dining room, thinking about
paving our court yard, and enjoying the fall weather.


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