Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: New members

[Emilie Parker (emilie.v.parker]

We are a forming community Artists Cohousing in Louisville, CO still
looking for property.  We have a process for membership.  It starts when an
interested potential member attends one of our orientations which we hold
monthly on the first Thursday in the evening. We have an application form
available at the event and we explain the joining process as part of the
slide show.


   - The first step in the process is the potential member attending the
   orientation as often as they want until they decide to join.  We usually
   have several core members at the orientation so they get to meet us.  We
   have a discussion, a sharing exercise, slide show, 3 minute video, and
   snacks.  This first step also includes the option of meeting one-on-one for
   coffee with one of our marketing team to get questions answered before
   turning in the application.


   - The second step of the process is to join as a temporary member.  They
   send in the application with $50 (non-refundable).  Then they get on our
   email list, our member list and get included in all the potlucks, property
   updates and field trips.  This is the "getting-to-know-you" part.  And we
   see if we can get them to volunteer for anything too.  They are NOW part of
   the core group which meets monthly in someone's home for a potluck or we
   eat together at a restaurant if we go on a field trip.  At these meetings
   we discuss property, finances, governance and other critical topics.


   - The third step is once we schedule our Getting-It-Built workshop we
   won't have any continuing temporary memberships.  All temporary memberships
   are dropped and they have to convert to full memberships and pay $450 for
   the workshop.

That's as far as we go now because we don't yet have property.  After we do
have the Getting it Built workshop we'll have to revise the application
process and add more commitment and involvement steps.

We currently have 2 provisional core members and we had 10 full core
members who have paid their $450 workshop fee.  We lost two core members
this weekend for personal reasons.

We don't yet have property so, once we do, we'll have to develop the
process further to include bigger commitments.  One of our members made a
cool graphic explaining the process which we put on the application.  The
form also has vision and values checkbox, agreement to volunteer and
projected timed payments. People sign it and send it in with $50.

Let me know if you would like a copy of our application form.  My email is
below.  I'll be watching this thread closely for ideas on how to revise
this when we do get an option on property.

Emilie

-----------------
Emilie Parker
emilie.v.parker [at] gmail.com
303-317-4558 main
240-350-8533 cell
My website: www.emilieparker.com
Artists Cohousing website: www.artistscohousing.com
Art Cohousing Meetup:  www.meetup.com/artists-housing-community

"I believe that art, like music, is a universal language that feeds our
souls and enriches our lives.  Everyone should participate in the arts,
take a painting class, sing in a choir, join an art museum, play a musical
instrument, collect art, or any other art activity and your life will be
more joyful."
                                              Dennis Pendleton



On Mon, May 2, 2016 at 7:35 AM, Jan Kenney <angelwoman49 [at] icloud.com> wrote:

>
>
> We at Placitas Sage are discussing creating a process and steps to
> becoming a member. We realize that there is a need for a certain level of
> participation prior to becoming a member in order for the current members
> and a potential member to decide if membership is a good fit. Can anyone
> share with us what you are doing as a process? Jan Kenney
> Sent from my iPad
>
>
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