Cohousing-L Mailing List: exciting news from Communities, and pledge request

[Chris Roth - Communities Editor (editor]

Hello /Communities/ authors and friends,

We have some exciting news to share: /Communities/ magazine has found a 
new publishing home, an allied nonprofit organization that is excited to 
take us on as its largest project.

GEN-US (Global Ecovillage Network - United States) has reached agreement 
with FIC to become the new publisher of /Communities/, under the 
condition that the magazine brings with it sufficient funds to cover 
outstanding liabilities (unfulfilled subscriptions and ad orders) and 
relaunch costs. The various parts of the agreement aim to assure as 
smooth a transition as possible, and the two organizations plan 
continued collaboration as we develop our complementary activities, with 
GEN-US producing /Communities /while FIC focuses on creating a new 
online platform to connect community-seekers with communities.

As you know, FIC experienced financial crisis this year, and fortunately 
has been pulled out of it in the short term by donor generosity--but 
does not have money to spare to send with the magazine. For its part, 
GEN-US is enthusiastic about adopting /Communities/, and they and the 
/Communities/ staff have developed extensive business plans over the 
last month that we believe will be sustainable (and adaptable as needed) 
in the long run, but GEN-US does not have the resources to cover these 
residual "liabilities" either, nor to cover the immediate costs of 
restarting the magazine. Outstanding subscriptions and ads total 
$15,500, while estimated additional relaunch costs (upgrading website, 
systems, registrations, etc., and initial printing/shipping costs) total 
at least $7,500. Therefore, $23,000 is the minimum amount we need to 
raise in order for GEN-US to become our publisher.

We are seeking *pledges*, not actual donations, at this point, because 
until we reach our $23K goal GEN-US will not be able to publish us. As 
soon as we reach that goal, we'll inform pledgers how they can convert 
their pledges to tax-deductible donations via check or payment at the 
GEN-US website. In order to keep on our publication schedule, we are 
requesting that you inform us about any pledge you're able to make 
(preferably by email message or phone) *by December 9* if possible--or 
sooner if you're able.

The good news is that, as of this writing, based on responses to 
individual emails sent before the agreement was finalized, we are 
already a little more than a third of the way to our goal.

The more people who pledge, the stronger this campaign will be, even if 
your pledge is "small." And obviously, we are also seeking quite 
substantial pledges in order to reach our goal. Every amount is 
appreciated and we plan to acknowledge all donors to this relaunch fund 
in issue #185. If we can reach our pledge goal within the next week, we 
hope to have that issue ready to mail on December 24.

If you'd like to see our "funder report," plans and projected budget for 
2020, and/or other information relevant to this publisher transfer, we 
can send those along.

Please email me directly letting me know the amount of your pledge, if 
you can make one. We truly appreciate your support!

Thanks again for being part of /Communities/,

Chris
--
Chris Roth
Editor, /Communities/
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
editor [at] ic.org
541-937-5221
ic.org/communities-magazine-home <http://ic.org/communities-magazine-home>

for /Communities/ advertising,
please contact Gigi Wahba:
ads [at] ic.org
415-991-0541

for photos and layout,
please contact Yulia Zarubina:
layout [at] ic.org
910-617-6136