Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: How to attract and retain members.

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

 Joan Engebretson asked:
> I'd also be interested in a discussion of how to
>attract and retain members, and I think other people who have not yet
>gotten to the "site selection" phase would also be interested in that.


I wrote an article for the Cohousing Journal called:

Surviving the development process: maintaining a healthy and 
sustainable membership

In the birth and development of a cohousing project the core members 
are the lifeblood which ensures the survival of the dream.  When a 
project is in its infancy and it loses members it can be a fatal blow.  
Four common pitfalls of developing cohousing which can lead to loss of 
members are poor group process, unrealistic financial expectations, 
inflexible participation requirements, and burnout.

There is a couple of pages which go on to define the four pitfalls and 
how to avoid them.  Since I write so much I can't remember if this 
article got published or not? I don't have access to my back issues at 
the moment to check.  If you don't remember seeing this article in the 
Journal and would like a copy I'll send it via email to private 
individuals who want it.  It's a bit long to post to everyone.

Rob Sandelin
A guy who writes for a living, and for recreation.
Sharingwood