Cohousing-L Mailing List: assoc. members, member process, etc

[Judy (BAXTER%EPIHUB]

This piggybacks on Christina_Hilliard's query about
<<What strategies are best for rting "prospective" members and visitors
  to associates... and on to full membership.  We're using a buddy
  system, and some other ideas.>>

WE (Monterey Cohousing) have a membership process that goes as follows:

We encourage people to begin by coming to a Friday night potluck dinner,  they
can  meet people, see the building and plans, tour some of the existing units,
get information.  They we suggest coming to observe two full (Board of
Directors = all members) meetings or committee meetings.  Then, if they are
interested, they can ask for a buddy/contact to answer questions, keep in
touch, etc.  They can also become associate members here ((I can't remember
which comes 1st, buddy or associate .  Associates pay, currently, $5 per month
toward photocopying and child care costs  (we are thinking of raising this to
$10 or $15), and are expected to participate in a committee, and generally act
like members, participate in discussions and decisionmaking, tho they cannot
block consensus.  We have found a fair number of people who become associates
and then more-or-less disappear, and hope that higher dues would make it
clearer who is really making a commitment.  After a minimum of two months,
associates can apply for full membership, which involves a financial statement,
pre-qualifying with a mortgage company, writing a brief autobiography, meeting
with a "clearness" committee to check out that they understand the process and
community , and have had their questions answered,  and that our concerns are
discussed, and then they need board approval. 

So far, my experience says that you can tell who is really committed and
interested by how they get involved.  As they get more interested and
committed, they get more involved.  

I think the buddy system is very important, as is the requirement of getting
involved - that's how we really get to know people and they can see if we fit.  

** WE are wondering ** how other groups handle something like associate
membership and speeding up the transition to full membership. It seems to take
a long time, with us.  ????

I won't write about recruitment on this thread.

Judy Baxter, Monterey Cohousing Community, (MoCoCo)
Twin Cities Area, Minneapolis/St.Paul Minnesota
e-mail: baxter [at] epivax.epi.umn.edu