Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: dues payments to CohoUS

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Sep 28, 2023, at 4:47 PM, Muriel Kranowski <murielk [at] vt.edu> wrote:
> 
> My community has made an annual donation to the Cohousing Association for
> many years and plans to do so again this year. We call these payments
> "dues" but I think they're more a donation. Is there a standard amount that
> an established cohousing community should consider giving?

It would be nice to have such an amount so that giving would be proportionate 
across all communities and would increase periodically if not every year.

A percentage of what, however?

Dues vary widely and include or exclude different things. Lot development 
models are very different from attached dwellings and apartment style buildings.

Percentage of value? An estimate based on Zillow numbers? It’s interesting to 
figure this out — I’ve used it to justify our maintenance budget or other 
expenditures. Our value is so high now many if not most of the founders are 
perplexed.

.01% of estimated Zillow value of $10,000,000 = $100,000. A bit much for a 
donation. It isn’t like our value is actually sitting around in cash.

30 units that sell for an average of $400,000 is an estimated worth of 
$12,000,000. 

Some like per resident numbers but since cohousing is about communities, that 
seems a better basis for establishing a norm. 

20 units = 100 adults  or 20 units = 30 adults

Which benefits from the work of CohoUS more? What is that value based on?

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org