SEASONS GREETINGS FROM ALL OF US AT FIC!
This is the time of year when we receive cards from friends and loved ones that extol the dream of Peace on Earth. Well, the Foundation for Intentional Community works at that goal 365 days of the year, not just in December. At their best, intentional communities are trying to be three-dimensional exemplars of how to solve problems cooperatively, without going to war to settle differences.
Because I know this matters to you, please take a moment to reflect on what it means that
FIC offers Communities Directory as a free online resource, so that the sweet hope of a peaceful future can be that much closer for us all.
Since the Fellowship published its first Directory 24 years ago, we’ve been the gold standard for comprehensive and up-to-date information about who’s doing what and where. We’ve never charged a community for a listing, and we’re striving to keep it that way.
In order for the Directory to be as accessible as possible, I’m asking you to make a year-end tax-deductible donation to Communities Directory, to help keep this priceless resource available without price.
Here’s a graphic display of the worldwide distribution of intentional communities listed in our Directory, showing how plentiful communities have become, as beachheads of cooperative living:
Where We Are and Where We’re Heading
Ten years ago we began offering our Communities Directory online as a free, searchable database. Today our Directory receives about 2000 unique visitors daily, requesting an average of seven pages. We deliver a lot of data. We love doing this work for you, but we can’t keep it up without your support.
This year we completed a major overhaul of our website—including our Directory—to make it more compatible with contemporary web browsers and easier to access with mobile devices (now a majority of our traffic).
While we were at it, we restocked the shelves of our Community Bookstore with new merchandise, including (think stocking stuffers):
• Digital copies of every issue of Communities magazine—all 165 issues.
• Brand new Best of Communities compilations: 15 different collections of 15-20 articles totaling 55-65 pages each, organized by themes—all available as downloadable PDFs.
• Two new videos: Finding Happiness (about Ananda Village) and Within Reach (Ryan & Mandy’s bicycle odyssey across America visiting 100 examples of sustainable community).
For years we have been a cornucopia of information about cooperative living; an oasis in a competitive desert. Unfortunately, there are constant costs associated with collecting the Directory data, organizing it, maintaining its currency, and keeping our software and equipment up to snuff. Your gift today will help keep the Directory free tomorrow.
To make it easier to use, we’re working on a reorganization of our online Directory that will sort listings into four major categories: established communities, forming communities, re-forming communities, and community-related efforts that are not themselves communities. We aim to complete this in the coming year.
Together, we’re making a difference.
Laird Schaub
FIC Executive Secretary
P.S. The hunger for information about cooperative alternatives has never been stronger. With your support, our Directory will continue to be there whenever people reach out for information and inspiration about a more peaceful world.
