Funding

Starting up a community can require a significant amount of capital. Many communities are started by the founding members pooling their existing assets into the new common treasury. This will probably be one of your main sources of funds. There are also several resources we suggest exploring for funding sources:

Contact the FEC

The FEC has recently started a expansion fund that will be used to loan money for communities in the formation stages.
Click here to contact the FEC

PEACH

PEACH is a collective catastrophic health insurance program started by the FEC for income-sharing communities. The health fund increases its capital by making loans for projects that are consistent with the overall goals of the member communities. One of these areas has been helping to fund new communities, although loans are not limited to this purpose.
Click here to contact PEACH

EGFS Social Justice Fund

Emma Goldman's Finishing School, one of the FEC communities, has a social justice fund which is primarily used to help start new communities near them in the Seattle area. If you are thinking of starting a community in that area, contact EGFS.

FIC Community Magazine

While not specifically focused on egalitarian communities, the Foundation for Intentional Communities puts out a quarterly magazine called Communities. There are often many advertisements for funding in each issue. The magazine is also a place where one can publish ads requesting additional types of support and see other similar requests and offers, as well as being an excellent source of information about communities in general. Click here to visit the Communities magazine website.

Local/Project Specific Grants

Depending on where your community is located, there are often local sources of funding offered by local and state governments, or other various non-profit or non-governmental agencies. Many of these sources of funding are also specific project based. For example, some of the communities in Missouri were able to have the state's department of agriculture fund most of the cost ofredredging some of their ponds which were necessary for their farming. Urban communities with more of an outreach focus may be able to receive funding or partner with various other organizations to accomplish common goals. Since most of these sources of funding are location based and extremely numerous they won't be listed here. However, it is worth keeping in mind that funding may be found in some amount from organizations that are not community focused, and a search of these sources should not be overlooked.