The idea of Dancing Rabbit seems simple, clear, even a bit magical. Build an ecovillage, fill it with people who want to live a fulfilling and sustainable life, be an example of how it's done. If we build it, they will come, right? Well . . .
When you get down to the daily making of dreams, there are many details to be worked out to create the legal and governmental structure of an ecovillage. How will Dancing Rabbit be governed? Who pays the taxes? How do we create a pleasant home for ecovillage residents while still devoting resources to public education? What exactly does sustainability mean, and how will Dancing Rabbit residents be determined to be living sustainably? Can people who don't live at the ecovillage still support DR?
To answer these questions, we've worked long hours crafting documents to define Dancing Rabbit and how it works. (And then we've spent more time explaining these documents to the IRS so they'd agree we're working for the public benefit and give us a tax exemption!) We think we've come up with something that will enable Dancing Rabbit to grow, integrate members, and hold to its vision. Having clear systems and structures at the outset will also help potential members evaluate their compatibility with the project. Hopefully this will prevent disappointment or frustration from new members discovering late in the process that DR isn't what they expected.
Unfortunately, we've created a rather complex structure. Often it takes newcomers (for that matter, even some people who have been involved for years) a while to understand it all. To help explain DR, here's a brief primer of the ecovillage, and how it works:
Dancing Rabbit-the project and the place
There are two main nonprofit organizations involved with the administration of the Dancing Rabbit ecovillage. The first, Dancing Rabbit, is an educational and scientific organization designed to collect existing knowledge and perform new research to create a holistic understanding of sustainable living. DR will also publicize these findings through print media, the Internet, and on-site visits, in order to help the world in general (and North America in particular) become a more sustainable place.
As a nonprofit organization, Dancing Rabbit has received its "501(c)(3)" status with the IRS. This means we're exempt from both federal and state taxes, and can receive tax-deductible donations. (This is cool.) It also increases our legitimacy, since the IRS has scrutinized our purposes and operating procedures and verified that we are operating in the public interest, to the benefit of no individual.
The second organization is the Dancing Rabbit Land Trust. DRLT owns the land where the ecovillage will be built and will manage growth on the property. DRLT is formed as a subsidiary title-holding (land-owning) corporation for Dancing Rabbit. Legally, Dancing Rabbit maintains control over the land trust (in practice, this means selecting its Board of Directors). DRLT passes all its earnings (minus expenses) to its parent corporation (Dancing Rabbit), which then uses them to support even more supergroovy educational work. As such, DRLT will apply for tax-exempt status as a nonprofit title-holding corporation, known as "501(c)(2)."
Confused yet? Think of it this way: Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage has two branches, an outreach organization that carries on the work of spreading the good news about sustainability (Dancing Rabbit); and a more inwardly focused group that handles leases, taxes, and the affairs of the actual ecovillage (the Dancing Rabbit Land Trust).
So, where do the people fit in?
- Because DR doesn't mean much unless real people are involved, probably the most important question of all is: How do individuals relate to this whole structure? Dancing Rabbit (the educational entity) has members, and Dancing Rabbit Land Trust (the thing occupying real space in northeastern Missouri) has residents. A person can hold Dancing Rabbit membership without living on the land trust-in fact, we will soon be welcoming our first such members. To become a DR member, one must sign the Membership Agreement, which contains three main points:
- 1) Members contribute 50 hours of labor per year to Dancing Rabbit to help it operate and perform its functions;
- 2) Members pay 2% of income to Dancing Rabbit as dues; and
- 3) Members agree to the Sustainability Guidelines, which are Dancing Rabbit's suggestions for how to live sustainably (see March Hare #12).
The Sustainability Guidelines are just that, guidelines. They are not strict and aren't intended to be actually enforced. Remote members can keep their cars and keep using grid power (things not allowed on the land trust) and still support Dancing Rabbit.
Members of Dancing Rabbit are also eligible to become members of Dancing Rabbit Land Trust and live in the ecovillage. Living here requires signing a lease with DRLT, which sets out the rights and responsibilities of land trust residents. One principal responsibility is the lease fee, which covers our mortgage and improvements on the property. It is currently $25 a month for each working adult in the household. In addition to all the standard legal stuff, DRLT leases have a special attachment: the Covenants. The Covenants are part of the lease and so have the force of law, and specify what activities are prohibited on DRLT land. They include things like a ban on pesticides, a commitment to use only renewable lumber and power resources, etc.
So how does a person join Dancing Rabbit? First, you write us a visitor letter so we can get to know a little bit about you. Then we schedule a visit to DR so we can experience each other firsthand and explore whether living on the land trust and/or becoming a member is right for you. If, after that, you want to move here, our Membership Committee interviews you, and if all goes well, you sign the Membership Agreement and (if applicable) the DRLT lease. Then you would be an official member. You might also be interested in joining one of the communities on the property (such as Skyhouse) which would deal with more of the daily structure of your life here (such as income sharing or individual or family financial arrangements).
So, while the structure may seem confusing, the actual membership process is pretty straightforward and gives you a chance to ask lots of questions (as well as see our land, hang out with our kid, clean the barn, bake some bread, build some houses, and other fun activities). And you can always call and chat with us if something isn't clear.
We hope the structure we've created can be useful to other people as well. Please feel free to contact us if you'd like to start a similar project and need help working out the legal structure of your dreams. Then, perhaps, if you build it, they will indeed come.
Intentional Community Bookstore