Communities Directory Donation

“I’m happy to make a tax-deductible donation to keep Communities Directory as accessible as possible—both to seekers and to listed communities.”

For communities, we suggest at least $20 for every year that you’ve had a listing. For individuals, we suggest $5 for every visit you’ve made to our online Directory, getting the latest information about cooperative alternatives.

Product Description

Communities Directory Donation

Use the ‘Add to Cart’ button above, or you can mail us a check made out to “FIC” to:

Directory Donation
RR 1 Box 156
Rutledge MO 63563

Communities Directory: Where We Are Today and How We Got Here

Communities Directory first appeared in 1972 as a periodic supplement to Communities magazine. After being released eight times as part of the magazine, FIC took over as publisher and started producing it as a book, offering editions in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2007, and 2010.

At first, sales of the book more than paid for the printing costs and the labor needed to create it. But toward the end of the ‘90s, we noticed increased resistance to buying reference material as people started expecting it to be available at no charge on the internet—never mind the labor it takes to collect, organize, display, and update all the information. While visits to our online Directory spiraled upward, sales of our book dwindled.

Though FIC committed to maintaining the Directory in book form through 2010, it is questionable whether we’ll print it again given how difficult it’s become to recoup printing expenses through sales. Meanwhile, in 2004 we began offering our online Directory as a free searchable database, which continues today.

As there is no charge to list in the Directory and no charge to access the data, we have been depending on online advertising and donations to balance the budget. If that does not succeed in covering costs, we may need to institute listing charges in the future.

Your donation today will help keep Communities Directory free for all.