5 Tips on How to Contact an Intentional Community

Placeholder image for Foundation for Intentional Community website.
Cynthia Tina
  • September 2, 2019
  • Membership Process
Person working on a laptop and taking notes on a notepad.

Taking the plunge to visit the community you’ve researched can be scary. Here are five tips to consider when contacting a community for the first time.

1. Be respectful of people’s time and busy lives. Communicate with the essential aspects of your request. How long would you like to say? What are your skills? Have you visited other communities before?

2. It helps if a community can quickly understand your intention for wanting to visit. Do you intend to live in a community? Do you have specific concerns or questions you hope to remedy through a visit? Keep it short and honest.

3. Demonstrate that you have taken the time to understand the intentions of the community you hope to visit. Refer to their mission statement or another aspect of the project that you resonate with. This will help the community determine if you are a good fit for what they have going on.

4. Make sure you are contacting the right person. Look for the person with “guest management” or “visitor inquiry” in their job title or email address. By reaching out through the message portal on each community listing at ic.org we will automatically connect you with the appropriate contact point. 

5. Include your contact information in the request. Let the community know what is the best way to reach you. Let them know your long term plans and if a visit will be an option in the future if they do not have availability now. Sign off with a friendly note and appreciation for their time.

Alright! That should give you what you need to reach out to the community you have in mind. And if you’re still searching for the right community, be sure to browse our extensive online map of communities around the world.

Wishing you all the best on your community journey!

Cynthia Tina, Community Matchmaker and founder of Community Finders

Comments

Featured Blogs

Keep the conversation going with these pieces

Foundation for Intentional Community
Tue Nov 2019
  • Living in community
  • Governance
Diana Leafe Christian shares Earthaven Ecovillage’s “graduated series of consequences” and how it works. Originally published in Communities magazine.
Foundation for Intentional Community
Tue Nov 2019
  • Living in community
  • Life Transitions
Raising children in community has different impacts than in a single family home. Alicia J. George from Takoma Village shares the most significant ways our three adopted boys’ behavior affected our cohousing community and how we worked jointly to deal with the impact.
Foundation for Intentional Community
Tue Sep 2025
  • Living in community
  • Health & Well-Being
Savannah Fishel has visited 54 intergenerational communal housing models across Australia and the US, and she found one important social glue in every community is food.
Daniel Greenberg
Tue Sep 2024
  • Living in community
  • Governance
In 2024, the Foundation for Intentional Community launched its inaugural event, Convergence of Intentional Communities. Daniel Greenberg recalls its successes.
Foundation for Intentional Community
Wed Jul 2026
  • Living in community
  • Health & Well-Being
A Q&A with Hank Gamel and Fran Biederman, about living in an intergenerational neighborhood called Hope Meadows. Excerpted from Living, Together: Reimagining Community in the Age of Disconnection edited by Samantha Paige Rosen.
Foundation for Intentional Community
Tue Dec 2023
  • Living in community
  • Health & Well-Being
“Nine years ago, my life took an extraordinary turn when I made the choice to move to Damanhur, an intentional community in the foothills of the Italian alps.” Celastrina shares her story.
Bianca Riet Villanova
Tue Feb 2025
  • Living in community
  • Life Transitions
Ira Wallace is one of the most respected and well-loved community leaders, BIPOC advocates, and gardening experts in intentional communities and beyond. Inside is an interview with Ira and a list of her achievements.
davebooda
Wed May 2024
  • Living in community
  • Economics & Law
How does capitalism influence our approach to community? And how does community change our relationship to capitalism? The two are not mutually exclusive.
Cynthia Tina
Fri Oct 2021
  • Living in community
  • Life Transitions
People gathering and forming community has existed through all of history. This article lists a timeline of communities beginning in 6th Century BCE.
davebooda
Sat Nov 2025
  • Living in community
  • Governance
“The health of any community can be measured by their relationship to disagreement.” How any intentional community reaches connection has a lot to do with how they address disagreement.

Insights & Stories from the Communities Movement

Subscribe to our newsletter for fresh stories and community updates delivered to your inbox.

Join the Communiversity Community

Get unlimited access to courses, exclusive member events, and a supportive network of community builders

Unlimited Learning

Access all courses, books, and premium content

Community Network

Member-only workshops and community builders

Exclusive Events

Member-only workshops and gatherings

Information

Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

Organizations

An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

Plus Community Memberhsip

  • Find people with Profile Match
  • Access to your community listing statistics
  • Create Discussion Groups
  • 50% commission when your members purchase a Plus Membership
  • Access to our affiliate program
  • Member badge on your community profile
I am an official member of this community
Disclaimer
I affirm that my information is accurate and I am authorized to manage this listing
Foundation for Intentional Community FIC Member badge logo.

Free Plan

Free Membership
Free

Intentional Advertising

  • Subtotal

    {{ currencyFormat( pricing_summary.total_amount ) }}

Icon representing community connections and collaboration for intentional communities.

Plus Membership

  • Find communities with Profile Match
  • View detailed reviews about communities
  • Direct message and view contact information
  • Create free listings in Needs & Offers
  • Plus Member resources in CommUniversity
  • Plus Member badge on your profile