Building social capital Through CSOs

The physical components of the New Urbanism — the houses, streets, and neighborhoods — are designed to foster social cohesion and civic engagement, but an attractive public realm alone does not make a vibrant community. A relatively new type of group, a community support organization (CSO), can encourage the patterns of behavior that lead to community. CSOs are integral elements of many new urbanist developments, including Seaside, Kentlands, Celebration, and Abacoa. CSOs differ from property owner associations in two ways: 1) CSOs are nonprofit organizations. To maintain this status, most of their programs must be open to the general public. 2) They provide services rather than govern the activities of others. Among developers experimenting with this type of organization are Home Savings of America, the St. Joe Corp., the Disney Company, the Irvine Company, and Lowe resorts. CSOs raise the profile of these developers’ projects, improve relationships with regulatory agencies, and demonstrate a long-term commitment to the community. CSOs offer residents a variety of activities like camps, seminars, and wellness programs. A relatively new concept, CSOs have emerged without any formal theory, standard practices, or conventions. Usually they are organized by a partnership with the developer and other stakeholders (builders, businesses, and public agencies). Funding is usually established through assessments that link the revenue of the CSO to the success of the development. CSOs are called institutes, foundations, or partnerships. Three of the most critical elements in the success of most CSOs are (1) a sustained source of funding, (2) integration of goals with the developer, and (3) an involved constituency. Sustained funding “It’s important to think about long-term funding issues from day one,” says Michael Sands, executive director of the Liberty Prairie Foundation, which services the Prairie Crossing development in Grayslake, Illinois. Whenever a property is sold, a fee is paid to the foundation. Other common sources of funding for CSOs are assessments on income of commercial space. One CSO uses a fee on all receipts, from home sales to golf games. A drawback to relying on home resales for revenue is that the organization depends on residential turnover — a circumstance at odds with the principles of community building. CSOs can be funded in other ways, although most don’t lend themselves easily to replication. Robert Davis is the founder of and major donor to The Seaside Institute. The institute does not receive assessments, but two-thirds of Seaside’s homeowners make voluntary contributions as members. Corporate sponsorships, grants, and earned-income projects also fund the institute. Abacoa’s CSO received its seed money through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. But if such a thing as a rule of thumb exists, it is this: “You need a dedicated, assured, permanent source of funding,” says Luther Propst, executive director of the Sonoran Institute, associated with the Rocking A Ranch near Tucson, Arizona. The funding should be “independent of the developer,” he adds. Integrating goals While CSOs may maintain an arm’s-length relationship with the developer where funding is concerned, they place great importance on working closely with the developer in other areas. Often the developer sits on the CSO’s board. The buy-in can be critical, as developers can integrate the vision of the CSO into the community as a whole. In the case of Spring Island, development of this South Carolina island was viewed as inevitable. But the early formation of a land management team that worked with the developer helped preserve some of the land in perpetuity. And in Prairie Crossing, the developer adopted 10 guiding principles at the outset, assigning the same value to lifelong learning and environmental enhancement as to commercial success. Building constituencies As with funding, the key to building strong constituencies is sustaining them. “The biggest challenge is finding ways to engage residents over the long-term, so they see value in the CSO, not something that will just cost them money,” says Sands. Most CSO leaders agree that one way to avoid such a misperception is to isolate the CSO from any homeowner association. The two frequently have conflicting goals. Program scope can also be a thorny issue among residents. “The question is whether programs should be confined to the TND or benefit the larger community as well,” says Eileen Schlichting, president of Kentlands Community Foundation in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Most CSOs, Kentlands among them, believe that confining programs within the TND is the civic equivalent of a gated community. Furthermore, outreach into the larger community often helps to sustain certain programs — for example, environmental education programs often maintain funding by benefiting all schools in a region. “You have to move from development to community, and that takes a long-term commitment by residents,” says Propst. Similarly, the role of CSOs in sustaining the principles of TND must move into the larger arena of essential infrastructure — of value built in rather than appended. “Everyone,” adds Propst, “should agree that this is part of the checklist for communities.” Mim Harrison is a freelance writer based in Plantation, Florida. Ann Henderson is the executive director of the Abacoa Partnership for Community.