I've lived in, visited, and WWOOFed at a number of intentional communities,
permaculture and organic farms. If you're looking for short or long term people to come there, I'd elaborate more about yourself and your
project. There are a lot of forming communities out there, some that will end up prospering and many that never get off the ground. what are some of the things that differentiate you and your project? I imagine since you posted this on permies that
permaculture is important to you, but please elaborate more on your experience, your favorite
permaculture authors etc. Being open to a lot of ideas in the early stage can be a good strategy too, but it's helpful for people who may be interested to have a bit more information about what you're looking for before making a trip and rearranging their lives in the hope that a new situation works out. It would be helpful for you to elaborate on your ideas, values and plans some more in writing just because there's a lot of self-selection that will happen when people read you're descriptions, you'll end up attracting more of the people you want and many of the ones that wouldn't work out anyway because of a mismatch in values won't even contact you in the first place because they'll sense the incompatibility when reading what you've wrote. If you're too vague, it's more likely people reading it who aren't really compatible with your values will misinterpret it in a way that's favorable to them, and end up being more of a source of conflict than a source of help. If someone's coming for a short-term experience, they don't need to be as good a match as someone looking to live in a commuinity long-term. I've been to a number of places where I had a good experience, worked a lot and learned stuff in a matter of months, but knew it wouldn't work out if I stayed longer because of conflicts of values, working styles and personality. Those can be more intense in a small group, some people that work fine together in a larger group end up having a lot of drama in a small group. I can attest to it being hard to know what to expect from reading about a place online alone, talking on the phone with them helps but there's always a lot of surprises when you actually get there. The same principle works in reverse too, when someone new comes to a farm/community, those already present never fully know what to expect until they arrive. However, the right questions asked and the right things mentioned can make a mismatch considerably less likely.
As for communies vs ecovillage, I have been in both and they both have their advantages and disadvantages. Sharing more provides many benefits but also many more opportunities for conflict and drama. Some people that may get along fine in an ecovillage setting end up incompatible in a communal setting.
Besides general information about your vision and values, a few specific things you may want to address are, what is your vision regarding diet and animals. A lot of places end up with conflict over this issue, both in the kitchens and on the farms. Meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans can get along fine together in some places, but in others there's a big problem if some don't want meat in the kitchen or animals on the farm and others do, or simply want stipulations attached to meat/animals that others find unacceptable. Stating your personal position on that issue now would help avoid these situations. Another topic is whether the community has any spiritual or religious focus or not. Another topic in the norms you expect regarding alcohol, tobacco etc.
There's a chance I could possibly be interested in being involved in your project, but I'd just need to know some more about you and your project before being willing to commit the time, money and
energy to travel from where I am now (Missouri) to western Colorado. If I were in your area already, I'd just try to see if i could arrange to visit and talk to you in person, but I think many interested people would probably be coming from a good distance away as well and wouldn't have that option.
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For the legal concerns, I'd check out Diana Leafe Christian's book "Creating a Life Together. There is much useful information on forming a community and legal structures.
