As for return, I hope and plan for the Ecovillage to be a place where no one pays a percentage to the village. Instead, people invest their money in their community.. For instance, I want a new compost area in the village, and I have some money I made from my massage. I can take that money, and buy the community a new compost area. (bad example, as you would build one, but you get what I mean..)
I see it as Fukuokas compost theory. Instead of going around, chopping down, building compost piles, turning them, and then going around spreading it throughout, why not just chop and drop, and let the ground do the rest?
Instead of going around, asking people for money, meeting, deciding what to do with the money, going around and giving it back to the people to do the work, why not instead just let people keep their money, and they will invest it themselves.
This may sound naive, utopian, and downright rediculous (as some people have told me) but I've seen it work.
In fact, it's the only way to ensure quality work. When people a feel invested, not just with their buck, but with their heart.