Many HOA communities struggle with getting homeowners to attend board meetings. The challenge with this is that HOA board members rely on input from homeowners to run the community and ensure that dues are going towards projects that HOA members support.
Do you have big plans for your HOA in 2018? If so, you’ll have much more success with serving your community if neighbors attend your board meetings. Here are several effective tactics to attract new board meeting attendees:
- Offer Refreshments
Offering free food and refreshments is a sure way to drive up attendance at your next meeting. Depending on your budget and your urgency to get homeowners to attend the meeting, you could consider catering options. However, if you do decide to have your meeting catered, be sure to give homeowners plenty of advance notice to create excitement for the meeting and encourage attendance.
- Prepare an Interesting Agenda
If you want to entice neighbors to attend your board meetings, you need to cover topics that will peak their interests. Creating an agenda will help to keep the meeting on task and ensure that you discuss what needs to be covered. HOA board members can also use an agenda as a marketing tool to get residents to come to meetings. Instead of crafting up a dry, straight-forward agenda, find ways to make the topics more “juicy” and interesting for neighbors.
- Don’t Hold Lengthy Meetings
One of the reasons why homeowners choose to skip HOA board meetings is that the meetings are notorious for being long. Be cognizant of your members’ time and limit meetings to two hours max. If you have a lot to cover in a meeting, consider splitting the meeting up into two shorter meetings. Homeowners will be more willing to attend if they don’t have to give up too much of their precious relaxation time.
- Promote Upcoming Meetings
Sometimes homeowners don’t attend board meetings simply because they were not aware of the meetings. Be sure to give early notice of the meeting (at least one month in advance), and send reminders up until the meeting date. HOA board members should also use several forms of communication to reach residents (newsletter, website, social channels, and physical signage).
While it’s not realistic to attract a full-house of members at your next HOA board meeting, you can dramatically increase attendance by embracing the tactics outlined above.
Vesta Property Services has several solutions to help HOA board members create buzz for upcoming board meetings and effectively run a community. We offer more than 25 years of experience in managing Florida HOAs and making them desirable communities to live in.
Please contact us to learn more about the advantages that we can offer to your HOA community.
