How To Be Ready For The Annual HOA Board Meeting

Annual meetings are one of the best ways to keep HOA board members involved and informed.  Unfortunately, for most associations, there are always members who tend to be absent for such meetings.  An effective way to ensure members have no excuse for failing to attend is to set a date far in advance.  Here are more suggestions to help you prepare and encourage people to attend.

 

As mentioned, you should set a date far in advance so everyone has time to make plans to be there.  But that’s not all; consider sending notifications from time to time via email or text messaging and post reminders on the community website.  You could also ask them to mark their calendars as some members may not visit the community website frequently.

Aside from that, food and drinks work well since it serves as an incentive for them to show up.  Some HOA’s set their meetings to the evening and notify members that dinner will be served.  If many of your board members have a 9 to 5 job, consider other options because these people could be busy in the evening.

 

In order to be prepared, take some time beforehand to think about what should be discussed in the meeting.  Generally, the board discusses how the HOA thrived in the past year as well as situations to expect in the upcoming year.  You could also use the meeting to celebrate achievements such as the completion of a project while coming up with suggestions for dealing with difficult issues.

Additionally, the annual meeting provides a perfect opportunity to talk about the potential for special assessments.  Let members know how much money needs to be raised and how it will be used.  Preparing for the annual meeting is often a time consuming process.  Make sure everyone is ready by coming up with an agenda, placing reminders on the community website, and preparing the ballots if any elections will be held.