How The HOA Board Can Make The Annual Meeting Worth Attending

Are your annual meetings no longer quite as effective as they once were?  You’re not alone.  HOA members in many associations typically find the matters of such meetings to be boring and unnecessary even though they are actually critical.

Annual meetings give homeowners a chance to discuss issues that affect them such as budgets and the renovation of common areas.  That is why it’s important for the board to encourage homeowners to be present at these meetings.  Here are a few ideas to improve attendance in your HOA.

 

While annual meetings cover a range of topics, make sure you use the meeting to celebrate accomplishments and recognize members for their achievements.  Maybe the HOA just finished constructing a new swimming pool or renovating the roads.  Those are achievements worth celebrating and members will want to be in attendance since they contribute to the funding of such projects.  The board may also consider using the meeting as a venue for launching new projects.

 

In order to pull off a successful meeting, try investing more into it than in previous years.  People usually consider free items to be meaningless but see how serious it is when a larger sum of money is spent.  In case your area is not large enough to accommodate all homeowners, search for a favorable location in town and notify members through the HOA website what was spent on the event.

 

Some issues may be a little dull but you can brighten the situation by offering great food, beverages, door prizes, and comfortable seats.  There are other options such as having a banquet, but you need to decide what works best for your homeowners association.  The key is to post updates throughout the year to the HOA website so members can plan ahead for attending the annual meeting.  When the time comes, they’ll be more likely to remember and show up!