Engaging Homeowners by Building Community Spirit By Bruce Latta, CMCA

All of us involved in managing community associations run into disgruntled homeowners who just can’t be satisfied. Problems that occur where people live are understandably emotional. However, if we don’t respond quickly, matters can spread to other homeowners and become unmanageable. The entire community suffers. How do we stop negativity and build community spirit instead?

When faced with unreasonable homeowners, I often recall when my children were too young to reason with. My wife, who still reads “self-help” books, would yell out “REDIRECT THEM!” Those of you who raised millennials and Gen X kids will remember the “redirect” trend.

It worked. Can this be a lesson for association managers and board members? Can we redirect homeowners to focus on something positive instead of tearing down the community? The answer, according to CAI is a resounding YES.

The standard dictionary definition for community spirit is, “People coming

together to improve the community in which they live; it is people as a group affecting each other in a positive way.” That’s certainly worth pursuing.

CAI’s Research Foundation took a hard look at community spirit and suggests that a healthy community has

many opportunities for homeowners to get involved as volunteers. If a homeowner has time to complain, imagine if they spent the same amount of time volunteering to make the community better. Make sure your community has volunteer committees set up to deal with typical community problems. Then, you respond to complaints with, “Why don’t you volunteer for the committee that advises the board on that issue?” Giving disgruntled people the opportunity to

"IF A HOMEOWNER HAS TIME TO COMPLAIN, IMAGINE IFTHEY SPENT THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME VOLUNTEERINGTO MAKE THE COMMUNITY BETTER."

put their time and efforts into solving their problem through committee work can quickly diffuse them.

In addition to making sure you have committees to redirect homeowners, associations across the country are building community spirt by adopting

a charity. For example, most common interest development’s (CID’s) governing documents require the HOA to host garage sales periodically. Why not go the extra step and announce that your association is adopting a charity that will pick up all the left-over garage sale items? Include that charity’s fundraising events in your community newsletter. Sell T-shirts. Host a fundraiser or encourage homeowners to send money during the holidays. Some charities like Desert Arc provide employment to people with disabilities. You can promote Desert Arc’s landscaping service to individual homeowners or encourage your landscape contractor to include a Desert Arc crew in their bid. Desert Arc is in Palm Desert and can be reached at www.desertarc.org or by calling 760-346-1611.

Your efforts to build community spirit will fall flat if you don’t communicate often with homeowners about opportunities to get involved and opportunities to serve the less fortunate in our greater community. If you are thinking that maybe it is time to form a newsletter committee, you are on the right track.

Having more homeowners involved in the governance and preservation of your community will build pride. When word spreads that your community is a great place to call home, you may also see property values increase. It’s time to make community spirit officially part of your community’s goals. Get a group of disgruntled homeowners to form a community spirt committee and get them redirected on providing positive recommendations to the board.

You can find more helpful information at CAI’s Foundation for Community Research at www.foundation.caionline.org. Check out all their Best Practice Reports while you’re there! Their booklet called Community Harmony and Spirit provides numerous examples of activities by various associations. Use it for developing ideas but don’t forget to ask residents for their input. With input from homeowners and CAI’s best practice tools, the board can develop a “vision” for your community. With this vision, policies can be developed, and practices put in place that foster a shared positive vision.

"GET A GROUP OF DISGRUNTLED HOMEOWNERSTO FORM A COMMUNITY SPIRT COMMITTEE ANDGET THEM REDIRECTED ON PROVIDING POSITIVERECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BOARD."

HERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES FROM CAI:

• One of the easiest ways to ways to build community spirit is to welcome new members to the community. Have a Welcoming Committee with someone making a visit to the new owners. Make new owners to the community feel a part of something, that an actual community exists. Also, it’s an opportunity to reinforce the community rules by giving them a community binder with all the various governing documents indexed within it. It also gives the new residents a contact within their new community.

• Social media is available to use to highlight all the goings-on in the community. Communications and transparency make members feel a part of their association because they feel informed and aware of the association’s business activities. Podcasts? Anyone in the community that will volunteer to produce them? Interview individuals of interest to the community such as the board president, city mayor, vendor, local school principle. It's intended to be as informative as possible for all the residents.

• A calendar of all events and important dates for the year for the members. Include sending periodic updates with any changes.

• A newsletter in both hard copy and digital. Ask for volunteers to submit stories and photos. Have some written criteria for the community to understand how and what to submit for publishing, including photos. It doesn’t have to be limited to monthly but should be on some type of schedule, so residents know when to expect it.

• Provide meeting agendas and minutes. Again, in both digital and hard copies. Supply to all members not just those who have made a written request.

• Use a website as an information and resource portal for members updating them on all activities. It is also a marketing tool for the community. A useful attractive up-to-date website creates a positive image to the outside world about the community. Have a members' only sign-in section for association business.

• Create a community bulletin board. Include announcements from the association and also a community section for members' announcements. Make sure you have written criteria, so everyone understands prior to using it what can be posted (i.e., no personal attacks, a time limit, a max size

and number of postings).

• Schedule block parties or potlucks a few times per year.

• Conduct member surveys and ask for feedback which makes residents feel like they matter.

• Ask if people would buy embroidered polo shirts or printed T-shirts with the community name and logo. Take pre-orders with payments and have them made.

• Work with local law enforcement and set up a

neighborhood watch program.

• Hold regular townhall meetings for input. Invite guest speakers such as the mayor, police chief, fire chief, school superintendent and announce all members are welcome. Just announcing and holding town hall meetings, even if they can’t attend, will make members feel more appreciated.

• Celebrate national holidays like Arbor Day or Independence Day. Hold a picnic or potluck with games at the park or community facility.

• Form clubs. Allow them to announce they are looking for other members to join them.

• If residents want to lead an exercise group, encourage residents to join their neighbors.

• Many associations have implemented community traditions revolving around major seasonal events, giving residents something

to look forward to each year.

• Community spirit is also furthered by recognizing all volunteers within the community

Try out a few of these ideas and watch your community improve. It’s difficult for a homeowner to stay disgruntled if they understand your efforts to make the community more enjoyable and more valuable, while building a reputation as a great place to call home.

Bruce Latta, CMCA, is president of Parc La Quinta HOA, and is Chair of CAI-CV’s Homeowner Leader Committee. Bruce can reached by email at plqhoablatta@gmail.com or by phone at (760) 285-5617.