Tips for Recruiting New BOD members

The HOA or condo association cannot exist with the Board of Directors (BOD). Your community revolves around the critical decisions and daily diligence of the Board. Why then is it sometimes so hard to recruit new Board members?

Some associations have an abundance of community members seeking membership on the BOD while others struggle filling vacancies. A lot of it depends on the size of your community, but there are other factors as well. If your community is having a difficult time finding new board members here are some tips that might assist you in finding the help you need.

Education and Information

Oftentimes, members of the community may not know all that the board does for the association. Education can be extremely helpful to empower your community. If you don’t already, send out a monthly newsletter with all the updates and votes made by the Board. Consider building a website to host all the relevant news and need-to-knows. These simple tools can be powerful in building your community and gaining more involvement from community members. Some may even turn this education and information into action and join the BOD.

In addition to providing education, you can also be a source of information for your community. Encourage questions and give members a place to offer suggestions. You could have an online forum or a suggestion box. You could host a monthly Q&A. By creating a dialogue between Board members and the community, you create engagement, and that engagement will, hopefully, lead to recruitment.

The Art of Redirection

You know the person who comes up to you and has something to say about every facet of the association. They come to you because you’re on the board with complaints like: “The hedges are growing out of control.” “So and so is leaving trash outside of their condo unit.” “Someone is abusing the laundry room privileges.” The complaints go on and on. What can you with them? Turn that person into an active Board member. It’s great that they have so much to say and so much concern for the community. Tell them their voice will be best heard as a member of the BOD. Turn those complaints into real action and change.

Talent Management and Low Commitment Appointments

Your community is an organization and in any effective organization talent management plays a key role. This is why it’s so important to know your community members. If you didn’t have those monthly mixers, you might never know that Jan used to be a CPA, or that Robert is studying for law school. Your community is full of people with valuable skills. Get to know your community members, find out what skills they have and see if they are interested in joining the BOD.

And, hey, not everyone is ready for a full-fledged membership. The Board needs all sorts of assistance and it takes all sorts of talents to keep a community strong. Consider short-term and low commitment appointments for community members who are ready to marry the BOD just yet.

Recruitment isn’t always easy. We wish you luck in filling your BOD with the best candidates possible. We salute the Board and all the work you do for your community!