Getting folks involded

Heather,

I wish I could offer suggestions other than what you are already doing. We are doing the same things and only get about 40-45% participation in the activities or meetings. less then 10% participation in actual volunteers to do the actual work.

The only time we had large turnouts for meetings was when it was a controversial decision or something within the activities of the Association ticked the members off. However, once the issue is resolved (one way or the other) apathy quickly sets in and it goes back to the 40-45% attendance.

The best individual turnout we had was at a simple block party (bring your own meat, drink and a dish to share - paper products and grills provided). This had a 80% turnout.

Tim

LOL ;)

I live in a cohousing community, (see cohousing.org) where everyone is on the board by default secondary to ownership. It's an intentional community, meaning we want to know one another for at least safety and security and sharing of common expenses. Although we have HOA meetings and many committee meetings and a monthly community work day, there is no such thing as equal distribution of work. Because schedules are different, skills vary, interest as well. However, the only thing I would encourage is gathering for food. That is always a come-on and an opportunity to get to know one another. Board games help, as well as musicians coming together, and children. Schedule the potlucks regularly, like the third Friday of the Month, with sign-ups for the clean-up crew or set up crew. People working together lead to other activities.

The only other thing I would suggest would be to have a published code of conduct based on civility. Community living is challenging when opinionated people do not realize that opinions are just that, opinions. They are neither right nor wrong. After taking a coaching course via Landmark Education and saw how group dynamics can really make or break the community because everyone brings their past, their judgments, their rigid views to the table and seek agreement among others. Getting people together over good food to talk about a vision for the community that goes beyond just the business aspects of it, then anything is possible. Inclusiveness is very important, as well as respect, and listening.

Susan:

I go 95-5%

And of those 5% that are involved 2% do the actual work the others just show up each month.

Always amazed me how people can care so little about the most valuable asset they own.

And if you have low participation do you really want to increase that number with tricks, gimmicks and rewards?
Just what will they bring to ther table???

Sad to say if they don't have any desire to play a role best to that them stay in that role not spend time forcing them.

Jennifer -

You've provided sage advice for Board members . . . . essentially don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Volunteers aren't easy to come by - they need clear direction, reciprocal accountability by the Board, and public appreciation.

I can only agree with Jennifer. I am also mainly a reader on this site, and this is my first post, but I feel I have to add this one. This is the 3rd association now I am living in, and every BOD stated they wanted to get folks more involved, but none really did. At least not in the sense that people would do anything more than carrying out the orders of the BOD.

We had a situation in the HOA I moved to last year in spring, where I was willing to participate and went to a board meeting. One of the topics was that the BOD was looking for more people to get involved, and I volunteered. My background is in landscaping, so I joined that committee. Although not working in the field actively anymore, it still is a hobby. First committee meeting I went to, we talked about a problem area on the common area where all plantings had died, repeatedly. The first feeling I got when I walked into the meeting was that something was wrong, as it was just the chair, the BOD member who was on it, and 3 new members who had volunteered to join the committee at the last meeting. Basically, there was no discussion, but the new committee members were told they are there to dig in the plants that would be chosen by the chair and the BOD. When I asked why the plants in the problem area had died and offered to take a look at it since it was my background, I was told that this wasn't necessary. I was there to "do the work, not make the decisions, since I didn't know the community standard for plants yet". That all sounded strange, so next day I visited that problem area and saw that they had selected the wrong plants. A common mistake, wrong plant in wrong spot. The area had heavy clay soil, and was partially in the shade. Not everything will survive there. Long story short, I asked what they wanted to plant there, and was told the same plant and tree species that were currently there. Tried to tell them it wouldn't work, and also why not, but they didn't want to listen. the committee chair told me on the side that they were looking for people doing the physical work, and didn't want to pay a professional landscaper, but that he and the BOD knew what was best to plant there, so if I wouldn't want to do the manual work then there wouldn't be any spot on the committee for me. So I resigned again.

But it gets better. A home owner who had heard that I used to be in landscaping and asked me for advice. He had very similar conditions to the common problem area, and I compiled a list of plants for him. He put some of those in end of spring last year, and had thriving plants. Almost all plants planted in the problem area died, however. So during a board meeting in October, the board introduced the budget proposal, and specifically listed landscaping for the problem area with $5000. I wasn't at that meeting, but the home owner I had given the list to was there, and of course he and others questioned the problem area amount. It was apparently a heated discussion, and the outcome was a little different than one would expect. The next day a lady stopped me on the street when I was walking my dog, and started yelling at me why I didn't want to work with the board. I had no idea what she was talking about, but apparently the discussion during the meeting had totally shifted away from the topic but on to me as someone who resigned from the landscaping committee immediately after joining, and then "to stick it to the landscaping committee instead of working with them" (apparently an actual quote from the meeting, several people told me that) I was helping the home owner to show off and make the committee members appear in a bad light. Not sure how I achieved that nor what I did wrong, but needless to say, I certainly will not ever do anything for that HOA again.

And it is not just that committee. My wife joined a different committee, and was basically told the very similar thing - we are not there to give input and make suggestions, but have committee chairs who decide what needs to be done and the rest of the people just carry out those decisions. Needless to say, she doesn't volunteer anymore either.

So my advice to BOD members here would be very similar to what others stated before - if you want people participating, appreciate those people. Doesn't have to be public appreciation or always mentioning what specific members did, but at least don't treat them just as cheap laborers. Or, if the intention really is to find people just for that, at least say that when looking for volunteers. Not that I agree with such an approach, but at least people know what to expect then. there will still be people volunteering, but if it is sold as "now you have the chance to influence decisions within YOUR community" and upon volunteering one is only told that they really just look for worker bees without having any possibility of input, then one shouldn't wonder why people don't want to volunteer.

These are are all interesting (and sad) stories. There's always going to be 20%-30% of people who just don't have time or care to get involved. They want to pay their dues, use the amenities, and be left alone.

I have to say, though, I do wonder sometimes when I hear my BOD complaining about the lack of volunteers- which they will do loud and long. I always think of it like an employer who can't keep employees. At the end of the day, if your turnover is 40%, it's time to take a look at how things are run and see if there's room for improvement.

Heather, I have to say it sounds like your board is doing what they can. As someone who's worked with volunteers and groups for business, I can tell you it will take time, too. Keep doing what you're doing, make those who show up feel welcomed and listened to and in time it will pay off.

Always reading these posts about apathy hits me in my gut that people are very, very, very predictable. There will always only be a handful of people in most organizations who provide the major support. The full support is completed by the rest of the place-holders. HOA's are no different. My Presidency, now in its 4th year, is 100% selfish. I don't trust, nor want to take the chance, that someone who does not care will take over the helm just to start chipping away at the restrictions. I actually prefer the apathy of not wanting to get involved, to the mischief caused by people whose involvement is for degrading the restrictions to suit their own personal desires. I realize how fortunate I am to live in a civil and responsible neighborhood, even with the occasional neighbor who immediately get defensive when reminded of the CC&R's. As I said, people are so very predictable. So, you hope for the best, expect the worst, and live your life with undivided integrity. That's how I manage this silly little HOA.

Daniel,
Nicely put. Consensus does take time. So, it requires a ton of patience and objectivity and an even larger sense of humor.

Case in point: a section of our streets have been degrading pretty much since initial construction - almost twenty years ago. Every year, in all the past Minutes, this has been an issue to complain about, but to give up on. This year I did my research. Then I distributed this rather impressive effort at the annual meeting (to the 12 out of 42 homeowners who were there). Then I did some follow-up to include with the Minutes distribution for the whole HOA, encouraging response. For all these years blah, blah, blah about these streets. Guess how many comments we got back? NONE!!!!! Of course you absolutely have to laugh at that point.

Now since then, I was able to clarify even further this situation, and wonder how best to get this final information to the homeowners. The Board met and determined we should hold a Special Meeting, of which I supported. But some time has passed and by the sheer breadth of silence of everyone, either from those who don't live on those streets and don't feel "responsible" for finding a solution, or those who do live on those streets who you would think would want to find a solution to the problem, I'm more inclined to join in their silence until the next annual meeting. Especially since the only solution will cost a helluva lot of money

Reading one's audience is another crucial factor of one's involvement. Oh, it'll get done, but am I going to make my desired response bigger than the actual response? Nope.

Wow...I don't feel quite so bad. I swear there should be a reality show that follows the drama that an HOA has!
OP, we do several events a year which include: a spring and fall potluck, a community yard sale, an easter event (with the easter bunny and egg hunt) and a santa ride through the neighborhood and then santa takes pictures with the kids at the community park...

Even with all that, there are about three people on the board that do a majority of the work. We have MANY people that volunteer, but do it with self serving purposes, turn other people off and we are left with the original few...our main problem is we have two people on our board that want to be "in charge" but have NO people skills. I cannot emphasize the NO PEOPLE SKILLS enough. They complain that the three main volunteers have a "mini board" and they are ousted...so people are just delusional.

I hope you get some ideas and get more people involved. Currently, I am working on assigning tasks to other board members in hopes that will jump start their motivation to take on some of the load.