Community Newsletter

TammeraV,

I’m the VP of our community. I have been the chief editor and publisher of our monthly newsletter now since December. I found it to be a lot of work, but then again, the board has the power to put what they feel will benefit to the community(facts), not what a volunteer of the community (opinions) would want to express. Not all but are community had dealt with this type of person.

I wouldn’t suggest “fillers” Although good for some not always beneficial to all. I would suggest (as I do) putting in only things that you your self can comprehend and are will to read. Make the newsletter interesting for all that receive it. Remember the newsletter it the “voice of the community”

I have enclosed a link to a few articles written by our attorney. I have re-written and made some change, to have it sound more like my wording appose to some “lawyer” http://www.hoa-attorneys.com/understanding.html

I believe you will need Adobe Acrobat, to view the articles. They are written as a PDF file.

Another very good source of information is the Community Associations link to the right of this fourm. Here is the link http://www.communityassociations.net/newsletter_main.html
Copy and past this into your address bar or just click on the link(on the right) This site is full of very useful and well written information, you can put into your newsletters.

I’ll continue searching and when I find anything interesting, I will post it for you as well.

This discussion forum is one of my favorites and the people that post on it are very helpful to me as they will be for you too.

There have been several posts pertaining to this particular topic, in one sense or the other. Use the search box (top right) for previously written posts. That will also help.

Best of luck
Chuck W.

One item that is a good idea in newletters is a feature called "Did You Know?" Since few people bother to read the CC&R's, this column would explain in simple terms the restrictions included in the CC&R's (one in each newsletter). For example: "Did you know that certain window coverings are not permitted by our CC&R's, including foil, paint, newspapers, and the like?"
Or, "Did you know that the CC&R's require that the board receive a copy of all rental and lease agreements?"

BobM5

Good suggestion. That would be much more appealing to the readers of my community, rather than listing what homeowners should or shouldn’t do, throughout the entire newsletter.

I may use that approach my self. Thank you

Chuck W.

Hi Tammera:

We post our monthly newsletter on our website, www.fhhoa.com. It's sent out by mail to most of our owners, and by email to some of them. When there is important information to get through (such as budget, notice of when meetings are going to be for the year, etc.) we then mail it out, rather than emailing, since our state law requires mailed notice.

We don't normally put "fluff" into our newsletter, in part because there is more than enough information that needs to be communicated for one or another reason. We have started doing a focus on a particular owner recently, as well as having some sort of contest each month to encourage better readership.

We do advertise, as you'll note. Our demographic is an advertiser's dream, so that helps a lot. We have a backlog of about 10 advertisers wanting to get into our newsletter. We try to limit the advertising so that content doesn't get totally overshadowed. If you decide to advertise, talk with the Association's accountant about how to structure budgetary items so that you can offset the income as much as possible, to avoid paying taxes on the advertising income.

Think outside the box when writing articles that are touchy subjects (I do "interviews" with the local animals, etc....).

Finally, keep an original copy of all your articles and create a spreadsheet that shows the articles that you write for each newsletter. Sooner or later you will either need to repeat information or scratch your head and say, "What did we put in last year at this time that was helpful?" Then you can go back and check.

I would recommend publishing (if you put it on the web or electronically distribute) in Acrobat, rather than putting out Word files, since the Acrobat files can't be changed. There is other software that will make .pdf files but I haven't tried any of the programs. It's a worthwhile investment so that you don't have somebody out there changing your newsletter. You could also print out the pages and then copy them with some copiers that will scan and create a .pdf file.

Best of luck!

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA
Compliance Coordinator
Forest Heights Homeowners Association
Portland, Oregon

I think the newer MS Publisher and Word have a free ad in that converts to pdf.

Hi Tammera,

We try to keep our newsletters informative, but not "preachy". The "filler" relates to things of interest depending on the time of year - gardening tips, info on up-coming election dates (local and national), local events reminders (fairs, art shows, etc). We even throw in a recipe or two. We've had positive responses from the association members. If you know your community, you can customize the newsletter to their interests. Best of luck to you!

Check out these links from our HOA and they should give you some ideas.
http://www.unionmills.com/newsletters.htm
http://www.unionmills.com/newspdf/dec06web.pdf