Community Communication Corner
by Bob Gourley, MyEZCondo Founder, Member of CAI CT Board of Directors

Using Better Communications to Attract Community Leaders

Community Governance is the theme of this issue of Common Interest. Excellent community governance is the difference between a good community and a great one. Poor community governance can lead to the downfall or outright collapse of a community association. Finding and keeping qualified and interested volunteers within your community is a real challenge. Are you using your communication tools to help with this daunting task?

Is there a more difficult story to share with your fellow homeowners than the story of governance? How many times have you heard about the Board needing volunteers for this project or that committee? How often have you heard about a seat on the BOD going vacant for lack of interest? Used properly, your community newsletter and website can be a crucial tool in finding and developing your community's future leaders.

Rarely, have I heard stories about an outstanding BOD President whose first involvement with community leadership was serving as BOD President. While there are instances where a community seems to "magically" find new leaders, it has been my experience that the best-run communities actually "grow their own" leaders. They involve community members in projects and cultivate their residents to become their future community leaders. In more vital communities, Board Members are tasked with finding future leaders from the moment they join the Board themselves. This is an excellent strategy for long term governance success.

Altruism aside, public recognition for a job well done is very motivational for most individuals. While it may not be the same as making the front page of the New York Times, being written about in the pages of a community newsletter is rewarding to those being written about. It also inspires others to contribute as they seek the same recognition for themselves. It's just human nature to want to do well and be recognized for a job well done.

The uninformed remain the uninvolved. If you are not using the resources available to you to tell your story well, you will likely have poor results in finding new leaders. If you find that your community is lacking in leadership prospects, take a look at how you are communicating with those potential leaders. If the only communication with the typical homeowner is to remind them to send in their common fees, pick up their pet's waste, and stop parking in the fire zones, you can't be too surprised when they don't volunteer to be a part of the community leadership efforts.

The well informed become the most involved. If you learn how to project a positive image within your community, you are much more likely to succeed in finding volunteers who want to be a part of that success. Most communities take on tremendous challenges and they do so in the form of volunteer efforts on the parts of Board Members and Committee volunteers. You need to tell their story and celebrate their achievements.

Your regularly scheduled communications should have at least one volunteer success story each and every issue. You should also routinely ask for new volunteers for existing and future projects. The worst thing that could happen is that you will have told a positive story and rewarded a volunteer for their efforts. The best thing that could happen is that you will find success has inspired another volunteer to come forward. That new volunteer is likely to get active and stay active. That may just be how you find your next Landscape Committee member, who also joins the Board and two years later becomes Board President. At least, that's how it happened for me…

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