You may have an old-fashioned, paper newsletter, or you may have a totally electronic one—but whichever route you choose to go, your HOA should seriously consider the maintenance of a regular newsletter. Even in this age of social media, residents still like to receive thorough, regular updates—encompassing more than the length of a Facebook post or a tweet—that keep them apprised of local happenings and events.
The benefits of a newsletter are numerous. The most obvious is that it facilitates communication between the board and the members of the community. The trouble that members of the board run into is thinking up enough content to fill a monthly newsletter. Let these five ideas guide you as you set out to craft your next community newsletter.
- The most obvious way to put your newsletter to work is to be informative. What were the big decisions made at the most recent HOA board member? What’s the progress of your capital improvement project? What’s on the horizon for the community? The newsletter is a great place to recap these happenings.
- You can also use your newsletter to help homeowners. In recent weeks, this blog has offered tips on summer lawn maintenance—and content like that can ensure that homeowners really get something practical and actionable out of the community newsletter.
- Are there local news stories that might affect your community? You can summarize them in your newsletter—but make sure you attribute your news sources.
- Your newsletter can be used to remind homeowners of little snippets of your governing documents—for example, now might be a good time to post reminders about summer lawn parties, lawn decorations, and so forth.
- Finally, remember that your HOA newsletter is the ideal platform for sharing important calendar dates—if nothing else, the date of the next board meeting!