How do you get more homeowners to run for the HOA board?
By OurHOA · General information · Revised
How to recruit HOA board candidates: finding volunteers before elections, offering smaller roles first, succession planning, and keeping the process fair.
Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.
Why the same few people end up serving
In small associations, the board is often the three or five people who said yes once and never found a way to leave. Owners assume the board has it handled. The board assumes nobody else is interested. Both are usually wrong. Most people who do not volunteer were never asked directly, do not know what the job involves, or think it will eat every evening. Recruiting works when the board addresses those three things months before the election. If you are already facing an election with no candidates, a separate guide explains what happens when no one runs. This one is about preventing that.
Start six months before the election
Recruiting cannot start when the nomination notice goes out. By then the only people who respond are the ones who were going to anyway. Put a recruiting item on the board agenda about six months before the annual meeting. List the seats that will open, which directors plan to leave, and which skills the board is missing. A board without anyone comfortable reading a financial statement, or without anyone who lives in the newer section of the neighborhood, knows who to look for. Then give each director two or three names of owners to talk to personally. A general call for volunteers in the newsletter is fine, but it rarely produces candidates alone.
Describe the real job
Write a short description of what a director does in your association. Include how many meetings a year, how long they run, how much reading comes before each one, and the typical email load. Say what each officer role adds. Be honest. If the treasurer spends five hours a month on reconciliations, say so, and say what help is available. Mention whether the association carries directors and officers liability insurance, because fear of personal liability keeps many people away. A separate guide covers how insurance and indemnification protect directors. Owners who see that the job is about four hours a month are far more likely to say yes than owners imagining a second career. Invite prospects to sit in on a regular board meeting before the nomination deadline. Seeing an ordinary meeting, with a budget review and a couple of architectural requests, does more to demystify the job than any flyer. Afterward, have a director spend ten minutes answering their questions. Ask what worried them. Common answers are time, conflict with neighbors, and not knowing enough about finances. Each of those has a practical answer, and hearing it from a current director is more convincing than reading it.
Offer smaller commitments first
Most future directors start somewhere smaller. A committee seat, a single project, or a one-time task lets an owner see how the association works without committing to a two-year term. Good starter roles include the architectural review committee, a landscaping or pool committee, the social committee, a budget review group, or leading one project such as a fence replacement or new signs. A separate guide explains how owners can volunteer for committees. Keep track of who shows up and does good work. Those are your candidates next year. When you ask, be specific. Saying you think they would make a good treasurer because of how they handled the budget committee lands better than a general plea.
Lower the practical barriers
Look at what makes serving hard in your community. If meetings are at 2 p.m. on weekdays, working owners cannot serve. If the board keeps no documented procedures, every new director has to learn by guessing. Some fixes are cheap. Hold meetings in the evening or allow directors to attend remotely where your bylaws and state law permit it. Keep a shared folder with the governing documents, calendar, and how-to notes for each officer role. Pay for any required state director education. Offer a mentor from the current board for the first few months. Spread work around so no single director is the only person who knows how to pay bills or send notices.
Plan for succession, not just the next election
Succession planning in an HOA means no role depends on one person. Ask each officer to write down what they do each month and where the files and logins live. Have a second director or a committee member shadow the treasurer for a few months before the treasurer's term ends. If your bylaws stagger terms, use that to keep experience on the board. If they do not, consider asking owners to amend them so the whole board does not turn over at once. Long-serving directors who want to step down can often be persuaded to stay involved as committee chairs or advisors, which gives new directors someone to call. A separate guide covers term limits for boards that want a structural fix.
Keep recruiting fair
Recruiting candidates is fine. Using association resources to favor them is where boards get into trouble. California Civil Code section 5105 requires associations there to adopt election rules that give all candidates equal access to association media, newsletters, and websites during a campaign if any candidate gets access, and equal access to common area meeting space. The same section says a nomination procedure is not reasonable if it prevents a member from nominating themselves. Other states have different rules, but the principle is a good one everywhere. Directors can encourage people personally. The association's newsletter and website should invite everyone to run and treat all candidates the same. Do not describe anyone as the board's candidate in an official communication.
Use owner education as a recruiting channel
Owners who understand how the association works are more likely to serve. Colorado requires associations to provide free education to owners at least once a year on the association's operations and the rights and responsibilities of owners and the board, under C.R.S. 38-33.3-209.7. Even where it is not required, a short annual session on the budget, reserves, and how decisions get made builds a pool of informed owners. Close the session by describing open committee and board roles and who to talk to. Colorado's Division of Real Estate publishes free board education videos you can share with interested owners. Check your governing documents and state law for candidate qualifications and nomination deadlines before you start asking people to run.
Sources
These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.
More from the board handbook
- New HOA board member checklist: what to do in your first month
- Should an HOA board adopt a code of conduct, and what should it say?
- What does an HOA board need to do each month of the year?
- What written policies should every HOA board have?
- Should HOA board members use personal email, and how should the board manage passwords?
- How should an HOA board handle a disruptive homeowner at a meeting?
- How can an HOA board track decisions and action items between meetings?