A strategic plan outlines priorities and projects for the immediate future and for years to come. It can accommodate revisions as changing circumstances dictate—without conflicting with the vision behind its creation. It also helps determine what the year’s budget will include and suggests what future ones might feature.
This strategic planning process has many advantages. It stimulates ideas to make good use of association resources, identifies responsibilities, assigns work, coordinates efforts, reveals obstacles, identifies opportunities and guides decisions.
The plan begins with your mission and vision statements. The mission statement explains your organization’s purpose, such as serving the community and preserving property values. The vision statement, also broad, provides a picture of what the community will look and feel like in the future. It can project a well-managed community, a place where homeowners’ needs are met and a community where residents have a sense of involvement.
As you review your plan, you will examine all critical homeowner’s association documents, your governance process, facilities and infrastructure, financial statements (including the reserve study), your collection policy and community demographic trends. A needs assessment may also be conducted, which includes a SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats—a tactic used by many businesses.
Resident feedback is crucial to the strategic plan. You may ask your members for input via surveys and town hall meetings to determine needs and interests. Through these opportunities, you can indicate priorities and suggest projects leading to community “Buy-In."
You can review all comments then develop and prioritize short-term projects, longer-range projects, and how and when to fund them.
Strategic Planning is a great way to start thinking about the future of your homeowner’s association and The Hignell Companies would love to help with the process.