Businesses typically use their vision and mission statements to give their employees a clear reminder of the company’s direction as well as to show their customers what they stand for. A community association is much like a business, but instead of employees and customers, your vision and mission should guide your board and residents. Clear vision and mission statements are crucial for promoting community values and attracting residents who share similar ideals.
Creating or updating a mission statement isn’t complicated, but it should be a cooperative effort from every member of the board. It may also be beneficial to gather input from some of the residents as well. Ask residents what they love most about the community or something they find unique about it, and use that information to help shape your community’s mission statement.
Finding Your Vision
The vision statement should express what the association seeks to accomplish. For example, you may envision a community full of residents who work together to create and maintain a peaceful, safe and desirable place to live. You might include charity work in your vision, where neighbors join each other to support an organization apart from their community association.
A vision statement should inspire everyone in the community. Here’s an example of a quality vision statement:
ABC Community Association, Inc
We envision a community of friendly, caring and respectful neighbors, who work together to uphold and grow the value of our properties as well as enjoy the benefits of family, friend and community relationships.
Crafting an Effective Community Mission Statement
A mission statement, by definition, is just a short statement that summarizes the values, or mission, of an organization. It should support the vision statement, and further expand on achieving that vision.
An effective mission statement should answer the following questions; what you do, how and/or why you do it and who it benefits. This provides the community with a solid foundation to help everyone focus on working towards the same goal. When done well, your mission statement helps the community association board in a variety of ways:
- It gives the board members clear direction, improving efficiency when making decisions.
- It helps any new board members to quickly assimilate and contribute to board activities.
- It provides the framework for the board to measure their actions against, allowing them to easily evaluate and make improvements as they move forward.
Here is an example of an effective mission statement:
The mission of the board members of ABC Community Association is to uphold and enhance the value of our community by properly maintaining and occasionally upgrading common areas, as well as ensuring that residents’ properties are held to the same standards. We, the board members, will consistently abide by our covenants, bylaws, restrictions and policies to ensure we are always taking a fair, ethical and objective approach in representing the interest of all homeowners. ABC Community Association should remain a safe and desirable place to live for all residents and their families. The board will continue to work together to provide ethical and fiscally responsible solutions that promote a sense of community, enhance our property values, and preserve the community for future generations to come.
Not only do the mission and vision statements improve the way the community association is run, they can also improve the behavior and quality of residents as well. Well thought out vision and mission statements can help remind residents of the community values and can also help to attract new resident that share similar values, making it easier to fulfill the community’s vision and mission going forward.
About Kevin Davis Insurance Services
For over 35 years, Kevin Davis Insurance Services has built an impressive reputation as a strong wholesale broker offering insurance products for the community association industry. Our President Kevin Davis and his team take pride in offering committed services to the community association market and providing them with unparalleled access to high-quality coverage, competitive premiums, superior markets, and detailed customer service. To learn more about the coverage we offer, contact us toll-free at (877) 807-8708 to speak with one of our representatives.