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How to Create a Mission Statement for your HOA

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What is an HOA Mission Statement

Let us start with the most common confusion that an HOA vision and mission statements are the same. Well, they are not.

In a nutshell, a vision statement is about the future and a mission statement is about the present. 

A vision statement paints a picture of what the organization wants to become in the future, whether it is a company or in this case an HOA. While a mission statement talks about today and what the organization does right now.

This post is about creating a mission statement, so we are going to break it down in detail in the upcoming sections. Both are important and should not be used interchangeably. 

The mission statement talks about what the HOA does at its core, and so effectively drives the HOA goals and objectives. Because only when you know what it takes to reach your objectives, that you start zeroing in on your goals. 

HOA Mission Statement Examples

In case you were wondering what is a good example of a mission statement, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the best HOA mission statements that we found:

Huntington Park Estates HOA

HOA mission statement example.

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The HPE HOA mission statement tells us clearly about where they are investing their energy, currently and continuously, like:

  • Livability
  • Safety
  • Preserving and enhancing property values
  • Enhancing quality of life through efficient use of resources, etc. 

Willow Dell HOA

Another example of a HOA mission statement.

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The Willow Dell HOA gives its Vision and Mission statements on the same page, so you can see how its mission statement is working towards bringing its vision into reality. 

Notice the key differences in what the Willow Dell community values by using words like, 

  • Fair, ethical, and objective approach
  • Safe, friendly, and enjoyable
  • Fiscally responsible solutions, etc. 

So, even though the goals and objectives of an HOA may be similar as a whole, everyone brings their own resources and personality into their vision and mission. 

Let us move on to understanding how you can create a mission statement of your own.

How to Create your HOA Mission Statement

Well, here is the simple step-by-step formula we were talking about. 

There are 3 parts to every mission statement.

  • Key market: the target audience
  • Contribution: the product or service
  • Distinction: what makes the service unique or what personality you bring into the service that people prefer over the other.

Let us break these further down. 

Understand your community

There are over 370,000 HOAs in America, representing over 40 million households, which is over 53% of the owner-occupied households in America. 

We are certainly talking about diverse communities here, not all of them can be alike. 

  • You may be an HOA for an urban community or a suburban community. The requirements and the resources both differ in a big way for both.
  • The dominant age group in your community can differ. Is it more families with kids, or more senior citizens? 
  • What is the average house cost in your community? Is it more of a luxury and lifestyle neighborhood?
  • Do more people identify with the principles of eco-friendliness, etc. 

There can be so many differentiating factors between the homeowners in any given community. And the community itself has unique requirements and characteristics given its location, resources, present capital value, etc. 

Look closely and get a deep understanding of your community from all angles for the first step. 

Understand your own contribution

An HOA’s role goes way beyond just maintaining common areas in a community. 

Take the enforcement of CC&Rs for example. No planned community can operate without the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, because its absence means chaos. 

That is why, if you look at the mission statements above, CC&Rs make an integral part of each of them.

But every HOA approaches them a little differently. For example, the Huntington Park Estates HOA talks about amicable development while following the CCRs, while Willow Dell talks about providing ethical and fiscally responsible solutions while enforcing CC&Rs. 

So what do you as an HOA bring to the table that is unique, while you enforce the CC&Rs and most importantly create them? Are there any existing CC&Rs that are not serving well to the community and need amendment? 

Every HOA function from CC&Rs, maximizing the efficiency of your budgeting process, to making garbage disposal easier and eco-friendly. There are a number of things where you can make a difference as the HOA, specifically the ones your community will appreciate. 

Identify that as the second step.

Identify what makes your HOA different from the others

Once you have gone through the second step wisely, and in detail, you can easily identify what makes your HOA different from your competitors.

Put your unique contribution and the uniqueness of your community into words for the third step. Do you by your actions foster a feeling of community? Do you focus on providing a more lifestyle living? Do you maintain technologically advanced common areas? 

It can be anything, just give it your words. 

Conclusion

We hope that with our easy step-by-step process, you will be able to create an awesome mission statement for your HOA. 

We wish you all the best!