Orientation packet
New board member starter kit
A short, ordered track for first-time community-association directors. Read it once, in order, in about two hours total — then keep it as a reference.
Most directors are volunteers who never asked to learn fiduciary duty, reserve math, or open-meeting law — and most boards re-teach the same material by hand at every turnover. This track is the shared starting point, so a new director can get oriented without anyone re-explaining it from scratch.
Module 1 · 15 min
Your first 30 days
What to read, who to meet, and what not to rush.
You were elected to a board of directors, not handed a part-time job. In the first month your task is to learn the association, not to fix it. Read the governing documents, the most recent budget, the last few meeting minutes, and the current reserve study. Meet your manager (if the association has one), introduce yourself to the other directors, and find out which committees exist. Resist the urge to make changes before you understand how decisions are currently made — a single uninformed motion can undo years of settled practice.
What you'll learn
- The four documents to read first: governing docs, current budget, recent minutes, latest reserve study
- Who does what: board vs. manager vs. committees vs. members
- Why your first month is for listening, not legislating
Do this next
- Find your association's record — Look up your association to see what public records, permits, and registrations already exist.
Module 2 · 25 min
Reading your governing documents
Declaration, bylaws, articles, rules — what each one controls.
Your authority as a director comes from a stack of documents, and they rank. The recorded declaration (or master deed) is the highest; then the articles of incorporation, then the bylaws, then board-adopted rules — and your state statute sits over all of them. When two documents conflict, the higher one wins. Before you vote on anything, learn to find the relevant clause and read it literally. The compliance scan flags where your documents may be out of step with current statute, and the compare view lets you read a provision against a sibling community's to see what 'normal' looks like.
What you'll learn
- The document hierarchy and why it matters when clauses conflict
- How to locate a governing provision before you act on it
- Where your documents may be out of date relative to statute
Do this next
- Run a compliance scan — See where your governing documents may lag current statute, with the obligations laid out as a checklist.
- Compare against peer communities — Read a provision side by side with comparable associations to calibrate what is typical.
Module 3 · 30 min
Money basics
Budget, reserves, and assessments without the jargon.
An association has two pots of money: the operating budget (this year's recurring costs — insurance, landscaping, utilities, management) and reserves (savings for big-ticket replacements like the roof, the pavement, the pool deck). Assessments are what members pay to fund both. Reserves are where new directors most often get surprised: a reserve study projects when each major component wears out and how much to set aside now so the money is there later. Underfunding reserves doesn't make the cost go away — it just turns into a special assessment or a loan when the roof fails. Learn to read the reserve study and the budget before your first vote on either.
What you'll learn
- Operating budget vs. reserves vs. assessments — what each pays for
- What a reserve study projects and why underfunding becomes a special assessment later
- How an assessment increase is justified and communicated
Do this next
- Reserve fund interpreter — Translate your reserve study's percent-funded and contribution numbers into plain terms.
- Annual budget builder — See how an operating budget is structured line by line before you review yours.
Module 4 · 20 min
Meetings done right
Notice, quorum, agendas, and minutes that hold up.
Most board decisions are only valid if the meeting was run correctly. That means proper notice to members, a quorum present, an agenda that matches the notice, a vote recorded in the minutes, and minutes that capture the motion and the outcome — not the debate. Open-meeting rules vary by state and document, but the pattern is consistent: notice, quorum, motion, vote, minutes. Getting the mechanics right is what protects the board from a decision being challenged later.
What you'll learn
- The five mechanics every valid meeting needs: notice, quorum, agenda, vote, minutes
- What minutes should record — and what they should leave out
- Why an improperly noticed vote can be challenged
Do this next
- Meeting agenda and minutes builder — Build a compliant agenda and capture minutes in the structure that holds up.
Module 5 · 20 min
Vendors and RFPs
How to get real bids and compare them fairly.
Boards spend most of their money on vendors — and a vague phone quote is not a bid. A real RFP states the scope, the specifications, the timeline, and the insurance and licensing the vendor must carry, so that every bid you receive answers the same question. That is the only way to compare bids fairly and the cleanest way to show members that the board exercised due diligence. The RFP hub lets you post a scoped request, collect structured proposals from qualified vendors, and keep the responses side by side.
What you'll learn
- Why a written scope produces comparable bids and a phone quote doesn't
- What insurance and licensing to require before a vendor sets foot on property
- How structured proposals make a board decision defensible
Do this next
- RFP hub — Post a scoped request and collect comparable proposals from qualified vendors.
- Browse the vendor directory — Find vendors who serve community associations and review their credentials.
Module 6 · 20 min
Insurance literacy
What the association covers, what owners cover, and the gap.
The association carries master policies — typically property, general liability, directors-and-officers, and sometimes flood or wind — while individual owners carry their own unit policies. The line between the two is drawn by your governing documents and state law, and the gap is where disputes happen after a loss. Premiums in many markets have risen sharply, so insurance is now one of the largest lines in most budgets. You don't need to be an agent, but you do need to know what your master policy covers, what your deductible is, and how the market is moving so a renewal increase doesn't blindside the board.
What you'll learn
- The master policies most associations carry and what each protects
- Where association coverage ends and owner coverage begins
- Why premiums are rising and how to read the market before renewal
Do this next
- Insurance market explorer — See how the association-insurance market is moving in your state and county before renewal season.
Module 7 · 20 min
Your legal duties, in plain language
Fiduciary duty, the business-judgment rule, and conflicts.
As a director you owe the association a fiduciary duty: act in good faith, in the association's interest, and with the care a reasonable person would use. In practice that means showing up informed, disclosing conflicts of interest, keeping confidential matters confidential, and treating members consistently. The business-judgment rule generally protects directors who make informed, good-faith decisions even when the outcome is bad — which is exactly why the meeting mechanics and the paper trail matter. You are not expected to be perfect; you are expected to be diligent. The statute reference covers the specific duties your state imposes.
What you'll learn
- What fiduciary duty actually requires day to day
- How the business-judgment rule protects an informed, good-faith board
- When to disclose a conflict and step back from a vote
Do this next
- Statute reference — Read the specific director duties and meeting rules your state imposes, with citations.
Module 8 · 15 min
Where to get help
The peers, professionals, and library you can lean on.
You are not the first person to sit in this seat, and you don't have to figure everything out alone. The community forum is where directors and managers compare notes on the problems every board faces. The people directory helps you find managers, attorneys, insurance agents, and reserve specialists who work with community associations. And the library has plain-language guides and fill-in governance templates you can adapt. Bookmark this kit, and come back to the relevant module the first time each situation actually comes up.
What you'll learn
- Where to ask peers a question without re-inventing the answer
- How to find vetted professionals who serve associations
- Which library guides and templates to keep on hand
Do this next
- Community forum — Ask peers who have handled the same situation and read how other boards approached it.
- People directory — Find managers, attorneys, agents, and reserve specialists who work with associations.
- Resource library — Plain-language guides and fill-in governance templates you can adapt and reuse.
This kit is plain-language orientation, not legal, accounting, or insurance advice. Your governing documents and your state statute control. When something is unclear or money or liability is involved, confirm with your association's manager, attorney, CPA, or licensed agent before acting.