By Lynne Kweder, Management Consultant
Q. One thing I have garnered from your articles is that board service could involve a significant investment of time and effort. I am thinking about running for my timeshare board and have two questions for you: (1) How did you acquire all of your knowledge about timeshare boards? (2) Is serving on my board worth the time and effort in this period when timeshares seem to be declining in popularity?
A. I usually do not talk about myself but will respond to your first question. I have been working with nonprofit boards for 50 years and legacy timeshare boards—a type of nonprofit board federally classified as a 501©4—for the last 20 years.
Unusual experience and humility
In 1973, I was providing “meeting support” monthly to five non-profit boards in an association of 21 independently incorporated nonprofits. My job was similar to that of the regional managers of management companies serving legacy timeshares today. Soon afterward, I was asked to provide orientation and training for our boards, and then planning and teambuilding retreats.
In post-graduate training, I studied organizational development and read everything published about boards. I have been a board member, a board chair, and an executive director—working closely with boards from the perspective of each of those roles. I served as president of my legacy timeshare board for seven years and continue to serve as a consultant today.
This is my 52nd article on Timeshare Boardmanship for TimeSharing Today, for which I research the latest thinking in the field. I speak from both unusually extensive experience and humility by always checking out others’ experience and research for each article.
Are timeshares past their heyday?
According to research done by the American Resort Development Association International Foundation in 2022, more than half of all timeshare owners and more than half of new timeshare owners are Millennial or Generation Z. They also report that 90 percent of owners are happy with their ownership experience.
They attribute this to the opportunities available to exchange time ownership for a large variety of locations, experiences, and even cruises, and also to the ability for owners to blend work and leisure during stays in spacious multi-room accommodations.
Timeshares have a new potential to thrive at this point in time! If you love your timeshare resort and value your time there, you have an important stake in the renovation, modernization, and upkeep of the facilities and amenities to keep your resort attractive to these new owners.
Management works “on the ground”
As a vacationer at your resort, you likely have a very limited awareness of the daily challenges and constant problem-solving demanded of your management. They are looking through an immediate lens focused on today, this week, this month, this year–the events and crises.
Having been an “on the ground” manager. I think of the job as primarily “crisis management.” Your management needs the support and arms-length approach board members can bring to the situation.
Board service by skilled board members who keep the bigger picture and future central in their awareness and decision-making is critical to the health of all timeshare resorts Board members who are fulfilling the governance role bring an important arms-length perspective to all of the issues of the resort.
A board is not window-dressing
Board service is serious and demanding. Governance means:
- Doing forward-looking strategic thinking—developing a regularly updated strategic plan through which decisions about new projects and programs are evaluated and weighed in relation to your priorities and your budget.
- Budgeting and establishing maintenance fees for the revenue needed to fulfill both your operational and capital reserve plans.
- Providing oversight, ensuring that the organization is operating legally, ethically and responsibly, assuring legal reviews of major projects and contracts.
- Monitoring the finances and assuring a third-party audit and legal reviews.
- Hiring, evaluating, and supporting your management, and dealing with non-performance when it occurs.
Finally, and most importantly, the board is responsible for clarifying and fulfilling the mission and detailing your specific policies within the framework of your bylaws and state and federal laws.
If you enjoy a challenge and are open to learning a great deal, board work can be very satisfying. During the nine years I served on my timeshare board, I am sure I learned the equivalent of a graduate degree.
Current challenges
At this moment in time, dedicated board service is needed more than ever. The collapse of the condominium in Surfside, FL, and multiple catastrophic weather events have triggered dramatic changes for timeshare resorts.
Reserves must now be accumulated for the structure of your buildings, and regular inspections by engineers are required.
Insurance rates have skyrocketed all over the country, and for some, insurance is impossible to obtain. Timeshares must think about covering much higher deductibles and/or self-insuring.
All this is accompanied by rising costs for labor and supplies. Boards need creative thinking and dedication to address these challenges along with all the others faced by timeshare boards.
Your service is needed
Are you retired and missing the challenging responsibilities in your former career? Do you work at home and have the flexibility to travel to your resort regularly? Do you have a relevant skill or experience background which would benefit your resort? A board is a group of people with a variety of skills and experience who work together as a diverse team. Only the group, acting as a whole, direct the management of the resort. Are there things you would like to see improved or sustained about the way the resort is maintained or developed?
In my case, I was inspired to join the board at my resort for two reasons. I had been watching others do the work of the board at the resort I had loved for more than two dozen years. I realized that it was my turn to give something back. Although I knew very little about property management, I had extensive experience with boards of directors. What inspires you to run for your board?
What knowledge, skills, and experience do you have to bring to the (board) party? What would satisfy you about board service? Improving your resort? Solving difficult problems? Learning new information and acquiring different skills? Being challenged by the role?
Take the first step by lending your skills and experience to a project or committee of the board. When the time comes, I hope you will throw your hat into the ring.