Letter from the Executive Director for September 2016

Our Mission, and How You Can Help

There are two things we need local volunteers to do that no state-wide trade association can ever do.

At the start of the 2016-2017 season, I thought it would be a good idea to reemphasize our mission at MassLandlords. Actually, we have a long-term mission and a short-term mission.

Long-term, our mission is to create better rental housing in Massachusetts. The Northern Worcester County Landlord Association president, Brian Lucier, likens it to an inverted pyramid. Our tenants and residents are our customers, the most numerous, at the top. We landlords serve them, our customers. The association at the bottom is the fewest people, but we hope to serve all the landlords and tenants above.

We keep that long-term mission in view always. Short-term, our mission is to get paid staff for all key operations. When a paid employee leaves, we can immediately hire a replacement. Paid staff can ensure business continuity.

Economically, we know it is possible to have paid staff running key operations. Add up all the membership dues being paid across the state, and we easily can support a staff person. But we also offer a variety of services that generate revenue beyond just adding up all the preexisting membership dues. My personal gut feel is that MassLandlords will support several full time equivalent positions when it is mature.

Depending on how you count the contributions made by people who are semi-volunteer, we’re solidly between one and two “full time equivalent” now.

We are staffing four visible roles, hour by hour, bootstrapped from nothing. They are “events, content, services, and policy.” Saying the same in more words, we will: 1.) Connect members with local resources at local events; 2.) Reduce members’ business risk by educating them about the laws through a high quality newsletter and website; 3.) Help members increase revenue and reduce expenses by taking advantage of member services; 4.) Advocate for public policy that takes into account the landlord point of view.

There are also many operations that are being staffed almost invisibly: bookkeeping, accounting, server maintenance, marketing communications, renewal mailings, and much more.

Despite all this talk of staff, there are two things we need local volunteers to do that no state-wide staff can ever do.
First, we need you to keep your finger on the pulse of your local cities and towns. You know better than anyone else what’s going on in your backyard. What challenges or opportunities lie before you? Tell us, and we can call for help. Maybe we can even reallocate some resources to help.

Second, we need you to get to know one another. MassLandlords membership is valuable because of the personal connections members can make with one another. Many of our members know one another going back years, and have one another on speed dial. That kind of connection can save your bacon, or at least make the job a little easier or less isolating.

What you see from MassLandlords is the result of the hard work of about 20 different paid and volunteer contributors, most working part time, and over 1,200 participating members. Thank you for supporting us as we try to reach all 70,000 rental owners in Massachusetts. Tell your friends, we have a long way to grow.