Volunteer without SHHA Email
This page is for volunteers who participate using a personal email address. You usually do not need a paid Microsoft license.
First-Time Setup
- Look for the two Microsoft emails described below.
- Open the organization invitation email and click Accept invitation.
- Use that same email address when prompted to sign in.
- Open your committee SharePoint link from the Quick Reference page.
- Confirm you receive committee mailing list messages.
The 2 Emails You Should Expect
1) Organization invitation email (expected but confusing)
The subject is usually similar to "Anna, SHHA invited you to collaborate with SHHA".
The email usually includes:
- A warning message telling you to proceed only if you trust the sender and organization
- Sender: Anna, SHHA (anna.levchuk@sandiahomeowners.org)
- Organization: SHHA
- Domain: sandiahomeowners.org
This is the important one. Click Accept invitation to activate your access.
After you click Accept invitation, Microsoft may bring you to a page that does not make much sense. This is normal and is just a Microsoft quirk. Use the direct links on the Quick Reference page for useful pages and mailing lists.
2) Group/team invitation email (expected but confusing)
You may also get an email with a subject like "You have been added to a team in Microsoft Teams".
This is a default Microsoft message and cannot be customized by SHHA.
For external volunteers, we do not recommend using Teams for SHHA work. Instead, follow the SharePoint links on the Quick Reference page for the groups you are part of.
What You Can Expect
- You can receive committee group email at your personal address.
- You can open SharePoint documents you were granted access to.
- You may see references to Microsoft tools SHHA does not use (safe to ignore).
- You may receive Teams-related emails even though your normal workflow is email and SharePoint.
Most Common Mistakes
- Not accepting the invitation — until you do, access will fail.
- Trying to use Teams instead of using SharePoint links for committee files.
- Trying to share files directly with groups instead of sharing links.
- Sending attachments when the file belongs in SharePoint.
Correct File Sharing Pattern
See FAQ for step-by-step sharing instructions.
Need Help?
Contact ITHelp@sandiahomeowners.org if you cannot access files or receive committee messages.