Three Ways to Strengthen Community Relations this Thanksgiving!

Holiday seasons are always a great occasion for bringing your community together and strengthening relationships. Keeping in touch with residents and bringing them together for festivities are some things you can do to cultivate a happier, more connected community. As we approach Thanksgiving, we share some tips you can implement. These tips are straight from the Pilera playbook on how you can utilize community management software to communicate and organize these events.

Host a pre or post-Thanksgiving party for your community.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, residents will be spending time with their family and friends. Why not host a Thanksgiving party the weekend before or after? One simple event HOA/COA’s can organize is a potluck. A potluck is unique, yet inexpensive to organize. Encourage residents to cook their own dish and bring it to the party. It’s a great way to discover the cultural diversity of your community.

Tip: Online forms can be used as event volunteer sign-ups. You can specify certain food or other items that are needed for the event, let the resident choose what they want to bring, and keep track of all items. Don’t forget the emails. Send an invite to residents, promote the event, and specify any regulations that need to be followed. Make sure to refer to your community by-laws and state HOA/condominium association laws to maintain compliance.
Partner with local non-profit agencies.

At your next board meeting, discuss the possibilities of partnering with local nonprofit agencies. This is another great way for your community members to get together and volunteer for a charity event. These activities will help residents to build stronger relations with one another. It’ll also provide them with the opportunity to apply existing skills and develop new ones (and further build their resume). Organize simple activities such as fundraising, food bank donations, and community garage sales with proceeds going to charity organizations.

Tip: Management software tools can assist in turning these plans into reality. You can send email invites promoting the events and activities and text messages a week or day before the event as a reminder. Our community calendar also allows you to display all upcoming events so that residents/owners are informed in advance.
Help your community members prepare for winter.

Depending on your location and weather climate, your region may start to get inclement weather soon enough. Are your management team and residents prepared for the upcoming snow storms? Your Thanksgiving event is a good opportunity to inform residents of community procedures during the winter weather and provide resources that will help them prepare their homes and family members.

Tip: Send frequent emails of policies and help guides to the residents in advance via the document library or knowledge base. It’ll no doubt be helpful to also provide them with community maps, resources, and shelter contact and addresses. Send phone calls, texts, and email messages to the residents prior, during, and after the snow storms to keep them updated. What’s most important is being able to communicate in an emergency situation – you’ll need to make sure that your messaging capability is “send-proof”.

We wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving in advance and safety and comfort during the upcoming winter season. Enjoy the Thanksgiving parties, getting to know your community members, and of course, the food!

Pilera is a best-of-class, easy-to-use, comprehensive online community management solution for apartments, condos, and associations. Pilera provides the easiest, most comprehensive data management capability available to property managers, leasing agents, boards of directors, and back-office personnel. Quickly and easily access whatever you need, whenever you need it, from wherever you need to be with office or mobile phone connectivity. You are never out of touch. Act on the document/information accessed from the office or “on-the-road” with Pilera supported mobile capability. Contact us today!