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3 Ways to Celebrate the Holidays in Your Community

It’s that time of year to bring in the festivity in all its glory to your community.  There are many ways for your community to unwind for the holidays. Here, we’ll give you some tips to cheerily say goodbye to 2017 and ring in the New Year.  You’ll find that any type of social event is a great way to engage with residents.  It’ll encourage them to get to know each other, board members, and the management team.

Gift of Giving

Here are some ideas you can implement to give back to the community in which you serve:

  • Donations – set up a few boxes in relevant locations throughout the community (gym, clubhouse, etc) where residents can drop books, clothes, toys, and canned food items.  To inform your residents, send emails and/or text messages notifying them of the drop-off locations and dates along with the nonprofit agency it’s being donated to.  Additionally, it’s helpful to reach other residents by posting flyers throughout the community’s common grounds to ensure the message is top of mind.  Hint: If you’re not sure where to begin searching for nonprofit organizations, you can check out Charity Watch which provides a huge list by category.
  • Community Auctions/Garage Sales – You can set up your own community auction or garage sale and distribute all proceeds to a non-profit organization of your community’s choice.  Residents will want to know about the efforts.  After the event, thank your residents for their contributions and share the success of the event with them.
  • Other events you can set up and manage
    • Marathons for a cause – Partnering with a local non-profit or activist agency, you can bring awareness of prevalent causes by hosting sports marathons.
    • Blood bank donations – Partner with the local Red Cross, hospitals, or other nonprofit agencies to donate blood to those who are in critical need.

 Holiday Parties

Bring everyone together under one roof through a holiday party.  It’s a great way to unwind and relax, meet with your residents, and simply have a good time.  Parties will require a lot of planning beforehand.  How you’d like to conduct the event and keep the community engaged through the party is essential.  Host a talent show or have children and adults decorate the tree or craft their own ornaments.

Plan for Next Year’s Events

End of the year is the perfect time to plan next year’s events.  Hold a board member meeting to discuss these upcoming events, the budgets, and other details.  Take a close look at the calendar to see what events you can plan for your community.  Planning your events in-house (management, board members, residents) has a lot of long-term benefits.  Recruiting volunteers within the community can be a great booster to building good relationships and getting to know one another.

There are many ways that you can keep your community members engaged for the winter holidays and upcoming New Year.  The most important thing is to bring joy to others and have a good time.

Pilera Software is a premiere online community management software helping thousands of communities enhance communications, compliance, customer service, and daily operations.  We wish you all a very happy, joyful holiday with your loved ones and a wonderful New Year ahead!