6 Fun HOA Winter Events You Can Plan
Building a sense of community is vital to the success of any community. However, bringing residents together during the winter can be challenging as temperatures drop. However, the winter season presents a unique opportunity to strengthen bonds by hosting fun events for your HOA communities. These events celebrate the season and help neighbors get to know one another. In this blog article, you will learn about fun events you can plan for your communities in the winter, safety precautions, and how to leverage technology to run successful events.
1) Holiday Light Decoration Contest
The holiday season is a time of warmth, joy, and beautiful decorations. Holiday lights have a magical way of creating a shared sense of festivity. Hosting a friendly competition for the best-decorated house or yard allows residents to express their creativity, engage in friendly rivalry, and make some great memories.
Organizing and judging such a contest can be exciting yet challenging. Consider having categories based on themes, lights, and size so you can keep the competition fair. Most importantly, the entire neighborhood can enjoy the beautiful decorations together.
2) Movie Nights
A winter movie night can be an ideal occasion to unite all community members for shared laughter, tears, and wonder. Consider having blankets, hot chocolate, and even a popcorn maker at movie night. Providing snacks and hot beverages can provide warmth and comfort, therefore, enhancing the movie-viewing experience for your residents.
Selecting the right movies is crucial. Opt for films that are family-friendly to ensure everyone feels included and engaged. Classic winter-themed movies or holiday films can offer a great blend of nostalgia and entertainment.
3) Snowman Building Competition
If your community experiences snowfall, a snowman-building competition can be a great way to make the most of it. This event perfectly combines creativity, teamwork, and outdoor adventure. Making the competition a team-based activity encourages camaraderie among residents, leading to lasting memories and stronger community bonds.
Safety, however, should always be remembered amid the excitement. Reminding residents to dress warmly and take breaks to prevent hypothermia or frostbite is essential. With these precautions, a snowman-building competition can be an exciting event everyone can enjoy.
4) Winter Sports Day
Host a winter sports day with sledding, snowball fights, or snowshoeing. It’s another excellent way to create healthy competition and long-lasting memories. Such an event helps to reinforce the essence of community spirit and cooperation, focusing on wholesome fun over winning.
You can set up games for varying skill levels to make the event more enjoyable for everyone. Having different areas of stations for different skills can ensure everyone has a chance to participate and enjoy.
5) Community Potluck or Winter BBQ
Nothing brings people together like good food, especially during the chilly winter. Hosting a winter potluck or BBQ can be a community bonding event, allowing neighbors to share and savor each other’s culinary skills. Themed potlucks or BBQs featuring warm, hearty dishes can be satisfying and enjoyable.
Organizing such an event involves planning the venue, date, and time and assigning responsibilities. However, the result is a gathering that celebrates unity, diversity, and enjoying good food together.
6) Crafts Day
The winter season is a perfect backdrop for a day of festive and cozy craft activities. Hosting a Cozy Crafts Day encourages creativity and participation from residents of all ages, from children to seniors. Not only does it provide an outlet for artistic expression, but it also serves as a platform for residents to bond and learn.
Craft activities could range from creating winter-themed art pieces to making holiday DIY ornaments. Whatever the crafts might be, there’s joy in creating, laughter, and the heartening sight of your community engaged in creating something beautiful together.
How to Leverage Technology to Make Your Winter Events a Success
1) Organize events with a custom calendar:
Keeping residents in the loop about community events is essential to creating an engaged community. To streamline this process, consider using a custom calendar. Through Pilera, community managers can create custom calendars encompassing a variety of events—from community-wide gatherings and board meetings to tennis court reservations, clubhouse activities, and fun children’s events.
Residents can easily access these calendars through the resident portal, where they can find all scheduled events or browse for specific calendars that match their interests. This user-friendly feature empowers residents to stay informed and participate in community events according to their preferences. Pilera’s customizable calendars are a central hub for residents, which helps to ensure that everyone can quickly discover, engage, and enjoy different activities happening within their community.
2) Communicate with residents and send reminders:
Once you’ve scheduled your events, the next crucial step is to spread the word. Event calendars in Pilera enable managers and board members to send out email notifications to residents, letting them know about upcoming events. Keeping residents informed about events is essential so you can foster community unity. Furthermore, managers can monitor all event-related email notifications in the message center to track who has opened the message.
3) Manage event logistics with task management:
Task management systems can be a great event planning tool. Managers and board members can leverage task management systems to organize the event’s logistics. Task management systems help board members and managers stay on the same page by creating and assigning tasks to each other. With the ability to comment on tasks and monitor progress, everyone remains synced and engaged, contributing to the successful execution of events within the community.
4) Involve residents in the planning process with discussion boards:
Involving your residents in the event planning process can be a great way to build community bonds and increase engagement. A discussion board can facilitate conversations about the event and help your team recruit volunteers.
A discussion board can be an invaluable tool for HOA communities that want to encourage residents to assist in actively planning and executing winter events. Community members can share their ideas, preferences, and suggestions for upcoming events by opening a dedicated discussion space. It’s an inclusive approach that can foster engagement, empower residents, and enable management to tap into the creativity and insights of its diverse communities.
The discussion board is also a great place for managers to recruit volunteers interested in contributing their time and skills to make community events successful. Opening up collaboration for events with residents increases participation and makes every resident feel invested in the success of their community events. It creates a stronger sense of community ownership and unity.
Conclusion
HOA managers and board members can foster better community relations with thoughtfully planned events for the winter. You can plan many events that bring fun for residents of all ages and interests – from holiday light decorations to winter movie nights. Residents can bond with one another through these events and create long-lasting memories.
With robust community management technology, you can plan your events from start to finish with custom calendars, task management systems, automated communications, and more. Pilera’s HOA management software empowers you to streamline the event planning process, enabling seamless organization and collaboration between managers, board members, and residents. With the right mix of creativity, community input, and technology, HOA managers and board members can host fun events that bring the community closer during winter.
