It’s always a challenge creating community from a group of buildings. Members of your HOA may not have a lot in common, making it difficult to create a community. However, there are different ways to encourage socialising and being good neighbors, and it does bring many benefits for the board, and community as a whole. 

Why Create Community?

The board that brings people together is more likely to have volunteers to help out, run for election and participate in meetings. If people know their neighbors it also makes the community safer, as well as just a nicer place to live.

It encourages transparency, as people are more connected and will communicate with more ease. What this does is create a more engaged community, with residents who know what is going on and are active.

How To Create Community

We have 8 different ideas on creating community in your community association.

1 – Common Areas

Make sure all common areas are well-maintained, pleasant and accessible to everyone. If you have a space that a three-year-old and an eighty-year-old can use, then you can bring everybody together. Creating community isn’t based on the size of the area but it being a comfortable, welcoming space that everyone can enjoy. Having amenities that are enjoyable places are great ways to do that. But if you don’t have amenities, benches and trees dotted around make people want to sit outside. And a clean, litter-free environment also encourages people to linger. Comfortable chairs, toys for children, a shelf of books that people can read make the clubhouse an agreeable place to spend time. 

2 – Fun Events

Make sure the common spaces are used by creating events: a potluck dinner, bingo night, Taco Tuesday, a picnic, a soccer tournament, the list is endless! Have at least one event a month to bring everyone together. You could coincide them with open HOA meetings to encourage residents to attend. Every holiday is a new excuse to have a party, and it’s also a good way to get to know other cultures’ festivals and traditions, for instance, Chinese New Year, Day of the Dead, or Diwali. Doing this you promote inclusivity and learning in your HOA.

3 – Clubs

You can have clubs for everything, and they’re a great way to meet new people, and discover new activities. Have you always thought that a book club would be something that you’d enjoy if ONLY there was one nearby? Join, or start, one in your HOA! You could have a knitting club, a gardening club, or if you have a gym, an exercise club. If you have a basketball court, a basketball team, the sky’s the limit! During festivals and holidays, you could have a decorating committee, or make it into a competition and give out prizes to the best-decorated house.

This can be extended to committees as well, as residents can influence their HOA by participating in committees.

4 – Volunteering Projects

Create a donation drive for asylum seekers, or host an event to raise money for a local charity. Or have a group to assist the elderly or less-able with their shopping or household chores so that people get together to do good. Volunteering could be as simple as rallying around when someone is going through a tough time, or making sure that everyone is following State and HOA advice when a storm or hurricane is coming.

5 – Welcoming Committee

A really lovely way to include people from the beginning is to have a welcoming committee who go round to peoples’ houses when they first move in to officially welcome them. The committee could help them move in, show them around, and give them a small welcoming present. That way at your next HOA event, they have someone to talk to and are much more likely to come, participate and integrate more easily into the neighborhood, join HOA clubs, committees, and projects.

6 – Newsletter

To create a sense of community, people need to know what’s going on. You could have a digital HOA newsletter on Neigbrs by Vinteum, or a paper one, that could be distributed around the HOA. Be sure to make your condo newsletter personal to your HOA. You could include the projects, events and club get-togethers that are happening, as well as news of births, and achievements within the community.  Have residents been asking for something to change and you did something about it? Tell them, so they know they’re being listened to.

A newsletter is an important communication tool for your HOA, as many people will receive it and engage with it.

7 – Bulletin Board

Following on from the newsletter, you could adapt what’s in the newsletter to post on a board in the clubhouse, or in the pool changing rooms so people are sure to see it. Make sure it has fun photos, bite-size text and lots of colors to capture people’s’ interest so they read it. On Neigbrs by Vinteum, we have a social network that was created to bring your community together on a digital platform, and to share news, achievements, as well as cute cat videos.

8 – Website

Last but not least a website is a great way to get people together online. Having a public HOA website shows the world what your community is like. A condo website can include some documents, FAQs and images that really showcase your condo. Having a website creates a more transparent community.

Conclusion to Creating Community

Creating community among residents in your HOA or Condo happens when the board is transparent and welcoming with residents. This in turn promotes engagement and interested residents. This happens offline on the whole, but having a digital tool helps you to connect with residents better and be more transparent. Neigbrs by Vinteum is an award-winning communication software. Book your free demo to learn more about how we can help you.