An HOA Newsletter is an essential communication tool. It is the most personal way to connect with your residents and create a sense of community. However, board members often perceive it as a tedious task. And some residents complain that it’s boring or useless.

In this article, we will show you that it is possible to make your HOA newsletter attractive, and interesting with little effort. We will present out-of-the-box ideas that are easy to implement. 

Let’s dive into our 5 creative ideas for your HOA newsletter

1. Get your neighbors involved

A time-consuming part of creating a newsletter is finding interesting content or topics. Spending hours browsing the web is tiring. Well, there’s a way to make your work less demanding. Give residents the opportunity to participate by sharing interesting or fun content with you. 

You may not have many volunteers in the beginning. So, don’t hesitate to send individual messages to some residents asking them to participate. You’ll see that after a few editions, more and more volunteers will join and your HOA newsletter will be full of creative content. 

Here’s a list of content ideas your residents could share:

• Jokes
• Poems
• Pictures
• Anecdotes
• Quotes
• Recipes 

To add value to the content, you should always ask them to explain why they decided to share this content. Maybe they heard this great joke at a dinner party with friends. Perhaps they did this amazing recipe everyone loved last Thanksgiving. Or maybe one of your residents is a photographer who wants to share a special shot of your community.

2. Promote small/local businesses

Through your HOA newsletter, you could give your local economy a boost by promoting their services. 

Many small businesses suffered during the pandemic, and inflation is increasing. Share your favorite local shops, restaurants, and businesses with your neighbors. You can also ask for other HOA members’ recommendations in social media groups or other channels.

3. Promote smart day-to-day tips and DIY

In the past, when we wanted to know or do a specific thing but didn’t know quite how we would call our mom or a friend. Nowadays, we just need to type our questions on Google or Youtube and we get the information in a matter of seconds. This is efficient but it also disconnects us from people. We connect with people by sharing tips and advice. Your HOA newsletter could be the new place where residents go look for and share advice such as:

• Energy-saving advice
• Gardening ideas
• HOA landscaping tips
• Taxes tips 
• IT tips 
• Cleaning tips 

4. Resident highlight – to feel inspired and connected

Sharing stories is how we talk about our lives and experiences.

As Pawan Kumar said,

“We, humans, are social creatures and we are attracted to stories. Everyone has a story and everyone loves a great story. It gives us a reason to communicate and engage.”

We all need some motivation to go through our daily lives, especially in such difficult times. We often look for inspiration from celebrities, athletes, or heroes we see in the newspaper. What if I tell you that inspiring people live next door?

Your community is full of ordinary extraordinary people. Your HOA newsletter should highlight that. 

5. Activities around the neighborhood

Each time the weekend approaches, the same conversation happens in many households. “What are we doing this weekend?” Imagine if the answer could be “Oh let me take a look at the last newsletter to see if there’s something fun we can do”. 

Your residents may not be aware of activities around the neighborhood or in the city. Especially if they are new tenants or seasonal ones, make sure to promote local activities such as farmers’ markets, festivals, and so on. You can also promote online activities or even create some, especially for your community. Snowbird residents will particularly appreciate insider tips on things to do.

Bonus Tip: Ask for Feedback

The best way to have an outstanding HOA newsletter is by asking for feedback from your residents. You can do that via an HOA Survey. By asking for feedback, you will know exactly what section they like most. But most importantly, they can give you new ideas that you would have never thought of. Allowing residents to give you their feedback will make them feel even more involved in the process and this will spark their creativity and yours.

Why is having a great HOA newsletter so important?

Sadly, lack of communication and transparency is a constant complaint from homeowners. While an HOA newsletter doesn’t replace notices, it still helps residents be more informed. Among so many HOA communication tools, newsletters help to foster engagement. After all, you are free to include both casual and important information in it. Besides, sharing updates on some of the board’s activities can also increase transparency. Residents appreciate knowing what is going on. It creates a sense of trust in their community leaders. 

An HOA newsletter also improves the efficiency of communication, as everyone should receive the newsletter, and hopefully, enjoy reading it.

What Should Be Included in an HOA Newsletter?

Before diving into our creative tips. Let’s start with a fresh reminder of some basic elements that you can’t leave out of your newsletter.

• Date
  • Define what date your newsletter will be sent out. For example, here at Vinteum, we send our newsletters on the first of the month. This creates consistency and residents know exactly when they will hear from you.
  • Include the date it will go out, the issue, and the volume number. That way residents will know which newsletter is the most recent.
• Consistent layout and structure
  • Create an appealing design that will catch your readers’ attention. You should also divide the information into sections and have a consistent structure so your readers don’t get confused or lost in the information. 
• Keep in mind your target audience
  • Don’t forget who you are writing to. It will help you choose or adapt the content accordingly. For example, If the majority of your residents are seasonal then make sure to include activities to enjoy in and around the community. 
• Important information
  • Your newsletter must include relevant information for your community, as its main purpose is to pass on information, such as:
    • New rules
    • Updates from recent meetings
    • Emergencies
    • Upcoming events
    • Board meeting dates
    • Upcoming maintenance
• Have different distribution channels for your HOA newsletter
  • Printed newsletters may still be important if you have a large number of older residents, so don’t completely discard them.
  • Make sure you also send out your newsletter by email or through an HOA communication platform. You can use software to post your newsletter in a secure portal and receive comments. This is the best way to foster the community’s feeling and feel connected. Another way is to upload the newsletter to your HOA’s website. By doing so, residents’ visits to your website increase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wrapping up: HOA Newsletter

Keep in mind that an HOA newsletter is a key communication tool. As a board member, you need to make sure you use this tool effectively for the well-being of your community. 

There are four fundamental aspects of a perfect HOA newsletter: 

1) It should be well-designed and structured to be appealing to readers 

2) It should be instructive to residents

3) You must distribute it widely to make it accessible 

4) Make sure to use the board members’ and residents’ creativity to make an HOA newsletter stand out. Making an attractive and creative one may seem like a lot of work for board members when in fact it is the opposite. It makes you save time and increase satisfaction.

Make sure to ask for feedback and ideas to constantly improve your HOA newsletter and to make it interactive, fun, and highly anticipated. Use our free templates to create a well-designed, easy-to-read newsletter fast.