A condo association newsletter is a key communication tool in many communities. It’s a great way to reach residents in a way that is engaging, easy to read, and interesting. In this post, we’re going to help you do more with less, and dive into how to organize, write and promote your condo association newsletter.  

1. How to efficiently organize and prepare a community newsletter?

Responsibilities

The first step is to decide who will be in charge of what. This depends on the size of your condo. Some communities only have one person dedicated to the newsletter and others have a whole committee to take care of this task. Regardless of the size of your community, we recommend that at least two people be in charge. One can be responsible for writing your newsletter and the other to review it. If you have enough interested volunteers then you could create a committee. Then you can delegate tasks to different people.

Here is an example of responsibilities you can assign:

1. The writer
2. The editor
3. The person in charge of gathering the information or content
4. The one in charge of the distribution, either online or physical copies
5. A coordinator overseeing the whole project

Dates

For the project to run smoothly, it is important to set specific dates and deadlines. Otherwise, things will get out of hand. First, you need to agree on how many issues you will publish over the year. Will it be a monthly newsletter, a quarterly, or a yearly one? Once you have agreed on that, the next step is to pick a send-out date. For example, if you decide to do a monthly one, then you could send it on the first of each month. This is an important aspect to create consistency. If you don’t do that, residents will not know when to expect it and it won’t be a fundamental piece of your communication. 

Deadlines

For organizational purposes defining other dates is important. So you need to set a deadline for when the draft needs to be ready. If your send-out date is the first of each month then your draft deadline could be on the 25th of each month. By doing this, you at least have 5 full days to review if there is any mistake.

If you have an HOA committee that prepares the newsletter, then you will probably organize a meeting to discuss the project. Make sure to plan the meetings in advance so that everyone can participate. 

Design

Another key aspect of your newsletter is its design. It needs to be laid out in a way that is easy to read. So ensure that there is a good amount of spacing and that it’s not all cramped together. The font should be large enough to read easily. 

For colors, you want to choose ones with high contrast, for instance, black text on a white page. 

It’s good to include photos to illustrate what you’re saying, not to distract readers.

2. Writing and content tips for your condo association newsletter

Always keep your audience in mind

When you’re writing, it is crucial to keep your readers in mind. This may sound obvious but a newsletter for a retirement community will be different from a newsletter for an association that has a lot of families with young children. So make sure to adapt your language accordingly. It’s important to use a respectful tone and an inclusive style. Avoid jargon and confusing or offending terms. For a condominium newsletter, there is probably no need to be highly formal. Remember, this is supposed to be a friendly and informative bulletin. 

Last but not least, make sure to include topics of great interest to your specific audience.

What should your newsletter always include? 

There are many elements that you can feature in your newsletter, as long as they are relevant to your audience. However, there is some information that should never be missing. Remember, the main goal is to keep community members informed. 

Here are some examples:

• Date, time, issue number
• Board members’ contact details
• Upcoming HOA meetings
• Community events 
• By-laws, rules, and policies reminders
• Important news

Topic ideas

Your newsletter should be focused completely on your community and topics of interest to your neighbors. That’s why it’s a great idea to get people involved.

As mentioned above, you should include important news, events, meetings and rule reminders in each edition of your condo association newsletter.

3. Creative ideas that will make ensure that your newsletter gets read

Involve community members

In an ideal situation, board members would have the time to be inventive and come up with great content. Yet, the reality is that this is a time-consuming task that not everyone enjoys. So why not ask your residents to collaborate? Apart from cutting your workload, a community-made newsletter is far more interesting to read. Besides, it could be a fun project for residents who do have time. 

Stories

It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated or sophisticated. Your readers may have amazing or funny stories to share. Some may have a great recipe. Others more artistic could have a poem or even a joke they find funny. 

Competitions

Another idea is to create a contest. It could be who takes the best photograph of the community. The winners then could be featured in the condo association newsletter. 

The more minds contribute to the newsletter, the more creative it becomes. But be careful, this shouldn’t become a place where people complain, gossip, or criticize one another. 

Promote activities or commerce nearby

Promoting local businesses can benefit both your residents and your local community. In addition, you can also inform your readers about interesting activities in the area or city. It could be a particular fair or even a seasonal activity such as an egg hunt. If your condo has amenities or greenspace you can also give out some ideas of activities that can be done in the community. A great idea for condos is creating a community garden. Then, you can promote this activity in your newsletter. As a bonus, it can make your condo landscaping nicer. 

4. Where to promote and distribute your condo association newsletter?

How to create noise around your newsletter

A condo association newsletter can be overlooked. For this reason, making your condo residents aware of its existence is necessary. To accomplish this, communication is key. 

First off, all condo board members must be advocates of the newsletter. This means that whenever they have the opportunity of mentioning the latest issue, they should. Asking for feedback is also a great way to remind people to read it. It also gives you the opportunity to collect opinions and improve. 

Word of mouth is still the most powerful way to get any information out.

Print vs online?

It’s important to share your newsletter so residents will read it. So you could do a survey to see what they would prefer. You shouldn’t assume that people consume information the same way that you do. A paper newsletter is important if most of your residents prefer that format, but it can get expensive to always print them out. So it’s important to ensure that it is appreciated and read to make the expense worth it.

If you have an email service, you could email it to residents, and post it on your condo’s website if you have one. This won’t cost you and can be very useful for residents who are on their phone or computer a lot.

Key takeaways to create a great condo association newsletter

Creating an excellent condo association newsletter doesn’t require a lot of skills. It can be a really fun activity for both board members and residents. What is needed is thorough preparation and organization. Once you’ve got a process in place, everything will run smoothly and quickly. Applying the right tools can also help you cut the workload and save time. To help you with that aspect, we have prepared a Condo Association Newsletter Template that you can fill in and customize.