Three Tips on Creating Community During the Holidays

With so many condominiums and apartments being developed every day, it’s hard to stand out. The secret to becoming a sought-after location is to cultivate a feeling of community for residents. With loneliness becoming an epidemic and the holidays quickly approaching, now is the time to show your residents that your property is more than just four walls.

Below are three creative neighborly practices that take aim at developing safe, welcoming spaces for resident connections to develop… and how to promote them!

1. CREATE A FORUM: A Social Platform for your Community

 Being a part of a community relies on a back-and-forth engagement, and encouraging ideas from both community managers and residents. People discuss topics on social media, so management should be where discussions are happening. Create a discussion board on social media (think Facebook groups) where residents can discuss community meet ups, areas of improvement, and management and residents can ask questions. This also helps management to get a pulse-check on resident needs.

How to:

• Facebook Groups (Budget-Friendly)
• Groups.io
• Private Discord Server (Budget-Friendly)

Easily hear your residents’ voice with the use of these survey programs:

• Google Forms (Budget Friendly)
• SurveyMonkey
• Facebook: Group Page Polls (Budget Friendly)

Ideas on what to post:

• Event ideas
• Resident appreciation posts
• Encourage shout-outs to helpful neighbors and community managers
• Survey polls on new items in the building

2. BE THOUGHTFUL: Place complimentary beverages, popcorn and a book exchange shelf!

Amenity spaces are important as they encourage residents to interact but feel unwelcoming when they lie empty. This holiday season, consider setting up a book exchange shelf, snacks, and beverages. Residents will start to relate that space to the community, and the feeling will be carried over to 2022.

How To:

Book Exchange:

• Ask residents to bring a book and slip a note with their name and email on it. When someone else reads the book, they will be able to talk about it with the book’s owner.

Beverages and Snacks:

• Use individually packaged snacks and drinks to abide by your communities COVID-19 regulations
• Take a poll of your communities’ favorite snack and drink items

3. GIVE: Donate to a Resident Preferred Organization

Nothing is more energizing and motivating than uniting behind a worthy cause, collaborating on solutions, and making a positive difference, together. Set up a social media poll with donation options where residents can suggest, select, and collaborate.

Here include trusted donation options:

– Feeding America (Filter for local options)

–American Red Cross

–Marine Toys for Tots 

 Tip for Promotion

There is no use setting up social media groups, book exchanges, or donation drives if your community doesn’t know about them. With so much going on in the day, emails from property management can get lost in the shuffle. Use Captivate’s Resident Communication tool to ensure residents know all that you are doing to help foster community. Not only will having a quality community help with residents’ quality of life, but also help with management’s new year’s goals.