Ways to Promote Community Spirit

By the Community Associations Research Foundation, Community Associations Institute (caionline.org)

To promote community spirit in your community, try one of these activities:

Create a neighborhood assistance program. An association in South Carolina established the Good Neighbor Connection. Residents volunteer to provide neighbors with all types of assistance and a monthly coordinator assigns volunteers to their respective jobs. Another association in Virginia, chartered Caring Neighbors under its Activities Committee. These volunteers provide cards and personal calls, transportation for medical appointments and rides to the airport, meals for families with an illness or death in the family, loaner items for medical equipment such as canes and crutches, loaner items for grandparents with visiting grandchildren such as cribs and high chairs, handyman services for small jobs, and an extensive resource of those willing to discuss their medical experiences with those facing these challenges. Volunteers coordinate each major service under an elected program director.

Print a community T-shirt. Print T-shirts with the community logo and sell them. Not only does this increase community spirit, but it also generates additional revenue for the association.

Hold a clothing drive. The board of Atrium in Arlington, VA, developed a program to support the work of the charitable organization, Unity Health Care. The organization put bins in Atrium’s health club. Residents put items—both new and used—in these bins. Unity Health Care then distributes these items to other charitable organizations in the Washington, DC area.

Build and install park benches along walking trails and ponds. Find the craftsmen in your community and have them build community park benches with materials provided by the association. This saves money and is a great community spirit project both for the volunteers and the enjoyment of the residents.

Discover ways in your community to support local charities and schools. A measure of success and contentment can be evaluated in the level of dedication to giving back to the greater community. Sharing your time, talents, and financial resources as individuals, small groups, and as a corporate entity is a true reflection of community spirit. Examples of such efforts includes: collecting food at the community center each Thanksgiving for a local food bank and the Salvation Army; opening the community twice each year to a Walk/Run for Hospice and Housing Partnerships with corporate sponsors; sponsoring golf tournaments to support local schools and charities; and contributing direct financial support to public and private school booster clubs, a humanitarian medical center, and an environmental monitoring group. In addition, the clubs in the neighborhood sponsor a charity of choice. The Craft Club makes booties, hats, and blankets for the hospital and nursing homes. The nature club, Trailblazers, support environmental monitoring and education in a critical wetland habitant. The Theater Club performs for the nursing homes. The Garden Club collects an extra dollar per person at the monthly luncheons for donations.

Recognize children. Use your newsletter to note worthy accomplishments in academics and athletics for the teenagers in your community. Coordinate with high schools and your neighborhood parents to get a list of national honor students, first honor students, varsity athletes, and other special honors.

Sponsor a safety seminar. Coordinate a safety seminar with Emergency Services to educate parents and grandparents on child safety seats and other issues such as bicycle safety, Ident-a-Child, medical and medicine alert folders for 911 EMS responses to your home, and Neighborhood Watch.

Promote health and well-being. Use your community center to host a blood drive and/or blood pressure and cholesterol screening. Call your hospital for area coordinators and services. Provide lemonade and cookies as snacks. This is also a great time to pass out a resident survey or just meet residents and gauge their needs.

Schedule a poolside movie night. On Friday nights, the aquatic center at an association in Texas, is turned into a movie theater where people can relax on a lounge chair or float on a raft while watching a movie. [PH NOTE: We don’t have a pool, but lots of open land to do this]

Conduct a resident survey. Conduct a survey of membership opinions on service and issues facing the community. The results of the survey help the board budget services. Go door to door, send the survey via snail- or e-mail, or conduct it on your association’s Web site.

Facilitate neighborhood block parties. Use your newsletter to encourage each neighborhood in your community association to have an annual block party. It is a great way to meet new neighbors and foster community spirit. One or two families can be the “Block Heads” that coordinate the time and date; determine the needs for salads, entrees, and desserts; provide a few portable tables; secure the road from traffic; open their homes for restrooms; and dispose of trash. Potluck with a dish that serves six to eight usually works well.

Choose a signature shrub or tree and celebrate each Arbor Day. Each Arbor Day, a community in Virginia plants a dozen crepe myrtles in a ceremony keyed to our environment with adults and children participating. The association negotiated a price with a landscape company to install a six-foot crepe myrtle in resident yards on request.

All of the above-mentioned activities are great in theory, but how do you really get residents involved? Here are some tips.

Hook them from the get-go. When new owners move in, send over a board or committee member to welcome them to the community. Find out a little about the new residents and their interests. Let them know about the community and how it works. Don’t just bombard them with copies of your community’s regulations. Follow-up with a phone call approximately four- to six-weeks later just to check in and see if the residents have any questions. This is also a great time to have them fill out a questionnaire to find out the activities in which they would participate. Ask those who give you new and exciting ideas if they want to help organize the activity.

Create activities for new residents. Create a Newcomers Club. Where new residents mingle each month with other new residents. Information is provided at each monthly meeting, with rotating subjects, to help indoctrinate the members into the area. Mostly it is a social opportunity for those with a common bond of being newcomers.

Give away freebies. Everyone likes to get something for nothing. Solicit a donation of goods, services, or the money to purchase give-a-ways for your next event. The sponsor will gain visibility within your community and you’ll draw more people to the activity. When the residents do make it to the activity, they can mingle with each other and learn more about the association and its benefits.

Send thank-you notes. When someone volunteers—in any capacity—say thanks. Knowing that the board or manager appreciates their involvement goes a long way.

Hold board office hours. Have one or more members of the board available once every month to address residents’ concerns or questions. With a five-member board, this is only about two nights out of the whole year for each board member. Publish the office hours and location—whether it is at the association’s clubhouse or the board member’s home itself. This openness counteracts the rumor that boards are not open to input. Have the association’s governing documents, resolutions, and meeting minutes available just in case someone wants to see them. Again, this interaction shows residents that the board cares about the community and is open to new ideas.

Look for a reason to celebrate. Celebrate your association’s success. Celebrate holidays—big and small, traditional and quirky. It’s a great way to meet neighbors and get people enthusiastic about the community.

Sponsor association participation in community-wide events. Don’t limit involvement to the boundaries of your association. Encourage resident participation in local organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, or Rotary Club. Send local officials and organizations your association’s newsletter and upcoming programs so that they know about your association—and that your residents are ready to participate in their events.

Support community awareness in local politics. Appoint a group of volunteers that are willing to rotate attendance at each local government meeting as liaisons for the association. The liaisons demonstrate your community’s interest in governmental affairs, get early leads on issues, and report back to the board. The liaisons should also have direct relationships with the local government planning department for early warnings as well as feedback into the very important planning staff recommendation.

Establish standing committees with meaningful responsibilities and clean charters. If people have defined roles and responsibilities with a goal in sight, they’re more apt to participate.
 

For more on Community Associations, see:

Community Associations Institute
http://caionline.org/

 
Washington Metropolitan Chapter of Community Associations Institute
http://caidc.org/

 
Fairfax Federation of Community Associations
http://fairfaxfederation.org/