EbonyJ (Tennessee)
Posts: 62
Posts: 62
Posted:
Just curious to pass some ideas to our new event committee... What are some activities that are held in your subdivisions/condo?
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Activies that your community does yearly
Started by EbonyJ • 10 replies • 1510 views
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CharlesB17
Posts: 112
Posts: 112
Posted:
At our annual meeting, we have festivities and provide the meal for all that come. We usually send out flyers and E-Mails and ask for people to confirm their attendance, so we can prepare for the expected number of people. We have booths set up like toss the ring on the bottle and cake walks to support local charities. We usually hire a local band to play. The money is set out of the budget and has been approved.
JenniferM10 (Illinois)
Posts: 97
Posts: 97
Posted:
Charles, that sounds like fun! One of the things I see repeated here and from my BOD is a lack of participation. Do you get a turnout for this event? How do you fit the business part of the annual meeting into the festivities?
To the original question, before the BOD killed our social committee, we did a community cleanup in the spring (usually around Earth Day) where we would walk the entire community in teams and pick up misc garbage. We also arranged for a truck and trailer and encouraged residents to clean out garages and patios for bigger things like old grills, pots, kids toys, etc.
We also did an annual dog-fest and awarded prizes for the biggest dog, smallest dog, best trick, and other fun titles. That was was great because you are drawing a group of people who already have something in common. It was a great way to get people together.
The other really successful event we did was a craft sale and coat drive in November. We did that 3 years in a row and got at least 20 coats every time. We also raised $50-$150 in cash, which got donated to a charity.
As someone who is active in event planning in the business community, my advice is to keep going and keep things consistent, even if you don't get a lot of participation at first. It takes time for things to catch one. This is the thing our BOD didn't understand. They decided the $400 a year the social committee got wasn't worthwhile for the number of people we had attending events. I'm hoping they let us start it again next year, though.
To the original question, before the BOD killed our social committee, we did a community cleanup in the spring (usually around Earth Day) where we would walk the entire community in teams and pick up misc garbage. We also arranged for a truck and trailer and encouraged residents to clean out garages and patios for bigger things like old grills, pots, kids toys, etc.
We also did an annual dog-fest and awarded prizes for the biggest dog, smallest dog, best trick, and other fun titles. That was was great because you are drawing a group of people who already have something in common. It was a great way to get people together.
The other really successful event we did was a craft sale and coat drive in November. We did that 3 years in a row and got at least 20 coats every time. We also raised $50-$150 in cash, which got donated to a charity.
As someone who is active in event planning in the business community, my advice is to keep going and keep things consistent, even if you don't get a lot of participation at first. It takes time for things to catch one. This is the thing our BOD didn't understand. They decided the $400 a year the social committee got wasn't worthwhile for the number of people we had attending events. I'm hoping they let us start it again next year, though.
CharlesB17
Posts: 112
Posts: 112
Posted:
We found that by adding the charitable festivities to the event created an interest.
With the charities involvement and their support, they provide us a venue to get the people out in th community. The charities basically support the majority of the event, leaving us a small amount of funding required.
Local grocery stores and businesses provide donations to help offset the cost as well.
So the charitable event and fund raiser's works into the overall scheme of things for us.
We hold our business meeting at 11:30 AM. This gives people incentive to show up, and since it is just before the meal is served, it seems to work.
I agree, this started small, and now we have about 75 - 80% participation. One thing to note, we keep the annual meeting on track, short and sweet. We are not there to badger people that have or haven't paid or has violations. We set that aside for the day and unite as a community to support local charity.
We feel, if the enviroment is welcoming and non invasive, more people come. We actually advertise the event in the local paper and the loacal radio station. It draws a crowd that exceeds a 1000 people now. This gives potential buyers an opportunity to to see our community and meet the residents as well. The charitable event places us in good standings with the community. It has taken us about 5-6 years now to make it all work. And work it is. We now have a board to schedule and do the logistics.
With the charities involvement and their support, they provide us a venue to get the people out in th community. The charities basically support the majority of the event, leaving us a small amount of funding required.
Local grocery stores and businesses provide donations to help offset the cost as well.
So the charitable event and fund raiser's works into the overall scheme of things for us.
We hold our business meeting at 11:30 AM. This gives people incentive to show up, and since it is just before the meal is served, it seems to work.
I agree, this started small, and now we have about 75 - 80% participation. One thing to note, we keep the annual meeting on track, short and sweet. We are not there to badger people that have or haven't paid or has violations. We set that aside for the day and unite as a community to support local charity.
We feel, if the enviroment is welcoming and non invasive, more people come. We actually advertise the event in the local paper and the loacal radio station. It draws a crowd that exceeds a 1000 people now. This gives potential buyers an opportunity to to see our community and meet the residents as well. The charitable event places us in good standings with the community. It has taken us about 5-6 years now to make it all work. And work it is. We now have a board to schedule and do the logistics.
MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836
Posts: 13,836
Posted:
We did a Halloween party. Each Halloween we would have all the kids meet at the clubhouse. They then would go as a group to the houses in the HOA. That way people could be home to handout the candy to the kids. It made it easier for the adults to know when the kid's were finished Trick or Treating. We'd of course have the party going on at the clubhouse for all the members to attend. Some adults would just drop off their candy there as well. It was always fun!
We also did things such as the neighborhood watch and some other holiday events. Always loved a good "Block Party" but it never seemed to come into fruition. Another good activity was "Volunteer day". Where people could come and choose a repair project around the HOA to do. We painted fences or cleaned up debris. Included the kid's in some of the activities too! The HOA would supply the supplies and the members did the labor. Saved us money and got things looking good!
I almost forgot about our "Gardening club". We had an unofficial underground (forgive the pun) gardening club. Alot of our members loved to plant things. We would often share our plantings with eachother. It helped with uniformity too. Always wanted to have our own garden area but it worked out better if everyone did their own. It's another idea!
We also did things such as the neighborhood watch and some other holiday events. Always loved a good "Block Party" but it never seemed to come into fruition. Another good activity was "Volunteer day". Where people could come and choose a repair project around the HOA to do. We painted fences or cleaned up debris. Included the kid's in some of the activities too! The HOA would supply the supplies and the members did the labor. Saved us money and got things looking good!
I almost forgot about our "Gardening club". We had an unofficial underground (forgive the pun) gardening club. Alot of our members loved to plant things. We would often share our plantings with eachother. It helped with uniformity too. Always wanted to have our own garden area but it worked out better if everyone did their own. It's another idea!
Former HOA President
BruceF1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 2,535
Posts: 2,535
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By EbonyJ on 09/04/2011 9:35 AM
Just curious to pass some ideas to our new event committee... What are some activities that are held in your subdivisions/condo?
Just curious to pass some ideas to our new event committee... What are some activities that are held in your subdivisions/condo?
We are an active adult community.
We have a monthly potluck supper on the last Friday of each month. The potluck supper on the last Friday in October is combined with a Halloween costume party (costumes optional) with prizes.
Annual holiday party in December.
Annual barbecue in August.
Mother's Day and Father's Day breakfasts. (Dads cook for moms and moms cook for dads.)
Strawberry festival with strawberry shortcake in the spring.
Ice cream socials.
St. Patrick's Day party in March.
Progressive dinners 2 or 3 times a year.
GloriaM1 (North Carolina)
Posts: 14
Posts: 14
Posted:
Community Yard Sale (2 x per year) The HOA gets a 20 yard dumpster for people to throw away their stuff too.
Beginning of the pool opening party - end/closing of the pool party
Movie night with food
Teen night - DJ with hot dogs etc.
Beginning of the pool opening party - end/closing of the pool party
Movie night with food
Teen night - DJ with hot dogs etc.
BonnieG1 (Nebraska)
Posts: 1,186
Posts: 1,186
Posted:
We have a catered dinner ($6.50) every other month. The months we don't have the dinner, we have some form of intertainment. The entertainment can be with or without outside entertainers. We take a free will offering to cover the entertainment costs.
In June we had a Wedding Remembrance Reception. Some of our residents told about thier wedding, we had a skit and a retired preacher who lives in the building performed a renewal of vows ceremony for a couple from outside the condo.
In June we had a Wedding Remembrance Reception. Some of our residents told about thier wedding, we had a skit and a retired preacher who lives in the building performed a renewal of vows ceremony for a couple from outside the condo.
JohnM48 (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 89
Posts: 89
Posted:
For as long as anyone remembers, our association had no sort of annual events, social events, etc.
We just celebrated Labor Day with our 1st Annual Community Day. The day started with volunteers from the community cleaning up the common areas - trash, weeds, fallen tree limbs, etc. Then we had a cookout around the pool, with the association providing the hot dogs, hamburgers, sodas and water, and the members bringing a side dish or desert. This was the last day for the pool, so we planned to keep it open later than usual and opened it to all members, regardless of whether they had their pool tags or not.
The day started and ended with some rain and was gloomy all day. Despite the whether, we had a decent turnout especially considering this was the first such event ever held and was planned a little. We had some who skipped the cleanup and just came for the food - we expected this, but nonetheless we had more than a dozen soaking wet residents picking up the place.
The food was good, the water still warm and everyone had a great time. It rained while we were swimming but who cares - until the thunderstorm that is.
We'll definitely be scheduling this and other events more often - everyone who showed up was pretty enthusiastic. Maybe we'll get even more to come out next time.
We just celebrated Labor Day with our 1st Annual Community Day. The day started with volunteers from the community cleaning up the common areas - trash, weeds, fallen tree limbs, etc. Then we had a cookout around the pool, with the association providing the hot dogs, hamburgers, sodas and water, and the members bringing a side dish or desert. This was the last day for the pool, so we planned to keep it open later than usual and opened it to all members, regardless of whether they had their pool tags or not.
The day started and ended with some rain and was gloomy all day. Despite the whether, we had a decent turnout especially considering this was the first such event ever held and was planned a little. We had some who skipped the cleanup and just came for the food - we expected this, but nonetheless we had more than a dozen soaking wet residents picking up the place.
The food was good, the water still warm and everyone had a great time. It rained while we were swimming but who cares - until the thunderstorm that is.
We'll definitely be scheduling this and other events more often - everyone who showed up was pretty enthusiastic. Maybe we'll get even more to come out next time.
Association President
JeanI (Louisiana)
Posts: 112
Posts: 112
Posted:
how do you finance all of these activities?
EbonyJ (Tennessee)
Posts: 62
Posts: 62
Posted:
It is money set aside in the budget. Also you can look for local sponsors. We had an ice cream social for free by entering a contest.
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