Do you find that your residents don’t come to many events that you host? A greater turnout would be good proof that residents want to engage and have fun within the community. Despite the hustle and bustle of life that we face every day, we need to encourage our neighbors to have fun and live a little. Here are some exciting things residents actually want to do and can benefit from!
1. Multicultural Potlucks
Everybody knows a gathering isn’t complete without food. Residents love getting the chance to try new foods and adding recipes to their cookbooks. Food from all sorts of backgrounds (Hispanic, Indian, Caribbean, Italian, Asian, and more!) will surely differentiate this potluck.
2. Community Cook-Out
Get your staff and volunteer residents to host a cook-out for the whole community. Grill hotdogs, burgers, kebabs, and more to make for a tasty community event. There could even be a small bouncy house for kids to hang out, while parents and other adults sit back and get to know their neighbors. This kind of event would be perfect when summertime approaches.
3. Outdoor Movie Night
Movie tickets can be expensive when you consider each household member that goes with you. With a movie night at the clubhouse, all the residents can come together and watch the most recent movies for FREE! If not at the clubhouse, movies under the stars could be a comparable alternative. Whatever the case, residents get the advantage of watching a recent film without having to pay for each individual ticket.
4. Neighborhood Yard Sale
Bring the trend of thrift-shopping straight to your apartment community. Yard sales are a great way for residents to clean out their closets, as well as find previously owned items that are new to someone else. Grab some tables and hanging racks and get residents shopping in the comfort of their own neighborhood!
5. Cooking Classes
Everybody enjoys learning a new dish or even a new skill for that matter! People who love cooking or would like to learn can participate in a cooking class that’s offered. Get in contact with a locally popular chef who can teach a cooking class, or take the cost-free route and ask a resident who has a major passion for cooking to teach the class! Residents will be able to learn a new dish or take home the skill of cooking with them.
6. DIY Home Crafts
In this day and age, everybody wants to save money by recycling old household items and recreating them into a decorative solution, otherwise known as a “life hack”. Residents would love to learn how to make the most out of their furniture or old items, so let’s teach them some fun projects to repurpose their seemingly invaluable items. Let’s get our residents to bring in their no-longer-used valuables and teach them all the things they can make.
7. Community Workout Classes
How often do you see your residents in the gym? We all know that the majority of Americans wish they had time to work out and focus on their health more. The best way to get residents to fulfill that wish is to encourage them to join in free workout classes. Partner with a Zumba or yoga instructor to help residents live a healthy and active lifestyle without having to spend extra money at the gym.
8. Family Photoshoots
Securing a nice photoshoot with a professional photographer can be quite expensive. For family photo shoots, people typically spend over $200. What if residents could save so much more by getting their photoshoots done by a passionate photographer in the community? It’s one way for that photographer to get their names out there, while each family saves itself a sum of money and can go home with a new family portrait.
9. Game Night
Nothing brings a family closer than a little competitive drive. Several games can be played by residents and their families, such as trivia, family feud, charades, or video/board games. Get your residents to take a poll and see what kinds of games they’d like to play.
10. Outdoor Field Day
Get residents to enjoy the outdoors with some fun outdoor activities. If you have a basketball court, tennis court, or just a swimming pool alone, there is an endless amount of outdoor games that residents can participate in. If your apartment community is stretched long enough, you could even host a small marathon. That would increase resident participation tremendously!
With these activities, you’ll surely see a higher turnout with resident participation. How though? The most important thing in executing these events is communicating that they’re going to happen.
Bonus: get 90% of your residents to read your event invite.
TextByChoice provides you with the tool to instantly communicate with your residents through something they can’t ignore. Their phones! An SMS text has a 90% higher chance of being read than an email. As far as newsletters go, you’re just costing your community more on paper and ink, plus the manpower to hand them out. Take our advice and check out how mobile texting will help you get higher turnouts with resident participation.
Interested in a free trial of TextByChoice’s easy-to-use platform? Reach out to us by clicking here or texting TBC to 25324 and we’ll be happy to help!
Happy Texting!
