We all know the importance of building a sense of community and loyalty with resident events. Once you’ve planned an event that will resonate with your community, you’ll want to give attention to the event invitation. A large part of your resident event success will depend on the invitation! The truth is, some of us DO judge the book by its cover, and whether or not to attend the event might be determined by the invite itself. With that in mind, here are some tips to help your next resident invite bring in the masses.

First of all, timing is everything! Before the designing of the invitation even begins, you need to determine that you have enough time to distribute! This may seem obvious, but if your event is on Friday and you’re just getting around to designing an invite on Monday, you’re already late! Adequate
time needs to be included for the design, proof reading and distribution of the invitation. Many of us love surprises, but if our resident events are a constant surprise to our residents, they will never be able to prepare their schedules to attend.

You want the design to be eye-catching, but not an eye-sore. Select a team member that has a good eye for design to create the flyer and then select another team member with a good eye for detail to proofread. Fonts can be fun, but they should always be readable. If you’re using images or photos, make sure you have the usage rights to do so! Property and management logos and the equal housing logo can often be included at the bottom of the invitation. If you don’t have the time or the software tools to create an eye-appealing invite, consider hiring a company that provides this design service.

With short attention spans on the rise, the resident needs to be able to immediately discern the following: Event Type, Day/Time and that it’s from their community. We suggest these areas be in a larger or bolder font for quick registration. Less important event details and additional information can be included further down in the invitation and in less bold fonts. You’ll want to determine if an RSVP is required, if they need to bring something with them, specific location, if guests are welcome and if there will be drinks, light snacks or food being provided. Additional fun details can also be
included: hints of surprises, door prizes, contests, games, live music, a DJ, special guests, etc.

Once you’ve created the invitation, you’ll want to share it with your residents in their preferred method of communication. That might be a flyer on their door, an email, seeing the invite posted to Facebook, a large print version posted in the public areas or via a phone text. Many times a full-page
flyer is not necessary and all of the content can fit nicely in a quarter-page size. It doesn’t hurt to send the invite out well in advance and then to send a friendly reminder a day or two prior to the event.

Allowing enough time for the design to be created, proofread and distributed and using enough forethought on the aesthetics and content guarantees better attended events. Now it’s your turn! Get those creative sparks flying and start designing your next event invite!