5 Steps to Organizing a Volunteer Event for Your Residents

To give back this holiday season, consider hosting an event for your residents. Volunteering is a perfect way to bring your residents together and support a worthy cause. Ready to give back? Check out this guide to organizing a volunteer event within your apartment community.

1. Recruit a committee

There’s no need to do all the work yourself! Reach out to your residents, and identify a small group of dedicated volunteers to help you plan and organize the event. When you establish a committee that includes residents, you’ll get a better understanding of what your community wants and how to gain their participation.

2. Select a charity

Did you know that there are over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the U.S.? Consider one or more of these strategies to narrow down your options:

• Select a list based on local organizations in your city or neighborhood. Check out the food bank down the block, or look into the nearby nonprofit that addresses homelessness in your city.
• Look for organizations that align with your residents’ values and interests. For example, if your community is known as a pet-friendly community, an animal shelter might be likely to draw in your residents. If your community is home to outdoorsy residents who enjoy an active lifestyle, consider an event that benefits the local parks or beach.
• Survey your residents to get their top recommendations. Send out an online survey to solicit your residents’ ideas and preferences.

As part of your search, reach out to the nonprofits you’re considering and identify what their top needs are. Are they primarily looking for supplies, funds, or onsite volunteers? This will affect what type of event you host.

3. Plan the logistics

Once your committee has chosen a deserving charity, nail down the details.

If you’d prefer the event stay onsite at your community, you may want to host an event for residents to stuff goodie bags to benefit local charities.

For example, your residents could create care packages with food and personal essentials for homeless individuals. Or, they could put together baby kits for expectant mothers in need, non-perishable snacks and personal care products for military service members, backpacks with toys and school supplies for children in foster care, or packages with activities and toiletries for seniors in a local nursing home.

Alternatively, your community could host an onsite bake sale, auction, or walkathon to raise funds for a local charity.

Looking to host an event offsite? Coordinate with the charity to secure the date, time, and address. If you’re working with a local food bank, for example, your residents may be tasked with sorting and organizing donations. Other options for offsite events include:

• Serving food to homeless members of the local community
• Environmental clean-up at a local park, beach, or river
• Park or trail maintenance
• Animal shelter support, such as socializing cats and dogs or helping with administrative tasks
• Building or renovating homes through an organization that benefits low-income families or seniors
• A blood drive to encourage donations to a local blood bank
• Visiting a senior living facility to provide companionship and social interaction
• Literacy programs to distribute books or help underserved children and adults improve their reading
• Gardening or community farming, such as planting, weeding, or harvesting
• Organizing and packing supplies for disaster victims

4. Involve local organizations

Besides your recipient charity, think about other local organizations that you can partner with. Are there any local cafes, restaurants, or grocery stores that might chip in with donated supplies, funds, or a space to host your event? In addition to businesses, you can also reach out to local libraries, schools, or mission-based organizations.

5. Recruit volunteers

Now it’s time to get the word out. Put out a call for volunteers in your resident newsletter and on your social media channels. Post flyers about the event in your lobby, elevators, and common areas. Encourage your residents, including your committee members, to spread the word to their family members and neighbors.

To get a rough estimate of how many attendees you’ll have, provide a link or QR code for residents to register. If your community has an active Facebook presence, you may want to create a Facebook event for residents to RSVP.