The holiday season is often described as “the most wonderful time of the year.” But for a volunteer HOA board member, that’s not always the case. Today, we are going to talk about a topic that is meaningful to many of you: Holidays and Community.
We know your role. You’re a neighbor, a volunteer, and a leader, all wrapped into one. And as the holidays approach, the pressure mounts. While you’re trying to manage your own family’s plans and stress, you’re also bracing for the inevitable community challenges: noisy parties running late, parking spaces becoming scarce, and disagreements over decorations encroaching on shared spaces.
But the board has a unique opportunity to guide the community through this season, transforming potential conflict into genuine connection.
When we treat each other with consideration, empathy, and respect, we create a positive atmosphere. This article provides a practical framework for fostering that harmony.
What We’ll Cover
Proactively Reduce Holiday Disputes
During the holidays, emotions and stress levels are high. A minor violation or a miscommunication can escalate quickly. As a board, your most powerful tools aren’t fines or violations; they’re clarity and compassion.
Establish and Communicate Clear Guidelines
The single most effective way to prevent disputes is to ensure everyone is working from the same playbook. Your holiday guidelines should be simple, clear, and cover the most common issues.
Holiday Decorations
When it comes to holiday decorations, electrical elements are most likely involved, such as lights and inflatables. If not handled properly, these festive elements can pose electrical or fire hazards to the community. However, establishing clear safety regulations can help minimize those risks.
Pro-Tip: Require the use of electrical C-UL-certified lights for any decor. This small safety rule can be a great preventive measure.
Setting up a timeline for installing and removing decorations is a good way to maintain the community’s aesthetic appeal during end-of-year celebrations.
As great as they are for bringing out the festive spirit in everyone, leaving holiday decorations on display indefinitely can give the community a cluttered look.
Pro-Tip: Enforce the time limits for putting them up and taking them down, both before and after the holiday season. Send notices and reminders to the community via different communication channels to ensure everyone is informed.
Placement is also a very important topic for holiday decor in associations. If done incorrectly, it can quickly become an inconvenience to residents or even a safety hazard. The festive elements must not block or restrict any emergency exits, streets, sidewalks or driveways.
Pro-Tip: Create specific placement guidelines to ensure the displays are respectful of common areas, as well as private properties.
To preserve a harmonious community look, many associations impose size restrictions on holiday decorations.
Pro-Tip: When limiting the size of decorations, favor towering light displays, large inflatables, and oversized ornaments.
Other Holiday Policy Reminders
As far as holiday policy reminders go, the most important one to reinforce to residents is: be considerate of your neighbors. That advice can apply to many situations during end-of-year celebrations.
- Noise complaints: Send a gentle reminder of the community’s quiet hours and the good practice of notifying neighbors of a planned party.
- Parking: Establish clear rules for guest parking, including reminders to keep fire lanes clear and any temporary holiday adjustments.
- Shared Spaces: Send notices outlining how to reserve clubhouses or common areas for celebrations, including cleanup responsibilities afterward.
Share these guidelines before the season kicks off. Send them via email and text, post them in common areas, and add them to your community website to make sure everyone is aware.
Implementing the rules doesn’t have to be a dreadful process. With transparent, fair methods, you can reinforce the community’s policies, all the while fostering a kind and joyful atmosphere.
A Note on Self-Management and Communication
We know you probably don’t have time to chase down every resident or stuff mailboxes to communicate these guidelines. This is where effective self-management tools can come in handy for your board.
Neigbrs by Vinteum is an all-in-one platform that lets you instantly send announcements to every resident via email or push notifications. You can upload your holiday guidelines to the document library, ensuring everyone has access 24/7. Who knew it could be this simple?
Schedule a free Neigbrs demo to see how you can streamline your communication today.
Be Compassionate
Your role as a board member isn’t just administrative; it’s human. The holidays can be an incredibly difficult time for many, marked by financial strain, loneliness, or personal loss. Your board has the power to lead with empathy.
Did you know your board often has the discretion to, temporarily, halt collection proceedings or waive fines for minor infractions?
Consider this: A resident is a week late on their dues for the first time, or another resident’s decorations are still up a few days past the “removal” date. Instead of an immediate violation notice, perhaps a simple, kind reminder is the first step.
A small act of compassion, such as delaying a punitive action during the peak holiday month, can have a profound impact on a resident’s life. Temporarily holding off on such measures will not significantly affect the community’s bottom line, but it could mean everything to the family affected. This is how you build goodwill and trust that lasts all year.
Foster Inclusive and Thoughtful Decorations
Decorations are the most visible—and sometimes most contentious—part of the holiday season. One person’s festive display is another’s eyesore. The board’s role is to find a balance that encourages celebration while respecting community standards and inclusivity.
Turn Rules into a Reason to Engage
Instead of just posting a list of “Don’ts,” frame your guidelines in a positive, engaging way.
One of the best ways to do this is by creating a holiday decorating contest.
- How it works: Invite residents to enter their homes, balconies, or doors into the contest. Create a few fun categories (e.g., “Most Creative,” “Best Use of Lights,” “Most Festive”).
- The benefit: This is a brilliant and positive way to communicate your decorating guidelines. The “rules” of the contest are simply your community’s existing safety and aesthetic guidelines. Residents follow the rules because they want to participate and win.
- Execution: Have the community vote for their favorites online or via a simple form. Offer small prizes, like gift cards to local businesses or simple bragging rights in the next community newsletter.
Create a Welcoming Atmosphere for All
It’s crucial to remember that your residents come from diverse backgrounds and celebrate many different holidays—or none at all. If your HOA focuses on only one holiday tradition, it can make others feel invisible or unwelcome.
Encourage residents to celebrate their own traditions while ensuring that decorations in common areas reflect a more inclusive, seasonal approach. This isn’t about limiting celebration; it’s about expanding it, so everyone feels a sense of belonging. This simple consideration is a powerful tool for building a truly harmonious community.
Navigate Noise Levels and Holiday Celebrations
When people gather, there will be noise. The challenge for an HOA board is balancing one resident’s right to celebrate with another’s right to peace and quiet.
This, again, comes down to respect and communication.
Your holiday guidelines should clearly (and gently) remind residents of the community’s policies on noise. But you can also empower residents to manage this among themselves before it becomes a formal complaint.
Encourage residents who are planning a party to:
- Notify their immediate neighbors in advance. A simple heads-up—”We’re having friends over on Saturday until 10 PM, it might get a bit loud”—can prevent 90% of all noise complaints. It shows consideration.
- Be mindful of quiet hours. Remind them that “celebrating” doesn’t mean “blasting music at 2 AM.”
- Move the party inside after a certain hour to reduce noise travel.
When a complaint does happen, have a clear process. Encourage residents to try speaking with their neighbors first (if they feel safe and comfortable doing so). If that’s not possible, they can contact the board or property manager, who can then issue a respectful reminder of the community’s guidelines.
Activate Shared Spaces for Community Engagement
So far, we’ve focused on preventing negative interactions. But your board can also be a catalyst for creating positive ones. The holidays are the perfect time to use your shared spaces to bring people together. This is the heart of positive HOA event planning.
These events don’t have to be expensive or elaborate. In fact, simple, low-cost events are often the most effective.
- Organize a Holiday Potluck: Book the community clubhouse for an evening and invite everyone to bring a dish that represents their family or cultural tradition. This is a fantastic way to get neighbors talking and sharing.
- Launch a Shared Charitable Initiative: Many people are looking for ways to give back during the holidays.
- Set up a Toy Drive box in the lobby or clubhouse.
- Organize a Food Pantry Collection for a local shelter.
- Partner with a local charity for a Winter Coat Drive.
When you provide residents with an opportunity to come together for a shared, positive purpose, you build stronger bonds within the association. Neighbors stop being “the person in 3B” and become “Sarah, whom I met at the potluck.” These relationships are the glue that holds a community together when conflicts arise.
Take the Stress Out of HOA Management
Feeling overwhelmed by the holiday communication, document tracking, and rule enforcement? You don’t have to do it all manually.
Neigbrs by Vinteum is the all-in-one platform built for volunteer board members like you. Post announcements, manage documents, handle maintenance requests, and book amenities, all from one simple, easy-to-use dashboard.
Learn how Neigbrs can transform your HOA. Schedule a demo today.
As a board member, you carry the stress of the holidays, often feeling the weight of residents’ frustrations. But you shouldn’t aim for a perfectly silent, conflict-free season. That’s impossible.
Your goal should be to foster an atmosphere of respect, community engagement, and shared experiences. By communicating clearly, leading with compassion, and creating opportunities for connection, you can guide your community toward a more joyful and peaceful holiday season for everyone.
And that’s a difference worth making.
