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Tips For Developing A Relationship With Neighbouring Communities

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As a condominium corporation board member, part of carrying out your fiduciary duty to the community includes building positive connections with valuable industry partners. Nurturing these relationships can significantly affect governance and make the community a better place to live.

While it’s important to focus your efforts on the people and issues within your community, expanding your reach and networking with neighbouring condominiums may help your community do more. From promoting neighbourhood pride to amplifying the value of your condo, forming new partnerships with nearby condominium corporations can have a positive impact. Read on to learn more about the benefits of a strong partnership, tips for finding local condominium communities, and ways to nourish a relationship.  

Benefits of Partnering with Neighbouring Communities

Juggling everything from condo rules to meeting management can be tough for any condo board member. However, you might be able to tackle some items more efficiently by working with a supportive partner, like a nearby community. When leveraged properly, a close-knit bond with a neighbouring condo can reduce your workload and solve issues. A connection can provide: 

  • Improved education of board members through shared resources
  • Increased resident engagement fueled by community event exposure
  • Knowledge of local activities, animal sightings, and crime from consistent communication
  • New business opportunities created by networking

How to Find Like-Minded Local Condos

Getting out and speaking with the condominium communities near yours can seem like a tall task. You don’t want to make the wrong first impression or reach out to a community with different values. To find local communities with similar goals, consider:

  • Using your condo manager to your advantage. Your condo manager is tasked with helping your community thrive, and part of that includes relationship-building. Reach out to your manager about your interest in networking and ask if they know of any similar-valued communities.
  • Research similar communities. Condominiums that are similar in size, price point, and style often share comparable values. Finding them can be as simple as typing the name of your city along with “condominiums” in a search engine. Or you can look up homes for sale near you and see if the corresponding condo information is available. Lastly, you can also research condominiums in Ontario by region through the Condominium Authority of Ontario public registry.

3 Ways You Can Build a Relationship with Neighbouring Communities

All strong relationships have great communication, but building that up will take some work. The key is knowing who to contact and keeping in touch with them. Follow these tips to facilitate steady communication with a community partner.

Tip #1: Share common resources.

Depending on your community's privacy laws and governing documents, you may be able to share common information and resources with another community. The types of data that may be shared include:

  • Crime and safety details. Sharing general safety information might allow communities to form effective prevention and notification plans.
  • Weather conditions. Communicating first responder contact information or dependable weather trackers will help residents be better prepared when threatening conditions strike.
  • Vendor contacts. The communities near yours likely have similar vendors. In addition to your condo managers experience, use your neighbours to get first-hand recommendations and special referral rates.

Tip #2: Get involved in the local condominium industry.                                                                                          

When you attend public industry forums, you’ll meet other leaders and like-minded people operating condominiums. Keep your eye out for:

  • Management-hosted board training events. A great way to meet neighbouring board members, attending a training event hosted by your management company also enables you to learn more about your important role in the community.
  • Vendor networking opportunities. Businesses looking to expand their client base may invite communities to product demonstrations or meet-and-greets.
  • CCI’s conferences, workshops, retreats, and seminars. The Canadian Condominium Institute (CCI) hosts leadership events year-round so you can link up with communities near and far.

Tip #3: Collaborate with communities for events.

Community events allow residents to connect, enhance a positive environment, and foster a supportive culture. And while they’re essential, funding events can be expensive, and planning can be stressful. For your next event, consider collaborating with your partner community. You may be able to cut costs, gain resources, and increase participation. These types of events lend themselves to joint-hosting opportunities:

  • Garage sales: Hold community-wide garage sales alongside other condominiums to take advantage of the influx of people in the area and put more eyes on available homes.
  • Recycling events: Work with a fellow community to set up recycling drop-off centers for old computers, TVs, and other electronics. This will help make each community more eco-friendly, allow residents to declutter their homes, and hopefully increase environmental efforts in the future.

Keep Expanding Your Local Relationships 

Neighbouring communities aren’t the only relationships you should be looking to foster. Consider reaching out to your local government and getting a jump start on making positive changes.