Golden Rules for a Community Event

Are you organizing an event for people in your neighborhood? Then you should take a look at these golden rules for organizing a community event.

What is a community event?

A community event is organized by locals for locals. They are usually organized and run by volunteers who want to strengthen ties within the local community.

Here are some examples of community events:

• Block party
• Broadcasting of films
• Bar Quiz
• Gardening days
• Exchange banks
• Theme days
• Live performances
• Food Festivals
• Farmer’s markets

In other words, it can be just about anything from a raffle to a charity fundraiser. Your community event is only limited by your imagination.

Organize a public meeting

Community events are usually run by a team of volunteers rather than a team of professional organizers. This means that you need to find local people who would be interested in helping you make the event a reality.

A good way to do this is to organize a public meeting. You can hold it outdoors, at a community center, or at a local church.

Here are some ways you can give visibility to the meeting:

• Posting flyers in residential mailboxes
• Put posters in local store windows and on billboards
• Write a letter to the local press
• Announce it on the local radio
• Create an online event and invite your neighbors

Once you have gathered a small crowd, you should keep it as large and simple as possible. The idea is not to plan everything in detail in advance.

Rather, the idea is to create a buzz around the initial idea of the event. Ask for ideas from locals who are attending the meeting and want to be involved in the organization.

Use an event planning checklist.

You should write down all the ideas that were brought up during the town hall meeting. Once you’ve taken a moment to properly complete this list, it’s time to go into detail.

Ask yourself what you need to bring your ideas to life for the event. Then prioritize things and estimate the cost of each.

Learn about health and safety procedures

Health and safety procedures are often considered the ultimate buzzkill. But they are there to ensure that no one gets hurt during the event.

You need to think about who is going to participate in the event and where it is taking place. Common sense can do a lot on this point.

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself when it comes to health and safety:

• Does the event contain potentially hazardous equipment?
• Could anyone be injured while performing any of the activities at the event?
• Is there a chance that the site is too hot or too cold?
• Are there potential fire hazards?
• Will there be vulnerable people at the event?
• Do your volunteers need to receive any training beforehand?
• What will you do in case of an accident?

Third Party Liability and Employer’s Liability Insurance

It is important to be insured in case anything goes wrong despite your efforts. The insurance policies we will review here are liability and employer’s liability insurance. Note that public liability is not a legal requirement. But if anything happens, a claim may be filed against you. And the fine can go up very quickly.

• Liability Insurance

You need liability insurance if there is any chance that people will get hurt, lost, stolen, or damage their personal belongings. In other words, virtually any event that is large enough.

• Employer’s liability insurance

You will also need dedicated employer liability insurance if at least part of your staff receives a salary. But this is not a legal requirement if all the staff involved are volunteers.

Conduct a risk assessment

A risk assessment is a list of different things that could go wrong. Generally, those that involve people getting hurt or objects being damaged.

You should conduct a risk assessment to minimize the chances of something going wrong. As with health and safety procedures, you should use common sense.

Getting the right licenses

You will certainly need to purchase a license or two for your community event. If your event involves gambling, alcohol, and entertainment, you will certainly need some.

Here are some of the activities that may require a license:

• Corporate raffles and lotteries
• Bingo, shopping, and casino nights
• Musical performances
• Film broadcasts
• Serving alcohol
• Serve food and beverages
• Events in a public place
• Fundraising
• Parties and street parades

Contact local media

You should also do your best to promote the community event. Social networks are your friends, but it may also be a good idea to contact the local media. Write a press release for the event before contacting the local media.

Confidentiality and data protection

Event photos and videos are great for marketing and promotion. But you should take extra care when organizing a community event.

All personal data (including images) is protected by the RGPD. This means that you need to get the person’s permission to keep information about them. A good idea is to let your guests know that you intend to take pictures and film the event. If you plan to share it on social networks, let them know as well.

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