The importance of connecting with those around us can't be overstated. Studies show that not only does social activity boost both your mental health and quality of life, but that those with strong interpersonal relationships are 50% more likely to live longer than those that don't.

One way to interact with others and form lasting relationships is to connect at a neighborhood block party. These events are incredibly fun and bring you closer to those around you, but there's also a lot to plan.

Read on to learn how to get everyone in your area to pitch in and do their part in making your block party a success!

Use Appropriate Technology

Before you can begin planning for your neighborhood block party, you'll need to make sure that you have the appropriate technology to communicate with other organizers. This is a surefire way to get the ball rolling.

The Pitch-In-Club is an event planning tool that makes orchestrating your event both simple and convenient. This software has features that take you all the way from the beginning of planning your event up until the day of the neighborhood block party arrives.

In this software, you can add people immediately after creating your event. Make sure that you add everyone in your neighborhood- leaving people out not only will hurt feelings, but it likely will cause strife and drama in your community.

After that, you can create list items of what needs to be done and invite people to pitch-in in specific ways. These invitations can include things like setting up tables and chairs, arranging games and activities, or ordering catering.

Create a Team To-Do List

Within the app, create a to-do list (aka helping hands list) that everyone can view and select from. Before finalizing the to do list in the app, you may want to send out a draft to do list via spreadsheet and/or email to share ideas for what you need to do in preparation for the party as well as activities that should go on while you're there.

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself when creating this list:

• What practical things must be done to set up your space?
• How are you going to provide food and drinks for everyone?
• Will there be activity stations at the party that people need to man?
• What will younger members of your community be doing, and who will supervise?

There are a lot more considerations, but these are good starting points.

Be sure to include suggestions you got back from people you sent the intial draft list to. This shows everyone that you value their ideas and gets you a wide range of different possible activities.

When everyone puts their heads together to make a to-do list as a team, more gets accomplished.

Have a Volunteer Sign-Up Sheet

After you've set up the to do list (aka helping hands list), people can volunteer for specific duties before, during, and after the block party. People will likely only need to select one task in a regular-sized neighborhood, meaning that they can enjoy socializing and having fun for the majority of the party!

Tasks can include things like setting up before and cleaning up after the party, but they can also include things like driving to the restaurant that's catering your event to pick up your food.

There are also things that happen during the party, like watching children or setting up games for everyone to play. Because everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy themselves at the party, people can perform these tasks in shifts.

Make sure that you plug all of the necessary tasks into the app, then people can sign up for specific tasks they feel comfortable with. That way, everyone is doing a little something, and everyone can still enjoy the festivities.

Orchestrate a Potluck

One of the best ways to get everyone to do their part in making the block party a success is to make your meal a potluck. This ensures that you get to try homemade dishes from a variety of cultures. On a more basic level, it's a way to make sure that you have enough to feed everyone.

Use the app's contribution list so that people can sign up to bring specific foods. This will ensure that you don't end up with too much of the same thing - a table full of cookies is great, but it's not dinner.

Be sure to reach out to people to get a list of food allergies and dietary restrictions. This will ensure that everyone has something that they can enjoy. You don't want anyone to feel left out, and you certainly don't want a surprise ambulance call because someone ate something they were allergic to!

Make Participation a Game

A great way to get people to volunteer for activities is to make it into a kind of game.

One of the best ways to do this is by organizing a raffle. Have everyone put 2-5 dollars into a pool and purchase a nice prize with this money. Good things that everyone likes are:

• Tech gifts like iPods, high-quality headphones, or Roku streaming sticks
• Gift cards to department stores like Target or Bed, Bath, and Beyond
• Home essentials like dish sets or blankets
• Something exciting and engaging, like a painting, floral plant, or clothing item

The basic gist will be that the more tasks you sign up for, the more raffle tickets you'll win. This is a great way to get more people pumped about doing their part for the block party!

Throw an Awesome Neighborhood Block Party

While having a block party is a lot of fun, planning the event can be quite a stressor if you don't organize properly.

Now that you know how to arrange an awesome neighborhood block party and ensure that everyone pulls their weight, it's time to sign up for the "Pitch In Club" free event planning app This software is made for simple planning, tracking, and organization so that you can ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Hope these tips were helpful. If you would like to learn about other event planning tips, please check out our blog