Want residents to attend housing fairs? Give them a personal invitation.

​Can community organizations increase attendance at housing fairs by giving residents personal invitations?
 
Background
 
The city of Milwaukee has increased community outreach efforts to get residents to attend and participate in housing programs to improve the neighborhood.  Four field experiments were conducted in Milwaukee to test the success of these outreach efforts.

• Study 1: People were either given a postcard asking “need help with your home?” or “want to help your community?”
• Study 2: People either received a visit from an organizer or they were not contacted.
• Study 3: People either received a standard letter, a letter emphasizing connections to the community, or no letter.
• Study 4: A repeat of Study 3 with different homeowners.

 
 
Results
 

• Postcards mentioning the community led to a higher meeting attendance compared to postcards that did not. (Study 1)
• People who received a letter were more likely to attend the housing fair compared to those who did not receive a letter. (Study 3 and Study 4)
• The letters emphasizing community were best able to get people to attend the housing fair. (Study 4)
• Personal invitations can increase attendance at housing fairs and pointing out an attachment to the community helps even more.

 
MDL Policy Brief. 2014. “Community Outreach around Housing” Milwaukee, WI: The Marquette Democracy Lab Project