If you’re looking for a fun way to connect with your community and add to your database in the process, Wilmington, North Carolina’s Melissa Martin has a great idea for you. It’s called the Holiday Light Fight and it’s a fantastic way to give back to the community through contribution and charity.

Melissa Martin’s business has always had a large charity component. Even her team name, Harpo Properties, named for one of her beloved therapy dogs, has roots in service and honors the legacy of the volunteer work that Harpo the dog provided by Melissa’s side. The Holiday Light Fight allows her to involve the community, collect participants contact information, and enable them to feel involved in the fun and charity aspect so that they share the event with their own spheres in an ongoing event that is easy to implement for all involved.

It’s fruitful too. Melissa and her team not only collected over 1,500 new contacts to add to their database thanks to the Holiday Light Fight, but it also helped to create 24 appointments, several solid nurtures, and over $4 million and 7 units of business.

So, what is a Holiday Light Fight?

Put simply, it’s a house decorating contest where people light up their homes for the holidays, submit their homes for inclusion in the contest via photos, and people vote for their favorite home. The winner is awarded a personal prize along with money to donate to their charity of choice.

What does Melissa do to make the Holiday Light Fight a success?

· Get started early. Melissa kicked off the season by running teasers in November newsletters to get people thinking about their holiday decorating plans. For example, she would say “If you decorate for the holidays, we want to do a big give-back.” She also found images of houses that had decorated in the past for the holidays, door knocked them, and encouraged their participation in her event.

· Ask for home submissions. People who wished to participate would submit photos of their decorated homes during the month of November.

· Narrow down the favorites. Melissa and her team chose their Top 10 out of all the submissions. Each submission received a call to let them know whether their house was chosen to go onto the next level that year or that they should try again the following year. Melissa’s goal was to spread the finalists across the entire community.

· Show off the Top 10. Each of the Top 10 homes were given a branded sign to display in front of their home to let others know they were designated a Top 10 home in the Holiday Light Fight. Melissa made a big deal about putting a sign in their yard: each sign was spotlighted with a solar panel spotlight and branded with Harpo properties.

· Partner with other local businesses. Melissa and her team created a parade of homes with other businesses who also promoted the Holiday Light Fight. For example, they created a branded map that showed the best route to see the lights and provided ideas of things to do along the way, such as stop at a particular local coffee shop to pick up a hot chocolate on the way to seeing the next home.

· Encourage the community to vote for their favorite home. Every Top 10 home was placed on the map with a custom QR code. To vote, people would scan the QR code, which would take them to a Google form. The Google form asked them to supply their contact information as well as some additional information such as whether they rent or own their current property, the charity they would donate to, and how they heard about the contest. Votes were collected during the month of December.

· Announce a winner. Melissa announced the winner live on December 31. The winner was given a $250 prize in addition to a $250 donation to give to the charity of their choice.

· Continue to follow-up both during and after the event. Everyone who submitted a vote went into a touch plan. Those who voted received a call to let them know who won the Holiday Light Fight. Touches were sent via text about how the contest was going during the event period. Neighbors who were near to homes being showcased received a letter thanking them for allowing their neighborhood to be part of the event and to let them know who Harpo Properties was and where the charity money went.

The great thing about the Holiday Light Fight is that it’s a great way to get involved in the community and give the community itself a way to participate. Melissa found the event told a great story: contestants shared details about it themselves to garner votes from their own spheres, which provided her team more positive exposure than if they had done all the marketing themselves. Melissa’s suggestion for those looking to take on a Holiday Light Fight in their own communities? Prepare accordingly for an influx of contacts by not waiting to follow-up until the contest is over. Because people are telling their friends to vote for them – you may get responses from outside the area you typically serve. Give those locals who vote an incentive to want to hear from you (and give you correct contact information!) by having their vote serve as an entry for the chance to win a prize to a nearby restaurant or business.

If you are an Inspire member and want more details about Melissa Martin’s Holiday Light Fight, visit the Inspire Portal for her personal playbook! Interested in joining Inspire? Click here.