According to Wikipedia, a neighborhood association is “a group of residents or property owners who advocate for (or) organize activities within a neighborhood.”
Unlike a homeowner’s association, membership in a neighborhood association is voluntary and neighbors do not have to pay dues or follow any rules.
Because membership isn’t mandatory, having a website to showcase the benefits of being a member is beneficial to both the association and the neighborhood.
I haven’t seen a study that proves this, but my guess is that a well-designed website for a neighborhood association could help property values. When someone is considering moving to a neighborhood, they most likely search for information about that neighborhood on the internet and if they find an active neighborhood association website with upcoming activities, friendly pictures, and helpful information, that would be a vote in the neighborhood’s favor.
How hard is it to create a website for a neighborhood association? It doesn’t have to be complicated.
In fact, I always find simple websites more attractive than cluttered and complicated ones.
Let’s look at a website’s needs from a neighbor’s point of view.
First, a neighbor needs to know the boundaries of the neighborhood so they’ll know if they can become a member.
If your neighborhood association is in Fort Worth, there is a directory of neighborhood associations. The website includes maps for each association.
Once a neighbor has determined they live within the bounds of your neighborhood association, they need to decide if they should become a member.
Neighborhood association dues range from $15-$100 per year. Why should someone pay that money to become a member? What’s the benefit to them?
Write out the benefits clearly on your website.
Some ideas might be:
Neighbors vary in their ability to use the internet, so you need to offer multiple ways to become a member.
For the lowest tech option, include a link to a printable PDF of your membership form. Make sure it includes how much the dues are, who to make the check out to, and where to mail the form and check.
An online form can be handled a couple of ways:
One of the best things about being in a neighborhood association are the events (at least this is my favorite reason for being in my neighborhood association).
My neighborhood has a parade on Labor Day, a fun annual meeting, and a Halloween party.
Your neighbors want to stay up-to-date with upcoming events. To do this, use multiple channels:
One of the challenges about keeping the website event page up to date is having the website built in a way that makes it easy for the current event chair to make updates.
Here are a few options:
One of the most helpful pages on a neighborhood association website has the information a neighbor might need, such as:
Though I’m not one to actually read meeting minutes or by-laws, it’s good to have access to them on the website.
Save important documents as PDFs to make them easier to open and unable to be changed.
Include links to download the PDFs.
Record a short video to teach the secretary how to upload current documents.
I recommend creating email addresses for the neighborhood itself and the board members (such as MyNeighborhood-Pres@gmail.com, MyNeighborhood-VP@gmail.com, etc), then setting those accounts to forward any incoming emails to the current board member. That keeps board members from having their private emails listed online, plus reduces the amount of changes that need to be made online as board members change.
Another good idea is to create a Google Voice phone number for the neighborhood association and key board members. Again, forward incoming calls to the current board members. That way member’s personal phone numbers don’t need to be listed online, but neighbors will be able to call them.
Finally, I recommend getting a PO Box for incoming mail (and making sure there’s someone to regularly check for new mail). Again, this limits how much information needs to be changed as the treasurer or membership chair changes, plus keeps private information off the web.
I hope to create another post to show actual examples of neighborhood association websites, but for now feel free to check out two websites I've created for Fort Worth neighborhood associations.