Ways to promote National Neighborhood Day

  • Provide the inspiration for individuals and neighborhoods to lead events in your city or town
  • Inspire nonprofit, corporate, and public involvement with NND, directly and indirectly motivating individuals to organize and attend events across the city
  • Provide a link to www.Ourcommons.us on your web site - this is National Neighborhood Day's free tool for neighborhood organizing
  • Hold a Save the Date news event announcing NND (third Sunday in September each year), along with other mayors and elected officials
  • Issue an Executive Order and Proclamation declaring NND as the third Sunday of each September in your city, county, or state and issue a press release announcing the NND Executive Order 
  • Spread awareness about NND to other policymakers  
  • Attend NND gatherings and events and make a speech
  • Bring a flipchart and markers to NND events and ask neighbors to jot down their suggestions for neighborhood improvements and projects, thoughts on what makes a good neighborhood or a good neighbor, or any other topic that gets people thinking and talking about their community. 
  • Sponsor a city-wide Good Neighbor Award to be awarded on NND
    • The City of Louisville, KY has some great ideas for this award. Visit their website at www.louisvilleky.gov. 
  • Establish a Neighborhood Grant program to assist neighborhoods in planning and purchasing supplies and food for their event
  • Engage in activities that advocate on behalf of social capital building
  • Help organizers with activities that require city involvement (e.g. obtaining garbage cans, dumpsters, and picnic tables for gatherings, street closing instructions, tree planting instructions)  
  • Highlight a significant neighborhood program (e.g. area renewal program, building renewals, youth or senior programs) by holding an NND event with sponsors and constituents of the program
  • Increase awareness of an existing city program or service (e.g. public transportation, health fair, other)
  • Issue a “How you can be involved” letter to nonprofit organizations, corporate volunteer programs, corporations, public agencies
  • Issue a memo to city departments with timeline and suggestions for participating in NND
  • Encourage all “public” organizations to host a Neighborhood Day gathering for their immediate neighborhood (e.g. zoo, library, YMCA, churches, hospitals, universities, private schools)
  • Encourage police, fire, animal control, EMT’s to be a significant participant in Neighborhood Day gatherings across the city
  • Engage local chapters of NND partners in local Neighborhood Day events
  • Enlist recreation staff to lead games or provide game equipment to check out
  • Enlist local radio and TV stations to sponsor Neighborhood Day gatherings
  • Encourage coverage of Neighborhood Day gatherings across the city

What ingredients make it most effective?

  • Support of the Mayor and town leadership
  • Identified person on Mayor’s staff to lead the city’s involvement and help coordinate
  • Local organizing committee comprised of representatives from Mayor’s office, neighborhood associations, volunteer centers (perhaps as leaders of the committee), United Way, business associations, business leaders, etc.
  • Print and electronic media as sponsors/promoters/reporters
  • Local business sponsors
  • Programs and ideas that are simple, easy, and fun to implement
  • Assistance from other government agencies to make organizing a gathering easier for hosts 

Timing

  • It’s never too late or too early to start planning
  • The earlier you organize, the more sophisticated you can make it and the more widespread the favorable results
  • Individual organizers need at least 2 weeks to plan and organize gatherings