How to Form a Neighborhood Association

A neighborhood association is made up of homeowners, renters, apartment dwellers, and representatives from businesses, schools, churches, and non-profit organizations within a specified area who organize around efforts to preserve the integrity of their neighborhood.

Before you begin asking your neighbors to become organized into an association, make sure that a group doesn’t already exist in your area with the same goals. Use our Association Directory or Online Mapping Application to look this up. Some organizations that may not have defined boundaries may be active in your neighborhood (i.e. Neighborhood Watch, informal clubs, etc). Don’t ignore these groups that already exist! They can offer the opportunity for a range of partnerships with existing leadership and resources. Once you’ve determined that no neighborhood association exists, follow these steps:

Establish a Core Group

The first step is to develop a core group of neighbors (about 5-10 people) who have expressed an interest in and are committed to forming a neighborhood association. The core group may start with neighbors who have not been part of an organize group before, or from crime watch members or other existing groups who have an interest in expanding the neighborhood goals.

Schedule an Organizational Meeting with Your Core Group

Once your core group is formed, schedule an informal meeting at someone’s house, or at a school, church, or other central location to discuss the goals and plan of action. Do this quickly before members of your core group lose interest. Other decisions to be made among the core group include:

• Selection of a temporary group leader
• Why should we organize & what issues need to be addressed? Which ones are most pressing, most extensive, and most easily solved? Residents usually need some issue to organize around, such as neighborhood clean-up, tree problems, crime, etc. **You might consider surveying your neighbors and talking to them one-on-one to get a better sense of their concerns.
• What resources are available in the neighborhood?
• How to get other neighbors involved?
• Schedule an initial neighborhood meeting for the neighborhood association and prepare a timetable to accomplish certain tasks before this meeting (including setting boundaries, writing bylaws, and promoting the meeting).

Sometimes, a few organizational meetings may be necessary to effectively organize the plan for creating a neighborhood group. Keep lines of communication open among the core group and communicate the plans, goals, and activities to the neighborhood via newsletter, fliers, email, or a phone tree. Delegate responsibilities to as many core group members as possible to ensure acceptance of and excitement about the new organization.

Determine Boundaries and Name of Your Association

It is important to determine the boundaries of your neighborhood association. Sometimes, the boundary can be the subdivision itself, or if no formal subdivision exists, boundaries might be major roads or natural features. Review a map of your area (use our GIS services), and consider taking a tour of the area to help set boundaries. Remember to keep the size to a manageable-sized area.

Promote and Plan an Initial Neighborhood Meeting

The first general neighborhood meeting is an opportunity to announce the formation of your association, solicit members, and discuss specific issues on which the association would like to focus. The tips below are useful for your regular neighborhood meetings as well. See Effective Neighborhood Meetings for more detailed information on planning and conducting neighborhood meetings.

Tips for planning the initial meeting:

• Choose a convenient location for the meeting and reserve a room. Good places are centrally located and familiar to the neighbors. Be sure to select a room just large enough to accommodate the group you expect – too small will make people feel cramped and too large will make them feel isolated.
• Schedule the meeting when most people can attend, such as in the early evening or Saturday morning. Consider providing a baby-sitting service to enable parents to attend.
• Consider special equipment needs: microphones, projectors, etc.

Tips for promoting the initial meeting:

• Distribute fliers. Include the time, place, date, and purpose. Include a map that shows where the meeting is to be held. Distribute door-to-door to every resident and business (including churches and non-profits). Also, distribute a few days before the meeting, but no more than one week as people may forget about the meeting.
• Announce the meeting in local bulletins or newspaper.
• Get permission to place notices or posters in local businesses.
• Place a yard sign out a couple days before the meeting as a reminder. A Sign Permit is required for yard signs, which can be obtained from Permits and Inspections.

Tips for a successful introductory meeting:

• Develop a clear agenda for the meeting. Hand these out as people arrive for the meeting so they will know what is to be discussed. See the sample introductory agenda at the end of this document.
• Introduce all people present. It may also benefit the group for each individual to identify their address and/or connection with the neighborhood.
• Set aside ample time for socializing, either before or after the meeting. You might prepare several “ice-breaker” exercises to help the attendees mix more freely.
• Arrange the seats so that people can get to know each other. A circle or horseshoe shape is effective because most people can see one another.
• Provide name badges so that everyone can get to know each other.
• Keep the meeting short (about 1-1.5 hours) so that people don’t lose interest or get overwhelmed before the association is even formed!
• Have someone keep minutes of what is discussed so that it can be referred to for future meetings.

Develop a Structure for Your Association: Officers and Bylaws

The next step is to elect officers – typically a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Recruiting leaders is an ongoing activity through the life of your neighborhood association, so keep these points in mind:

• Delegate responsibilities among board members, such as budgeting, communications, event planning, etc. See below for typical duties/responsibilities of officers.
• Continually search for “potential” leaders.
• Leaders can get burned out, especially since it is a voluntary position. Keep in mind some who are potential leaders, ready to step in when necessary.
• Keep your organization flexible to bring new members and leaders into your association as concerns change in the association

Typical duties/responsibilities of association board members/officers:

• President:
  • Chief executive officer of the association.
  • Assumes general charge of the day-to-day administration of the association
  • Presides at all meetings
  • Reserves the authority to authorize specific actions in promoting the board’s policies
• Vice President:
  • Performs the duties of the president in the absence of the president
  • Serves on the association executive committee
  • Coordinates committee chairs and reports status to the board
  • Assumes duties as defined by the president
• Secretary:
  • Maintains the records of the association
  • Takes minutes of meetings and keeps a permanent, accurate record of the association
  • Prepares written minutes for the board of directors and reads the minutes at meetings
  • Receives and handles all correspondence addressed to the association
• Treasurer:
  • Keeps accounts of all expenses, upon authorization of the board
  • Collects membership dues
  • Presents a written financial report each month to the board

Bylaws

The association should also create bylaws, which are the rules governing the association’s internal operations, purpose of the association, membership information, terms of officers, committees, voting procedures, etc. See Writing Your Bylaws for more information. The City of Georgetown recommends that you consult an attorney to review your bylaws before adopting them and to discuss how your association can qualify as a non-profit organization.

Set up a Regular Meeting Schedule

A regular meeting schedule provides stability to a newly emerging organization. Association officers may wish to meet more frequently to keep updated on neighborhood needs.