Kindness is key to building stronger neighborhoods

Kindness is core to Nextdoor’s mission. 

Whether it’s by celebrating local businesses that keep our communities thriving or honoring 100 neighbors for their support and compassion, Nextdoor believes that every kind action contributes to making our neighborhoods stronger, more vibrant places to live. 

As the holidays approach, it's a perfect time to remind neighbors to choose kindness. In September, Nextdoor announced a joint research study with Verizon and kindness.org that explores the kindest and most cost-effective kind acts people can do for their neighbors. Some of the kind acts found to be most impactful were paying for a neighbor’s groceries; donating money, diapers, or other items; organizing a local clean-up; or simply reminding a neighbor that they matter. 

These results also reflect some of the kind acts neighbors share on Nextdoor every day. For instance, donating was a recurring theme in the study. Here are the top five ways neighbors talk about donating on Nextdoor¹:

1. Food
2. Items/Supplies
3. Clothing
4. Blood
5. Books

The Results Are In: Which States Are Kindest?

New results from a joint research study with Verizon and Kindness.org surveyed 10,000 people across all 50 states measuring which kind acts people are willing to do for, and expect from, their neighbors.  Results show that Americans had a ‘kindness quotient’ of 86% – which means that they care about their neighbors 86% as much as they care about themselves (And they reported that their neighbors had a kindness quotient of 72% to them). For example:

• 94% of people say they would return a lost item to a neighbor
• 61% of people say they would forgive the debt of a neighbor
• 41% of people say they would adopt the child of a neighbor who passed away
• A related monetary measure found that the average American would give up $7.65 if that meant a neighbor got $10

These results suggest that Americans are very kind to their neighbors and that the kindness of neighbors is an important contributor to a strong community. All 50 states were very kind, and that high level of kindness was very similar across the states. This year Georgia leads the pack as the state with the kindest neighbors.

The top 10 states with the kindest neighbors, according to the study:

1. Georgia
2. Tennessee
3. North Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. Utah
6. Louisiana
7. West Virginia
8. Mississippi
9. Texas
10. Nebraska

Top takeaways from the research include: 

• Kindness from neighbors was the single best predictor of individual happiness, satisfaction with one's neighborhood, identification with one’s neighbors, and sense of inclusion with one’s neighborhood
• Kindness is an important part of building better communities
• Kindness to neighbors was highly correlated with kindness from neighbors, suggesting that neighborly relationships are reciprocal

Read the full research report here.

Why Kindness Matters to Nextdoor 

Nextdoor and Kindness.org believe that building a kinder world starts with building kinder communities. 

Other ways Nextdoor is supporting being kind:

• During Nextdoor’s annual Neighbor Month in September, we partnered with Verizon on an initiative to encourage neighbor-to-neighbor connection across the country: The Big Neighborhood MeetUp. Neighbors across four cities were invited to come together, enjoy a meal and conversation, and rekindle and strengthen bonds with their community. 
  
• On Oct. 19, Nextdoor held a panel session with Verizon and Kindness.org at Advertising Week in New York City (AWNY) to discuss the research findings and how kindness enables connections and strengthens communities. We discussed which kind acts are most effective in building a close-knit community, and how this network bolsters a community during volatile times. 
• It starts with saying hello! Here are a few tips for how to meet your neighbors.

Nextdoor is proud to partner with Verizon, Kindness.org and other organizations that encourage neighbor-to-neighbor connection across the country. To learn more about the commissioned study, visit Nextdoor’s Insights Hub at business.nextdoor.com/en-us/enterprise/insights. 

Source: ¹Nextdoor Internal Data, June-Sept 2022