Frequently Asked Questions

About Nextdoor

About Nextdoor For Public Agencies

About Nextdoor Ads for Public Agencies

What is Nextdoor?

Nextdoor is the neighborhood network. Neighbors around the world turn to Nextdoor daily to receive trusted information, give and get help, get things done, and build real-world connections with those nearby — neighbors, businesses, and public services. Public agencies use Nextdoor to share critical, real-time information directly at the neighborhood level.

For neighbors, how is Nextdoor different from other social media tools?

Nextdoor is different in three important ways:

  • Trust: Nextdoor ensures that neighbors are connected to real people in neighborhoods that matter to them.
  • Local Perspective: Whether a neighbor needs to find a local professional or a lost dog, their neighbors can help — and the neighbor can reach out to them instantly.
  • Proximity: Neighbors are automatically connected to everyone nearby so they can build real-world connections.

What does Nextdoor do with neighbors’ information?

Nextdoor is built on trust. Our neighbors’ privacy is, and always has been, a top priority. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our neighbors and the security of their information and we inform neighbors of all data usage through our Privacy Policy and Member Agreement. Neighbors are required to sign up with their name and address. As always, they can change their privacy settings at any point via the Privacy section in our app.

How does Nextdoor make money?

Nextdoor is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “KIND”. In certain markets, we have a digital advertising platform that enables businesses and public agencies of all sizes to connect with a uniquely engaged, influential audience.

How can Public Agencies participate on Nextdoor?

There are two options for Public Agencies to reach Nextdoor neighbors:

  • Use the free Nextdoor for Public Agencies platform to have two-way conversations with your residents
  • Use Nextdoor Ads for Public Agencies to promote information with neighbors without starting a conversation, reach neighbors outside your jurisdiction and target your ads based on demographics/psychological/behavioral characteristics

About Nextdoor For Public Agencies

What is Nextdoor for Public Agencies?

Nextdoor for Public Agencies is a free digital neighborhood engagement platform that allows government entities to engage with neighbors who live within their jurisdiction. When a public agency activates its Nextdoor page, all neighbors on Nextdoor who live within its jurisdiction are auto-subscribed to receive their posts - no need to build followers from scratch! Neighbors can unsubscribe from the agency or mute individual agency users.

Which public agencies can join Nextdoor for Public Agencies?

Thousands of public agencies of various types Thousands of public agencies of various types across the U.S. and internationally use Nextdoor to build stronger relationships with their residents. We welcome applications from City/County departments, Public Safety  departments (Law Enforcement, Fire and Emergency Management), School Districts, and Special Districts. See here for a full list of agencies we currently support.

How is Nextdoor for Public Agencies different from other social media tools?

Nextdoor is unique in three important ways:

  • Real People: Communicate with a built-in reachable audience of confirmed residents who live in your community.
  • Geo-targeting: Public agencies can target messages to Nextdoor neighbors in specific neighborhoods or in custom service areas you provide (districts, zones, etc.). Agencies appreciate the ability to target their posts, as it ensures their content is relevant to recipients.
  • Real-world results: Keep your community informed, drive attendance and participation, and educate and measure intent, satisfaction, and behavioral change indicators with interactive polls.

How can my agency get started with  Nextdoor for Public Agencies?

To get started, take a few minutes to fill out this application. Once we approve your application we will send you an email with a link you can use to set up your Nextdoor page. We will also provide resources to help you get started and use Nextdoor effectively.

How long does it take to get set up on Nextdoor for Public Agencies?

Once an agency applies for a page, they can expect to be up and running on the platform in under two weeks. The length of time can depend on several factors, including:

  • Jurisdictional Boundary: if an agency’s boundary is not within a specific city, county, or school district, we will ask the applicant to provide a GIS map file of their boundary so that we can use it to create their page.
  • Confirming Employment: As part of our vetting process, we verify the employment of every applicant to ensure that the person on the application is a full-time staff member of the agency. If we can’t easily verify employment online, we may ask you to provide proof of employment.
  • Personal or shared email in the application : For security purposes, we verify the email address of every applicant.  For this reason, we do not allow personal emails (such as staff@gmail.com) or shared emails (such as info@agency.com) to be used in applications.  If we see one of those emails, we will reach out and ask the applicant to provide a personalized work email (such as firstname.lastname@agency.com) to use in the application.

To expedite the process, we recommend applying with personalized work email and, if necessary, having a GIS map file of your agency’s jurisdictional boundary ready to send us.

How much ongoing staff time is required to use Nextdoor?

Staff members have complete control over how much time they spend on Nextdoor. It takes just a few minutes to create or reply to posts either from the app or by replying by email. We have learned that 3-4 posts per week jurisdiction wide is a good start. In addition, agency staff should post as often as they need to communicate with one or more neighborhoods or custom service areas (districts, zones, etc.). Whenever life or property is in danger, agency staff may use the Emergency Alert post type and target it to the affected areas.

Nextdoor is easy to learn and use, and agency staff members can in turn train new staff members. We provide training documents and reference materials to support agency staff users.

How do neighbors interact with agencies? 

Residents see agency posts on their Nextdoor website or mobile app, as well as through email. Residents can react and reply to agency posts, or send agency users private messages.

Why are public agency staff not able to see conversations residents are having on Nextdoor?

Nextdoor is designed to facilitate connections between neighbors. Many of the conversations that take place on Nextdoor (selling a couch, providing a business recommendation, etc.) are not relevant to public agency staff, and monitoring these conversations would require significant staff time. Nextdoor for Public Agencies ensures that staff are able to communicate relevant information with residents, while also allowing for private conversations between neighbors.

Can I share my Nextdoor posts on other social platforms?

Yes. Agency users have the option to share their posts from Nextdoor to their agency’s Facebook or Twitter pages and on WhatsApp. The share post will only show your original content, links, and attachments, but will not include neighbors’ replies to your post.

Can I invite colleagues to post on my Agency page?

Yes, administrators of the Agency page may invite other staff members to join using the Add Staff feature. Each staff member you add will receive a verification email with a link that will allow them to create their account.

About Nextdoor Ads For Public Agencies

Why should my agency use Nextdoor Ads?

Advertising on Nextdoor can help you:

  • Share information without starting a conversation with neighbors
  • Amplify your message within and beyond your free Nextdoor for Public Agencies map boundaries
  • Target specific audiences by geographic, demographics and psychographics/behaviors with tailored messages 

Can I create and manage my own ads on Nextdoor?

Public agencies can advertise on Nextdoor through either our self-service Neighborhood Ad Center (NAC) or our managed service. Whichever route is right for your agency and budget, you will have access to a dedicated team of experts to give guidance and help you get the most out of your ad dollars. 

Where will my ads appear on Nextdoor?

Leverage a variety of ad placements and formats to engage with your audience at a local or national level:

  • Newsfeed: use native ads to engage with neighbors surrounded by relevant content
  • Email Digest: reach members in their inboxes with neighborhood recap messages
  • For Sale & Free: drive consideration of your services in Nextdoor's local marketplace

How can my agency get started with Nextdoor Ads for Public Agencies?

Please fill out this form and one of our Public Agency Team will contact you.