Community Web – Company Backgrounder

What elevates a neighborhood from merely a place to live to a thriving community? Shared experiences, neighbors working toward a common goal and open, effective communication all play a part. Many neighborhoods designated ‘great places to live’ have active neighborhood associations and a great neighborhood website to connect residents like never before. Introducing a new neighbor, sharing information about community events and issues, or even finding a lost dog can all be accomplished at the neighborhood website. In addition, some neighborhoods are harnessing their buying power to negotiate savings with local merchants and service providers who install backup power generators, paint their houses, clean their cars and even deliver dinner to their doors.

Community Web (www.mycommunityweb.org), based in Bethesda, Maryland, provides website hosting services that focus almost exclusively on volunteer neighborhood organizations and parent/teacher associations. Founded in 1999 by John Nelson, the company has helped civic associations and PTA’s establish powerful and secure, instant, no-hassle websites. An array of online tools helps make volunteer life easier. Collecting dues, managing memberships and assembling printed and online directories can now be done through the website. “During my six years as a civic association officer, I saw a need to bring together the tremendous human capital every neighborhood possesses. I also saw a need to reduce the administrative hassles that come with an active association. We developed a strong system and over five years added features to help association officers be more productive and give residents great tools”, says Nelson.

What makes Community Web unique? First, it provides one-stop-shopping for neighborhoods looking to establish a website. The company offers hosting services along with a ready-to-go website that can be tailored to the community’s needs. Previously, establishing and maintaining a website may have been a volunteer effort by a technology savvy resident. If the ‘webmaster’ moved or retired, the website often met its demise. Community Web provides the site, content and ongoing support so the site can stay as vital as the community.

Minimal advertising also makes Community Web different. The company built its business model on a ‘pull through’ strategy: first uncovering the needs of the community, then searching for qualified suppliers and service providers. “If you need your house painted, you enroll in the “Community Buying Power” section of the website”, notes Nelson. “When we have several interested residents, we take the job to contractors that are often recommended by residents. By aggregating the buying power of the neighborhood, we can save residents hundreds or even thousands of dollars”, he adds. “The neighbors win because they get a great deal, the contractors win because they get several jobs focused in one geographic area, and the civic association wins because Community Web returns a portion of its earnings from these transactions back to the association.”

Linking Washington area communities is another benefit of using Community Web. Association Officers can share experiences and work together by using “cross community email”, a new function that identifies local neighborhoods and their officers and allows users to send email, get telephone numbers or even generate mailing labels. In addition, Community Web has the capability to allow local government, civic umbrella groups and utilities to have controlled access to the website to contact neighborhoods when necessary. This enables them to notify residents of planned service interruptions, important community issues or even road closures.

Most importantly, Community Web provides a rich experience for the residents: from updating the neighborhood directory and paying community dues, to searching thousands of options for schools, camps, party entertainment, and family outings. Residents can search for a neighbor with children the same age, share ideas on bulletin boards, look up a neighbor’s phone number, get help finding a lost pet, find a babysitter, search the lost and found, order dinner and much more. “Everyone’s happy. The resident can find everything he or she needs for house and family, and an active, relevant website helps the civic association maintain its place as the focal point of the community.”, concludes Nelson.

For more information about Community Web, visit www.mycommunityweb.org or contact John Nelson, President at 301-263-9821 or jnelson at communitywebinc dot com.