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      Write messages that move neighbors to act

      The Nextdoor Behavioral Comms and Alerting Prompt is a free, guided writing tool grounded in behavioral science, warning research, and Nextdoor best practices.


      Joseph Porcelli      , Nextdoor’s Public Agency & Disaster Response Lead, built the prompt with researchers Dr. Laura Myers, Senior Research Scientist and Director of Resilience at the Center for Risk and Insurance Research at The University of Alabama, and Dr. Jeannette Sutton, Founder and Editor in Chief, The Warn Room & Associate Professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cyber Security.


      If your public agency does not yet have a free Nextdoor for Public Agency page,       apply here.


      If you have questions or need help, join the       Behavioral Comms Lab in our Resource Hub (account required).

      We update the prompt often, so be sure to bookmark this page and grab fresh code.

      Prompt last updated on Thursday, September 17, 2026. We added a built-in character-count check for Alert titles. The prompt now verifies every title against the 50-character limit before delivering it, holds to a 45–47 character safety margin, and includes ready-made short title templates for fast-moving incidents.

      Download plain-text version
      Dr. Myers and Sutton and Porcelli (1000 x 1000 px) 9.17.2926 Dr. Myers and Sutton and Porcelli (1000 x 1000 px) 9.17.2926
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      Guided, not generic.

      Answer a few questions about your situation and the prompt walks you through what to say, so you're not starting from a blank page or a canned template.

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      Built on research, not guesswork.

      Every suggestion traces back to peer-reviewed warning science and what's actually worked for agencies on Nextdoor, not someone's opinion about good writing.

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      Written to move people, not just inform them

      The goal isn't a well-written post. It's neighbors who read it, understand what to do, and do it.

      Get started in three steps

      number1

      Copy the current prompt

      Click the button above to copy the prompt or download the text file. 

      number2

      Paste or upload it into your LLM

      Once pasted or uploaded, the prompt will ask you a series of questions. 

      number3

      Review then post your message

      Before you post the message, carefully review it as AI can make mistakes.