The role we play in Madrona
It is the mission of the Madrona Neighborhood Association to bring the neighborhood together through fun and engaging events and activities, organize events and activities that allow our neighborhood business community to thrive, and to provide a platform for volunteers to give back to their community. We are a 100% volunteer non-profit group focused on creating opportunities for community connection in Madrona, and keeping the neighborhood informed of issues impacting Madrona and its surrounding areas.
The MNA is focused on addressing what most community members think the neighborhood needs, not on what some individuals want.
The Madrona Neighborhood Association’s (MNA) aim is to create an efficiently operating neighborhood non-profit organization that supports whatever our community members tell us is most important to them through surveying, in-person conversations, emails and web forms, and at meetings. In early 2024 we decided to pivot from a legacy meetings-based community feedback model to this multi-pronged approach for collecting community feedback to create a more inclusive and accessible community feedback loop. We review all the feedback from the community we receive, and prioritize what to work on based on: 1) the volume of mentions from the community, 2) alignment with our core pillars of focus (community connection, safety, good for local businesses), and 3) whether there is a volunteer willing to support the work/project/event.
A brief history on the critique of legacy neighborhood community councils in Seattle:
Survey questions are created based on feedback we receive from the community and written as objectively as possible so we can capture uninfluenced directional feedback from the community. We have never presented any results from a Madrona survey as conclusive evidence of any opinion held by our neighborhood as a whole because we do not see that as our role. We simply use this feedback collected through surveying to better understand community needs as a whole so we can spend our limited resources and energy on what’s most important to the broadest number of community members.
An example of how the MNA organization would act on data from a safety survey that showed community member top concerns were break ins/robberies, gun violence, and car speeds/pedestrian safety: we will focus on pedestrian safety by continuing to work with the relevant city department on crosswalk safety and speed control measures like speed bumps. Madrona community members expressed a higher priority of concern about break ins and gun violence. We are not a security organization so we do not plan to take action to address break ins around the neighborhood, and we are not a political group so will not take action on gun violence policy. We will share links about what the city is doing on the topics of gun violence and break ins via our Madrona Community Email, however, so community members interested in taking action on those topics on their own are able to.

What the MNA is:
- We are first and foremost an organization for the Madrona community; when we can, we use direct feedback from the community through polling to inform where we focus our efforts.
- Our focus is on making improvements in the Madrona community to ensure the residents and business community thrive, these may include hosting community-building events, or managing and fundraising improvements that make Madrona a more enjoyable place to live (e.g. park renovations, sidewalk repair, winter tree lights, etc.).
- We are a group of volunteers who organize events that bring the Madrona community together, and that are open for participation from community members. Not all events may be free to join, such as fundraising wine tastings where purchasing a ticket is required, however many MNA organized events will be free to the community.
- We seek donations from individuals and business sponsorships to support the cost of our MNA organized events and activities.
- Since we are a volunteer non-profit, we can only do as much as we have volunteers to contribute and help with.
- MNA volunteers are able to choose what they want to spend their time working on, which can influence what work is prioritized.
What the MNA is not:
- We are not a religious group and do not host events or activities that are prescribed to any one religious group.
- We are not a moderator or mediator of issues or disputes among members of the community, unless those disputes are related to MNA organized events/activities, or if they involve MNA volunteers acting in an MNA capacity. If someone has an issue with the MNA or an MNA volunteer, there is a formal grievance process open to all community members where a grievance can be submitted, evaluated and addressed.
- We do not require community members to volunteer their time and do not require the community to donate to the MNA simply because they live in the Madrona neighborhood.
- We are not a “for profit” organization. All donations made to the MNA go back into the community.
- We are not a political interest group.