Neighbors Bank Neighbor of the Year contest offers $20,000 prize
Neighbors Bank’s new Neighbor of the Year contest accepts nominations through Sept. 1, but its voting deadline is listed two ways.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Neighbors Bank says its inaugural Neighbor of the Year campaign will recognize an eligible community member with a $20,000 cash prize. The Neighbors Bank Neighbor of the Year contest is a community-recognition campaign tied to National Good Neighbor Day on Sept. 28, with nominations open through Sept. 1.
The bank’s contest page and a syndicated announcement describe the campaign as recognizing people who help their neighborhoods through service and kindness. The materials say no purchase is required, and a bank customer, borrower or applicant relationship does not improve a nominee’s odds.
Who can be nominated for Neighbors Bank Neighbor of the Year?
According to Neighbors Bank’s contest materials, nominees must be legal residents of an eligible U.S. state, at least 18 or the applicable age of majority, and live outside New York and Florida. The materials specify higher ages of majority in Alabama and Nebraska, where it is 19, and Mississippi, where it is 21.
The bank also lists conditions specific to the nomination: the person named cannot live in the nominator’s household or be an immediate family member. A nominee must live in the local or neighboring community described in the entry, know about the nomination, and agree to eligibility verification before becoming a finalist or winner.
Eligible nominators may submit up to five entries. Neighbors Bank’s page says the nomination window began Aug. 3 and closes at 11:59 p.m. Central time on Sept. 1, 2026.
How will the contest proceed?
Neighbors Bank says a committee will review nominations from Sept. 2 through Sept. 17 and select finalists for public voting. Its committee includes David Burton, creator of Missouri Good Neighbor Week; Leslie Cook, lead real estate editor at Money.com; Talia Jackson, president and chief executive of Heart of Missouri United Way; and Angela Santomero, creator of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Blue’s Clues.
The voting schedule is not consistent across the bank’s published materials. The contest-page timeline lists voting from Sept. 18 through Sept. 25, while the page’s contest disclosure and the announcement list a Sept. 21 closing time of 11:59 p.m. Central. Readers considering the Neighbor of the Year contest should consult the bank’s official rules for the controlling deadline.
The bank says it expects to announce the winner on Sept. 28, which its materials identify as National Good Neighbor Day. Neighbors Bank describes itself as a direct-to-consumer mortgage lender headquartered in Columbia, Missouri.