Neighbourhood Support says Kiwis distributing food, household items or offers of help via flyers could be doing more harm than good.
In a statement today, the charity said distribution of personal details also presents a real privacy risk, and people need to offer to help through the correct channels.
A number of groups have been created online for neighbours to look out for each other, but some of the advice they are giving is risky, chief executive Tess Casey said.
"Even helping your neighbours still needs to be done without compromising your bubble, so make sure you keep two metre distancing and follow other precautions such as hand-washing," Ms Casey said.
"Under normal circumstances a letterbox drop to neighbours would be fine, but we’ve learned that this could risk spreading the virus because it can live for up to 24 hours on paper.
"The best way you can help is to look after yourselves and your immediate neighbours - we need to stay where we live, not travel around our community."
Ms Casey said forms were being distributed online for people to print and put in neighbours' letterboxes containing personal information.
"We definitely need to know how to contact our immediate neighbours but we recommend sharing with a small group, rather than a larger group of people that you don't know," she said.
"There are risks and privacy issues associated with this.
"The advantage of setting your neighbourhood group up through Neighbourhood Support is that we can then make sure your information is stored safely and provide you with advice and support.
"We are very happy to help more people get involved with others in their community, but we want them to do it in a safe way."
For more information, go to www.neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz.
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