The Issues Mobilization Grant, which is part of NAR’s Campaign Services, provides financial assistance to state and local REALTOR® associations to organize and manage effective state and local issue advocacy campaigns to promote positions on public policies (government laws, regulations, courses of action and funding priorities) that affect REALTOR® interests.  Methods of promoting a position include legislation, ordinances, referenda, and constitutional amendments.

Issues Mobilization Grants may not be applied for, nor may any portion of a grant awarded be used for, any activities related directly or indirectly to candidate elections*, electoral mechanics, public employees or legal action.

Before submitting an application for an Issues Mobilization Grant, associations are encouraged to discuss issue campaigns with NAR’s Campaign Services staff.  Staff can assist you in developing a campaign strategy and suggest tools to use including polling, direct mail, phone calls, grassroots mobilization, advertising (online, print, radio & TV), websites/social media, voter files, etc.  Many of these services are provided by NAR via our consultants at a discounted price.

Review the campaigns funded by an Issues Mobilization Grant to get an idea of the type ofcampaigns funded in the past.

* NAR’s Independent Expenditure Program provides each state with funds that they can use to support candidates for political office who support REALTORS® and the real estate industry.

Application Process & Criteria

State and local REALTOR® associations must complete and submit an Issues Mobilization Grant Application.  Before submitting an application, review the Guidance Document detailing application requirements and procedures.  NAR staff will review the Application and discuss it with you, and they will request additional information if necessary.  Applications that do not adhere to the Guidance Document or do not include the required information, including a budget, signatures, etc., will not be considered for review by the Committee.

Once an application is finalized, the State and Local Issues Mobilization Support Committee will review it during one of their scheduled meetings.  Committee meetings are held at NAR’s Midyear and Annual conferences and via teleconference throughout the year.  Applicants must make a presentation and be available to answer questions from the Committee during the meeting.

Additional information is applicable to requests of $10,000 or less and to requests of $100,000 or greater:

Applications $10,000 or Less

These applications will be reviewed, as they are submitted, by the Committee’s Advisory Group (Committee Chair, Vice Chair, Past Chair, a regional representative and a Realtor® association staff representative).  These applications do not need to be reviewed by the full Committee at a meeting.

Applications $100,000 or Greater

A Grant application of $100,000 or greater approved by the Committee must also be reviewed and approved by: NAR’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors, when the application is considered during a Committee meeting at NAR’s Midyear or Annual conferences; NAR’s Leadership Team, when the application is considered during a Committee teleconference meeting.   NOTE: review of an application by NAR’s Leadership Team may take several weeks to schedule.

Committee Actions & Notification of Decisions

After reviewing and discussing an application, the Committee, or Advisory Group, will take one of the following actions:

  1. Approve the request in full.
  2. Grant a portion of the funding request.
  3. Approve all or a portion of the funding request provided special conditions are met.
  4. Postpone a decision until the Committee receives and evaluates additional information.
  5. Deny the request.

In making a decision, the Committee considers the following criteria:

  • Importance of public policy issue
  • Scope of impact of public policy issue
  • REALTOR® involvement in the public policy issue
  • Winnability on public policy issue
  • Extent of community support for REALTOR® position
  • Availability and commitment of Association funds

You will be notified by NAR staff regarding the outcome of the Advisory Group, Committee, Leadership Team or Board decision shortly after their decision is made.

Funding and Reporting

For approved requests, NAR will coordinate disbursement of funds with grant recipients.  Funding support for large and/or lengthy campaigns may be disbursed incrementally.  If incremental funding is granted, a campaign Progress Report must be submitted to NAR staff prior to receiving the additional funding.

A Post-Campaign Report docdescribing the issue campaign, support provided, and outcome must be submitted to NAR staff following the completion or outcome of the campaign.

Any unused funds shall be returned to NAR.

Related Documents/Links

Notice: The information on this page may not be current. The archive is a collection of content previously published on one or more NAR web properties. Archive pages are not updated and may no longer be accurate. Users must independently verify the accuracy and currency of the information found here. The National Association of REALTORS® disclaims all liability for any loss or injury resulting from the use of the information or data found on this page.
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