ShareBrokers Boost Calls for Action
When it comes to political advocacy and action, brokers have significant sway over their salespeople. In fact, 40 percent of responses to NAR’s federal calls for action come through the Broker Involvement Program, an initiative designed to engage brokers and their agents more significantly in national political action.
“The initiative provides brokers with a quick and effective way to rally their agents on critical legislative issues affecting the real estate industry,” say program manager Erin Murphy. For example, through the Broker Involvement Program, NAR in 2012 led the charge to extend mortgage cancellation relief for one year.
Based on the results of the federal calls for action, many states asked NAR to leverage these tools for action on state issues as well. The State Broker Call for Action program rolled out last year and so far, five states have used this program for local issues. On average, the response rates were five times higher than when a member received the call for action from the state association.
The Broker Involvement Program enables NAR’s REALTOR® mobilization staff to facilitate sending out calls for action to brokers’ salespeople that are approved by and branded with the brokerage’s logo. Member data is provided to NAR by the local association and the broker has access to an online portal to see which of his or her agents have responded.
There are currently 16,500 brokers encompassing nearly 150,000 agents in the program.
To answer questions and encourage your broker member involvement in the program, John Flor, a broker and the 2014 REALTOR® Party Member Involvement Liaison, is available to speak at your next event. Already, Flor has traveled to seven states this year to speak to brokers about the program and NAR’s legislative activities. To request him at your event, fill out the online request form at realtorparty.realtor/about-us/speaker-request-form.html. For more information on the Broker Involvement Program, contact Victoria Givens, manager of REALTOR® Mobilization Programs, at vgivens@realtors.org or 202-383-1021.