This donation was made on behalf of Michael Vazquez and Judy Easton and in honor of Helen Vasquez-the one with her fingers in her mouth ;).
$2,000 Donated to the Central Presbyterian Church on Behalf of Kim and Carol Johnson
This donation was made on behalf of Kim and Carol Johnson in honor of Jim Lancaster and in memory of Rose Lancaster.
Learn more about the Central Presbyterian Church here.
$2,000 Donated to Dell Children’s Medical Center Foundation on Behalf of the Brindley Family
Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, the only dedicated freestanding pediatric facility in the region. It gives Central Texas families access to a wide range of healthcare services. Children are cared for with a family-centered approach that keeps patients close to loved ones at all times. And our dedicated multidisciplinary team of pediatric specialists and nurses are all committed to a single purpose: making your child feel like a kid again.
What If Every Realtor Did What Give Does?
As you know, the Give Realty business model is different than your average real estate brokerage. 25% of our commission from every transaction is donated to the 501(c)3 nonprofit of our buyer’s or seller’s choice, in their name. We do this because we believe in giving back to the community. Through these donations, we have donated a total of $232,698.55 and have much more in the pipeline.
What you may not know is that for me, these donations are just a part of the plan. My hope is that these donations are just steps along a path of giving for my clients. For some, this donation represents the first time they were able to make a donation to a nonprofit organization. For them, I hope that this initial donation leads to additional donations, to advocacy, to gifts of their time and talent. For others, this donation is just another step in a path that has already begun. For them, I hope that this donation helps them continue on that path.
You see, what I really want is for these donations to trigger a change in our community, greater than the donations themselves.
I want these donations to shake up real estate in our great city, in our nation, and across the world. I want my clients to encourage others to demand this same kind of accountability for giving back from their Realtors®. I want ALL Realtors® to make similar donations. I would love for my unique business model to become ordinary. This is because I know the difference that putting this kind of money back into our community could make.
To that end, I am starting what I am calling the “If every Realtor did what Give does” social media feature. Every month when the figures for Austin’s sales volumes from the previous month are released, I am going to share with you the missed opportunity, the amount of money that could have been donated if every Realtor® in our community donated 25% of their commission.
For instance, the total volume of sales in the Austin MLS during the month of March 2013 was $637,173,872. After factoring in 6% commission earned on each transaction (3% for the seller’s agent and 3% for the buyer’s agent) and the 25% of this commission that could have been donated, I can share that the missed opportunity for giving was $9,557,608.08
Can you imagine what that $9.5 million could have done for our community? I can.
~ Laurie
Look for the “missed opportunity” every month on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
GeneroCity Award: Give Realty Took Home a Win!
In photo (right to left): Bobby Jenkins, Laurie Loew, Ed Kargbo (owner Yellow Cab), and Don Kendrick (President Wells Fargo).
Butterflies in my stomach; a table full of Give Realty staff and supporters; a room full of 300 generous people at the Austin Gives Luncheon to celebrate the inaugural GeneroCity awards. I feel honored just to be in the same room, let alone for Give Realty be a finalist for the Small Business Award.
Roy Spence, cofounder of GSD&M/Idea City and founder of Royito’s, was the guest speaker. To hear him speak is always inspiring and the story of his journey entertaining. I’m always surprised at the similarities in the entrepreneurial stories of folks who have started a business and Roy’s tales about startup funding, business ideas and making a difference were all relative to the Give Realty journey.
As you can imagine, I often get asked about the Give Realty business model. There are many adjectives that can be used to describe it: smart; rewarding; transformational; difficult. Now that Give Realty has 4.5 years under its belt and has survived the ups and downs, I can honestly say it has been the bravest thing I have ever done. As the saying goes “hindsight is 20/20 vision”. I am not so sure I would have had the stamina and the courage to fund the model had I known how long it would take to gain traction.
We won! Give Realty’s name is called as the winner of the Small Business award. There is a round of cheers at the table. Ultimately this award belongs to Give Realty’s clients. Without you there would be no Give in Give Realty. I have said it before and I will say it again, our clients are our angel investors. You get it. You understand that allowing us to help you change your address allows us to continue giving in hopes of changing the world.
The rewards are endless. Give Realty has the best, kindest, most inspiring, giving and caring clients on the planet. The business model allows us to give to wonderful organizations that are doing amazing things in and for our community. Our clients and the nonprofit community are our biggest fans and best advocates along with all the friends who share our story.
Give Realty consists of two full time agents (Laurie and Victoria), one part time agent (Sarka) and a part time admin person (Kim). There are 9000+ agents who are members of the Austin Board of Realtors®. If I am being truthful, most days I feel like David. Thank you, Austin Gives, for helping Give Realty be Goliath.
Congratulations to Harden Health Care and BuildASign on their wins too!
Austin Gives™ is a community program to recognize and encourage business philanthropy in metropolitan Austin. There are currently over 130 business members who have committed to giving 1% or more of their pretax earnings to philanthropic efforts.
