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.
