Advocacy

The grassroots strength of state and local REALTOR^® associations is the building block toward meeting our goal to become the leading advocate for real estate issues at every level of government. The Community and Political Affairs Division of NAR has several programs to assist your association in their member advocacy programs.

Click on the titles of each program to learn more.

 Broker Involvement Program
CONTACT Ed Lawler at 202-383-1156

The Broker Involvement Program provides broker-owners with a simple tool to rally their company’s agents in bringing to Congress’ attention issues of concern to the REALTOR® community. Broker-owners and managers are involved with their company’s success, so it makes sense to be involved in the political process now more than ever with all the attention currently focused on our industry. Broker-owners make a difference. With the support of broker-owners, NAR can significantly increase our response rates to Calls for Action, thus influencing legislation that affects the real estate business. With the success of the Broker Program, NAR Call for Action response rates more than doubled over the last three years.

The Broker Involvement Program offers:

• An effective method to increase our influence on important legislation that can affect you and your agents’ bottom line.
• A program that requires only a small amount of time with no cost involved and no software to purchase.
• The broker-owner receives a personalized message with the broker’s name and company logo, along with the NAR Call for Action. This gives the broker-owner control and a position of leadership, making them the key source of information for their agents. With the broker’s approval, NAR then sends the personalized message and NAR Call for Action to their agents and records the number of responses.

Together we have the opportunity to bring a united REALTOR^® voice to members of Congress on issues of concern to the REALTOR^® and the real estate community. By the end of 2009, approximately 2,500 brokers enrolled in the program, influencing about 250,000 agents.

 The REALTOR^® Action Center—Grassroots Online Communication System
Contact: Claire McDonough at 202-383-1080

The REALTOR^® Action Center, www.realtoractioncenter.com, is NAR’s grassroots online communications system that allows REALTORS^® to stay informed about national, state or local legislative issues and to take action regarding public policy that is critical to the real estate industry. The REALTOR^® Action Center also allows local and state associations’ access to the same grassroots advocacy software that NAR uses. This tool can be used to target Calls for Action, communicate with association members and provide REALTORS^® the option to e-mail their law makers at the local or state government level. All of this is provided free of charge to REALTOR® associations.

 Federal Political Coordinators and FPC Conference
Contact: Laura Vogel at 202-383-1021

Federal Political Coordinators (FPCs) are REALTOR^® volunteers tasked with delivering important messages to their U.S. senator or representative on key issues affecting the real estate industry. They are responsible for representing the REALTOR^® Party by conducting grassroots activities in each congressional district that help to develop and maintain a relationship with their Member of Congress.

At the beginning of each congressional term (every two years), the Federal Political Coordinator Conference provides NAR’s new FPCs with political and policy training, as well as tools to make them effective advocates on behalf of the real estate industry. FPCs also have the opportunity to join NAR’s Committee/Forum Policy Leadership and State Association Leadership to engage in discussions about NAR’s federal policy objectives and advocacy initiatives.

 Electoral Services
Contact: David Watts at 202-383-1099

The Electoral Service Program (ESP) is designed to bring state-of-the-art campaign tools to REALTOR^® associations. NAR is able to offer a wide range of campaign services, including voter files, targeting, data storage and polling. Through the ESP, REALTOR^® associations will have access to names and address for all types of communication campaigns. The goal of the ESP is to be a onestop shop for all association campaign needs, including:

• Names and addresses for issue campaigns and state or local campaign independent expenditures;
• A list of unregistered voters who are REALTORS® in your area;
• Updates on and storage of previous campaign names and addresses;
• Polling to see how the public feels about an issue or individual candidate.