GADFly Newsletter – August 2020

In This Issue…

• Dates & Deadlines
• Advocacy Resources
• NAR’s Economic Outlook

Dates & Deadlines

Aug. 31: Last Call for Applications for the GAD Advisory Group
If you have been thinking about applying, but have not done so yet, NOW is the time! Take your next step in leadership today and apply for the GAD Advisory Group. All applications must be received by August 31 to be considered. Apply today!

Sept. 9: How the Land Use Initiative Lends ‘Horsepower’ to Advocacy Webinar
NAR’s Land Use Initiative (LUI) has enabled state and local REALTORS® associations to influence public policy for more than 20 years. Hear the details on how to successfully use the program and an analysis of recent issue trends by NAR’s consultant Robinson & Cole. Gain insight from an expert panel on two top issues analyzed — tenant protection and short-term rental measures — and how the analyses highlighted areas of concern leading to successful outcomes. Register for the event on Sept. 9 at 2:00 PM ET. For more information, contact Holly Moskerintz at (202) 383-1157.

Sept. 30: 2020 President’s Circle Deadline
All four President’s Circle rounds have launched for 2020! The full $2,000 investment is due by September 30, 2020, but please encourage your members not to wait to complete their commitment in this important election year! View the current President’s Circle Roster online. Contact rpac@nar.realtor for President’s Circle questions.

Oct. 15: RPAC Major Investor Recognition Deadline
Make sure you and your members are recognized as RPAC Major Investors in time for the 2020 REALTORS® Conference & Expo! RPAC investments must be submitted to the NAR Finance Office no later than Thursday, October 15, 2020 to meet this deadline. For more information, contact Jackie Zaporowski.

Advocacy Resources

GOTV Made Easy with the 2020 Election Toolkit
With the click of a few buttons, download shareable graphics, videos, and messages to help your association Get Out the Vote for the 2020 Election. Have your members pledge to vote to get a special Facebook frame to show their REALTOR® Party pride. Use the hashtag #RealtorsVote so the #RealtorParty can share and like your posts. Don’t forget to share the Election 2020 web address www.realtorparty.realtor/vote2020

Neighborhood Stabilization Webinar Series Continues
The Stabilizing and Revitalizing Neighborhoods in the COVID-19 Era webinar series continues in September with the final two sessions. This four-part series explores the roles of REALTORS® as partners with local government to prevent property vacancy and abandonment as communities develop strategies to navigate the aftermath of COVID-19. Review the full series description and register. Did you miss the first two webinars in the series? Visit realtorparty.realtor/transforming to view the recordings. For more information, contact Wendy Penn.

Support for Fair Housing Initiatives
Leverage Fair Housing Grants for your association’s fair housing initiatives featuring resources such as Bias Override: Overcoming Barriers to Fair Housing. Need ideas for speakers on fair housing? Listen in to a recent Houston Association of REALTORS® event, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and bestselling author, Bill Dedman discussing “Testing the Divide” or contact Bryan Greene. For more information about Fair Housing grants, contact Hugh Morris at (202) 383-1278.

Let’s Discuss How a Community Outreach Grant can Help Fund your Advocacy Initiative! Associations GADS, AES, and leadership are cordially invited to sign-up for a 30-minute, virtual one-on-one Community Outreach Coaching session to brainstorm ways to address affordable housing challenges, community planning and development issues, revitalization opportunities and fair housing education, and beyond using a Community Outreach Grant. NAR staff will provide an overview of grants and resources, steps to success for developing grant ideas, success stories, and how to write a compelling application. For more information, contact Christine Windle at (202) 383-1135.

Sept. 14: Independent Expenditure Deadline
The clock is ticking. Election Day is fast approaching. If you want mail or online ads to help a candidate, we need applications submitted by September 14. If you have REALTOR® Champions you’d like to support for state or local office, please contact Mitchell Norton to discuss a possible independent expenditure campaign.

NAR’S Economic Outlook

For more information on NAR’s Economic Outlook, contact Meredith Dunn at 202-383-1207.

Kelli Starrett
GAD Chair
New Orleans Metropolitan Association Of REALTORS®

The air is electric right now. Can you feel it? As I write this, the DNC has wrapped up and the RNC is ending tonight. The part of 2020 that we have all been eagerly awaiting – election season – is fast approaching, and I am so ready for it.

Louisiana is always different, so this is not a big election year for us outside of federal races. State races and many municipal races happened last year. We have some judicial seats on the ballot, but my local team isn’t jumping in to support any candidates this fall. I hate not being in the middle of the action, so we are using this as an opportunity to finally check off the Core Standards box of “Conducted a REALTOR® voter registration activity.”

2020 is giving us some very good reasons to encourage people to register and to check their registration for accuracy. This year, we are celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, and the 150th anniversary of the 15th amendment. Combine those with confusion over election procedures and pandemic relief that left people with strong feelings about Congress, and you have a very captive audience.

How can you get started? If you want to send targeted communications to members who are not registered or who may have moved, reach out to NAR’s Voter Registration Program to get a list for your association. You can also encourage people to register/update information and promote your state’s election procedures to members and the public without a list if you are sending out more general information. NAR has great tools available for us to use for creating graphics, sending letters, setting up phone banks, and so much more.

Take advantage of NAR’s resources and the momentum of this election, and use this as an opportunity to remind your members and the public that our advocacy work is about so much more than encouraging them to vote for certain candidates or in specific ways on issues. Our work is also about making sure they are engaged in the process at the earliest, most influential level – voting.
Kate Sheppard, a New Zealand Suffragette, said, “Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops.”

Let’s get out there and make it pour.

SAVE THE DATE

• 2020 REALTORS Conference & Expo
  When: Nov 13-16
  Where: Virtual Conference. Virtual Meeting details to come.