If brokerages don’t understand the value of the Broker Involvement Program, they’re not likely to join. If agents don’t realize the importance of RPAC, they’re probably not investing. That’s why Hawaii’s Kaua’i Board of REALTORS® (KBR) set out to educate and engage broker-members at a recent information-packed breakfast presentation. Supported by a REALTOR® Party Broker Involvement Program Grant, the event spelled out the importance of supporting the REALTOR® Party, and the critical role that brokerages play, as the key point of contact with their agents. By 10 a.m., 15 firms had newly signed on, representing a significant percentage of KBR’s membership of 584 REALTORS®.
KBR Government Affairs Director Chad Deal, who understands brokers’ reluctance to crowd their colleagues’ in-boxes with automated messages, developed the morning program to dispel such concerns. “We needed to assure our broker-members that the Broker Involvement Program only issues communiqués and calls for action (CFA) for major, time-sensitive, real estate issues, and doesn’t ever abuse the privilege. It was also an important opportunity for us to emphasize the way issues advocacy benefits all members,” he explains.
The program fell within the normal scheduling of KBR’s Brokers’ meetings that take place three-to-four times a year. It featured the President Elect of the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® (HAR), as well as its RPAC Chair, who had everyone in stitches with their joint comic presentation on the importance of Broker Involvement and RPAC. Deal, who himself served on the Government Affairs Committee at the state level for many years, reported on federal, state, and local issues affecting private property and the real estate industry. Shining a spotlight on a serious situation of the sort that could imminently spur a CFA, a Coastal Land Use Extension agent from the University of Hawaii Sea Grant Foundation gave a sobering update on coastal erosion. In a region where properties are already being affected by rising sea levels, the timely topic held significant interest for all program participants.
The brokers in attendance were given a video on RPAC investing produced by HAR, as well as two PowerPoint pdfs to bring back to share with their agents: one on Government Affairs, and another on the affect of the rising sea level on coastal properties. The REALTOR® Party grant also provided for gift cards that were awarded to Major Investors, and to brokers who’d already secured 100% agent participation.
The feedback after the event was fabulous, reports Deal; he has already been invited to attend several upcoming Broker Caravans to appeal to agents directly. “Our brokers were clearly surprised and impressed by their board’s level of involvement in local and state legislation,” he notes. “Many more of them now realize how necessary their involvement is, in advancing real estate issues. Our goal is to sign 100% of our broker-members on to the Broker Involvement Program, so we’ll certainly be doing this again. We’re very grateful to the REALTOR® Party for all it does — and for helping us drum up business, in return, so to speak.”
To learn more about how the Kaua`i Board of REALTORS® is engaging its members in political advocacy, contact Government Affairs Director Chad Deal, at 808-245-4049.