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Winning a national award is a great source of pride for any REALTOR®, but it can also be rewarding for the winner’s local and state association. The Good Neighbor Awards, which recognize REALTORS® for making an extraordinary impact on their community through volunteer work, has become one of the most revered accolades that an NAR member can achieve. And local associations take pride in having nominated and supported someone who does so much to help others in the community.
The Minnesota Area Association of REALTORS®, which has had four national Good Neighbor Award winners in recent years, saw so much benefit that it was inspired to create its own state program recognizing REALTORS® for community service. “We value that our members are involved in the community—even when it doesn’t have anything to do with housing. Our leadership sees the value, too,” says Donnie Brown, MAAR’s vice president of community affairs and foundation. “It tells our members that we’re interested in knowing what they do beyond the transaction.”
Brown says she sees concrete evidence of how members support their colleagues’ volunteer work in how they react when she posts stories about the REALTORS® who have won MAAR’s Heart of the Community Award or NAR’s Good Neighbor Award. “These stories give us the best social media engagement of the year,” says Brown. “We get an average of 3,000 interactions, as opposed to maybe 100 for other posts.”
Brown has also discovered that REALTORS® who are involved in community service are potential association leaders.
Good Neighbors’ exposure from NAR is high profile: Winners are recognized annually during the REALTORS® Conference & Expo—as a centerpiece of the General Session. In addition, winners are featured in the November/December issue of REALTOR® Magazine. And a public voting component drew 42,000 votes last year.
An association that has a Good Neighbor Award winner enjoys inspiring content to share with members; national and hometown media coverage; a $10,000 investment into a local nonprofit; and the potential to identify future leaders and to inspire members to get involved.
To read about past winners and nominate a member of your association, go to nar.realtor/gna. The deadline is May 12. Questions? Contact Sara Geimer, sgeimer@realtors.org, 773-459-6627.