At the State and Local Forum on Global Business in November 2013 in San Francisco, leaders on the association staff and member side gathered to discuss best practices, new ideas and challenges involved with starting or growing global programs at REALTOR® organizations. The last issue covered at the Forum addressed executing global programs at the state level:

We are a state association that started a global council a few months ago. So far, so good, but we’ve had a number of local associations come to us with various requests in the short time since we got it going. What exactly is our obligation to the local associations? What should we be offering at the state level to distinguish our group from those of the locals?

Here are some of the ideas attendees came up with:

  • Contact staff at NAR Global for guidance and support.
  • Stay current on what’s going on with global at the local associations in your state to make sure you aren’t unnecessarily duplicating their efforts and, if appropriate, to share what they’re doing with other locals.
  • Serve as a resource for local associations that want to start a global council/committee.
  • Designate a statewide staff liaison to help local association staff manage and promote global messaging, events, etc.
  • When needed, take the lead on global programs in your state.

And here’s more advice from NAR Global staff:

There’s no set-in-stone way to do global programs effectively at the state level. What’s undertaken depends largely on the state in question (geography, population, urban vs. rural, economy, etc.). For example, when it represents a geographically small area, the state association may be the prime mover of global activities for REALTORS®.

That said, a few of the more common activities that state global councils take on include:

  • Becoming a promotional hub for networking events and educational opportunities put on by in-state local associations.
  • Offering global informational sessions and designating space for global activities at the trade show of their annual conventions (if they have one).
  • Raising awareness of global in other state-level committees and networks, such as commercial, government affairs and YPN.
  • Creating a global section on the state association Web site and/or in the print magazine that includes news and research.
  • Provide global talking points as appropriate for legislative days for members when they visit the state capital to promote REALTOR® positions on issues.

Read the previous Global Challenges post.

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