What can real estate professionals do to help communities become wonderful places to live and work?
The Community Development Advocacy (CDA) program, formerly called Community Outreach, is the National Association of REALTORS®’ answer to that question.
It provides local and state REALTOR® associations with tools and funding for activities related to housing opportunity, smart growth, placemaking, rural outreach and fair housing.
The program, which turns 25 this year, was celebrated during a morning session at Advocacy Week in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
“Today, we are launching NAR’s ‘Building Better Communities’ campaign to showcase our community development advocacy all year long to NAR members and state and local associations,” NAR 2026 Vice President of Advocacy Asa Fleming said. “REALTOR® associations are using our grants and resources to influence housing policy, advance fair housing, promote smart growth, revitalize downtowns and strengthen rural communities.”
Fleming, who has more than 15 years of experience serving on and chairing local planning commissions and boards in Wake County, N.C., added that what makes the grant programs powerful is “how associations use these tools to build credibility, partnerships and lasting policy outcomes.”
Session attendees packed the Grand Hyatt ballroom to hear how local and state teams have leveraged NAR’s program to show elected leaders and the public that real estate professionals care deeply about helping their neighborhoods prosper.
Community Development Advocacy in Action
“Boone County, this one was a real fun one,” recalled Neeley Erickson, government affairs director at Illinois REALTORS®.
She explained how between 2000 and 2006, Boone was the third fastest-growing county in the state and the 86th fastest-growing in the country.
To rein in that growth, the county instituted an impact fee on developers meant to disincentivize sprawl. Erickson says the county is only allowed to use the money for “creating new expansion” and can’t use it on things like remodels or staff benefits or salaries.
As the years went by, Boone’s population dropped, while surrounding communities’ grew. Still, the county continued to collect the fee despite no population growth, which Erickson explained added to stagnation in real estate and construction activity.
“They already had room in their schools, so they couldn’t build a new school,” Erickson said. “They didn’t need to build any new parks because they already had plenty of parks, because their population wasn’t exploding. So, what were [they] going to use the impact fees for?”
With a local coalition, the Illinois association eventually succeeded in getting a two-year moratorium on the fee in 2020 and an extension in 2022.
With the help of the Land Use Initiative, a CDA resource which provides free legislative analysis on proposed and newly enacted land-use laws, the association laid out the facts, including the amount of property tax revenue removing the fee could generate.
“We didn’t just get an extension of a moratorium; we eliminated impact fees in Boone County,” she said to a round of applause.
A Legacy of Building Better Communities
The beginnings of CDA can be traced back to 1999, when then-NAR President Sharon Millett appointed a presidential advisory group to examine and advise the association about a city planning and development principle called “smart growth.”
In essence, smart growth encourages a mix of building types and uses, diverse housing, transportation, development within existing neighborhoods and community engagement.
That December, the group published a report recommending 10 educational and advocacy strategies to better position NAR and REALTORS® as leaders on the land-use issues.
With those marching orders, between 2000 and 2001, NAR appropriated funds, hired additional staff and launched its semiannual magazine, On Common Ground, to support land-use initiatives.
In the 25 years since, the CDA program—which encompasses smart growth—has flourished, helping drive civic change by championing pro-property local laws, commissioning neighborhood studies focused on walkability and revitalization and even helping in the redevelopment of community spaces, like an accessible hiking trail in Oregon or a veterans’ garden in Idaho.
Since 2000, NAR has awarded more than $18 million in grants and $15 million in resources.
See the Community Development Advocacy Map
“For 25 years, REALTOR® associations have been turning national resources into local solutions,” NAR Director of Community Development Advocacy Christine Windle said.
Windle deeply understands the role these programs serve; in fact, she served as a staff representative on the 1999 presidential advisory group.
She encouraged session attendees to learn more about how their association can apply for program resources.
Learn More: Building Better Communities
Value to REALTORS®
Not every success story is a headline-grabbing victory, like a repealed policy or the passing of a favorable law. Some successes are less flashy and built on consistent, small gains.
That’s the case in Fairfax County, Va., home to about 1.2 million people.
“Fairfax County is hugely bureaucratic,” Josh Veverka, vice president of government affairs at Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS®, said. “We’re not making huge strides very quickly.”
Veverka explained how NVAR has used Housing Opportunity and Smart Growth grants to boost the association’s presence by partnering with local leadership to host housing events.
“We get [members] up there as speakers, we get our staff up there to speak ... we have [county] supervisors, we’ll get members of Congress and we have everyone talking,” he said.
NVAR also uses NAR’s Fair Housing and Placemaking grants to cement themselves as engaged community members. “While building a community garden is not necessarily advancing a policy while you’re out there, we have [members] shoveling dirt next to a [county] supervisor who’s out there in his tie,” Veverka said.
He explained these projects not only show that real estate professionals give back but also help build “political capital” and “community capital.”
“Rather than just showing up when we need something from the supervisor or from the county board, we’re also showing up to help the county,” he said.
Other REALTOR® associations have used grants to directly help their members thrive in their businesses via education. For instance, associations have used rural outreach grants to teach members about water rights, septic tanks and water safety regarding private wells.
“What makes these programs so powerful is that they deliver real value to [real estate professionals who are] REALTORS® while also improving access to housing in their communities,” Windle said. “Whether it’s a homebuyer expo, a new education tool or a zoning conversation, these initiatives help members serve clients better and strengthen their role as trusted community leaders.”
Read more stories about how associations around the country are leveraging REALTOR® Party grants.
