Good things tend to happen over good food.
That was the thinking when the board of directors at the Brunswick County Association of REALTORS® in North Carolina was brainstorming how to recruit three new directors, a treasurer and a president-elect.
So, what about a lunch? “We decided to try a Leadership Recruiting Lunch to help motivate and encourage members to take the next step into leadership roles as well as committee volunteering,” BCAR CEO Cynthia Walsh, RCE, CAE, says.
Once the idea was approved, planning fell into place. Staff created invitations, ordered food and created the agenda. Current directors, the executive committee and committee chairs were responsible for each inviting at least one member whom they believed would be an enthusiastic and effective volunteer.
The actual event took place at BCAR’s offices just prior to its annual call for officers, directors and committees and lasted about 2.5 hours. BCAR’s president and president-elect welcomed the 20 guests and explained they were there because they had been recognized by a peer as a future leader and someone who should help guide BCAR. Those guests heard personal stories from other leaders about being asked to join a committee and how that changed the leaders’ involvement with the association, and they also heard from members who were then leading BCAR. Committee and leadership opportunities were reviewed, then guests were asked: “Would you join us in helping shape BCAR’s future?”
That first lunch in 2025 was more successful than the association imagined it would be: “Every single member that had been invited to attend has signed up for a committee,” Walsh says. “And more than half of them do not want to wait until next year—they want to start now.”
The secret of the event’s success? Members talking to members. Not only do current leaders and volunteers invite promising future leaders and serve as hosts, but at each table, they are the ones who are personally making the asks. “This whole event only works if the sitting leaders are the hosts,” Walsh says. “The ask means so much more coming from a sitting leader.”
Another important factor is the energy in the room. “Since we created this event, my sitting presidents and presidents-elect have been strong and comfortable speaking in front of a room,” Walsh says. “If your sitting president is going to just read from a script verbatim, the event will be flat. You need the enthusiasm of the hosts to carry the event, and you want the event to be casual and upbeat, not a lecture.”
The lunch has since morphed into a breakfast, with fancy doughnuts and snacks, but the logistics—and the success—have become consistent. For example, one member who attended signed up for committees and the association’s foundation and “has attended every volunteer opportunity we have hosted, every event we have held since that day, and has never missed a committee meeting,” Walsh says. Another member helped start and now serves on a young professionals network policy advisory group and will launch the association’s first official YPN committee in 2027.
It really is all about the ask, she adds. “Most people are waiting to be asked,” Walsh says. “So, weaving the ask into the event is important, along with saying out loud, ‘You were personally selected by someone in this room for your leadership skills and professionalism,’ and playing that up. Follow-up is also key.”
Walsh reports that overall volunteer numbers are up since 2025, but more importantly, “we are getting new faces, which means new ideas and new vibes,” she says.
Now, during BCAR’s annual call for volunteer leaders and committee members (for nine standing committees that meet monthly to quarterly plus three foundation committees), it’s not unusual for the association to have more than 100 members respond. “Which is way more than we need,” Walsh says. “We are now in the position where we have to turn a member down!”
