Getting It Done: Resources & Facts

Show me the money

Full-time REALTOR® association chief staff executives’ average annual base salary, 2010: $59,629

Median AE salary by association size, 2010:
Small: $26,000
Medium: $62,400
Large: $125,000
Mega: $160,000

Average 2010 REALTO​R® association income & expenses

Small associations (fewer than 500 members)
Dues revenue: $71,763
Non-dues revenue: $75,811
Expense budget: $150,046

Medium associations (500 to 2,500 members)
Dues revenue: $344,000
Non-dues revenue: $310,227
Expense budget: $679, 576

Large associations (2,501 to 5,000 members)
Dues revenue: $771,896
Non-dues revenue: $1,003,894
Expense budget: $1,939,685

Mega associations (more than 5,000 members)
Dues revenue: $1,473,877
Non-dues revenue: $1,885,162
Expense budget: $3,338,162

3 things I’ve learne​d as an AE

You can’t please everyone and, more important, it’s not your job to do so. When you have unhappy members, don’t internalize their remarks as an indication of poor job performance. Effective policies that serve the organization cannot always please every member.

This too shall pass, for there are good days and there are bad days. When in the midst of those bad days, which can seem like weeks, remember to take a moment each day to recharge and reflect on the positive. It’s often through difficult times that we grow the most.

Everyone wants to be heard and validated. The extra moment to listen closely and hear what the person is truly saying will pave the road to easier days and solutions. E-mail can easily be misunderstood or poorly communicated. Take the time to question and reread, and don’t assume you understand the message.

— Sheila Dodson, Coastal Association of REALTORS®, Md.

392: Number of REALTOR® as​sociation Certified Executives (RCE)

Did you know?

NAR has nine official blogs where you can find the latest facts, news, and opinions from NAR leaders and staff:

Voices of Real Estate
Economists’ Outlook
Center for REALTOR® Technology
Information Services Blog
Appraisal Insight
Resort Life
Leadership Lab
Commercial Source
Midyear Live

REALTOR® Magazine has four more member-interest blogs:

Speaking of Real Estate
Styled, Staged and Sold
The Weekly Book Scan
YPN Lounge

NAR offers state-of-the-art campaign tools for REALTOR® associations

NAR’s Campaign Services Program gives state and local REALTOR® associations the data and tools they need to run successful communication and advocacy campaigns. The core of the program is a national voter database that makes it easy to target and motivate REALTORS® and the general public to support candidates and issues important to the real estate industry. There are also consultants on staff who can help with your polling and direct mail needs. Visit realtorparty.realtor.

10 reasons AEs call NAR’s Information Services (800-874-6500)

Questions on professional standards, policies, bylaws, or association jurisdiction questions. (Callers are transferred to the appropriate board-policy staff member.)

Assistance with updating member records in NRDS. (Callers are directly assisted or are transferred to NRDS support at 800-868-3225 if additional support is needed.)

Information about upcoming meetings. (Information specialists provide assistance or transfer callers to the appropriate member of the convention staff.)

Information about how to sign up for the eCommerce system. (Callers are transferred to NRDS support at 800-868-3225.)

Inquiries about ordering REALTOR® pins. (Callers are referred to REALTOR® Team Store, 888-750-3343 or www.newmemberpins.com.)

Requests for back issues of REALTOR® Magazine for members. (Information specialists fulfill these requests.)

Assistance with nar.realtor website, such as locating the committee database or the agenda and minutes database. (Information specialists assist callers with these requests.)

Guidance with legal issues. (Callers are transferred to Aimee Nieves, ext 8271, for trademark issues and to the appropriate member of the legal staff for other issues.)

Help using the REALTOR® Association Resource Exchange (RARE), database including uploading and searching for documents.

Library research support for lobbying and legislative issues. (Callers are transferred to a library researcher.)

AE bookshelf (14 e- and audiobooks to improve your daily life—free from NAR’s library)

Borrow these titles and hundreds more for free from NAR’s Library at nar.realtor.

I’m on Facebook—Now What???: How to Get Personal, Business, and Professional Value from Facebook
by Jason Alba, Jesse Stay

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by Malcolm Gladwell

Damage Control: Why Everything You Know About Crisis Management Is Wrong
by Eric Dezenhall, John Weber, Sean Pratt

301 Ways to Use Social Media to Boost Your Marketing
by Catherine Parker

MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small
by Greg Verdino

The Big Book of People Skills Games: Quick, Effective Activities for Making Great Impressions, Boosting Problem-Solving Skills, and Improving Customer Service
by Edward E. Scannell

The Sticking Point Solution: 9 Ways to Move Your Business from Stagnation to Stunning Growth in Tough Economic Times
by Jay Abraham

Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
by Keith Ferrazzi

The Truth about Leadership: The No-Fads, to the Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know
by James Kouzes

The Hyper-Social Organization: Eclipse Your Competition by Leveraging Social Media
by Francois Gossieaux

151 Quick Ideas to Deal with Difficult People
by Carrie Mason-Draffen

The Ask: How to Ask for Support for Your Nonprofit Cause, Creative Project, or Business Venture
by Laura Fredricks

Fundraising for Dummies
by John Mutz, Katherine Murray

How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization: From Writing and Managing Grants to Fundraising, Board Development, and Strategic Planning
by Michael A. Sand

6 tools for community action

Housing Opportunity Program: NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program serves as the blueprint for REALTORS® to become leaders in identifying, developing, advocating, and promoting business opportunities, programs, products, and resources that expand housing availability.

Land Use Initiative Program: NAR’s Land Use Initiative is a program to assist state and local REALTOR® associations in their public policy advocacy of land-use issues.

Issues Mobilization Program: NAR’s Issues Mobilization Program was created to support state and local REALTOR® associations through education, technical assistance, and/or financial support, and to enable them to organize and manage effective issue campaigns to promote REALTOR® policy.

Transportation Toolkit: Governments at all levels partner to plan, establish, fund, and maintain efficient transportation systems that include roads, bridges, tunnels, mass transit, and rail systems. The integration of these systems into land-use plans is vital to the efficient and effective functioning of housing and commercial development.

Public Schools Toolkit: The Public Schools Toolkit, prepared under the direction of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Public Education Working Group, provides a set of tools to help REALTORS® and REALTOR® associations cross the bridge between awareness and concern to participation and action.

Diversity Toolkit: To prosper in today’s real estate market, REALTORS® need new skills for handling transactions that involve minority buyers or sellers. Likewise, associations must establish a commitment to diversifying membership by welcoming professionals of different cultural backgrounds into their leadership ranks.

27 types of REALTOR® association sample documents

At the REALTOR® Association Resource Exchange (RARE) on nar.realtor, you’ll find these documents, policies, plans, and products uploaded from your fellow REALTOR® associations:

Event sponsorship contract
Association branding manuals
EVP/CEO employment contracts
Association policy and procedures manuals
President’s job description
Third-party vendor agreements
REALTOR® prayers
Association business/strategic plans
Association mission statements
Association disaster plans
Office policy manuals
Member benefit brochures
Member surveys
Events checklists
Special event themes
Annual reports
Sample RFP for association counsels
Staff job descriptions
Financial procedures
Fiscal policies
Investment policies
Travel policy
Bylaws
IDX agreements
Leadership orientations
Web site RFPs
Broker surveys

36 program ideas to revolutionize your association

What a gift to the REALTOR® association community: 36 program initiatives, ranging from technology solutions, to education, to community awareness, created by REALTOR® associations for REALTOR® associations. Each program details how you can duplicate it at your association and what you need to succeed. If you’re looking for creative ideas for nondues revenue, member services, technology products and more, it doesn’t get any easier than that Game Changers Challenge online guide. If you haven’t taken advantage of NAR’s Game Changers Challenge idea database and its new implementation guide, see it online at REALTOR.org/gamechangers.