REALTOR® Magazine Seeks Nominations for Volunteer and Mentor Program

Washington, January 10, 2012 - Realtors® have always been active in their communities, and thanks toREALTOR® Magazine’sGood Neighbor Society, they can become even bigger assets to those in need through the Volunteering Works program. The program, which matches Realtors® who would like to expand their community service outreach with a mentor, is now seeking entries.

“The Volunteering Works program is just one example of how Realtors® contribute their time and resources toward improving communities,” said NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates, Inc., in Miami. “Mentors collaborate with Volunteering Works recipients to help these Realtors® become effective agents of community change as they grow and develop their existing charitable efforts.”

This marks the fourth year the Good Neighbor Society will award five applicants a year of one-on-one mentoring from a member of the Good Neighbor Society and a $1,000 grant as seed money to help implement improvements to their community program. The Good Neighbor Society is comprised of past recipients ofREALTOR® Magazine’sGood Neighbor Award.

Recipients will be selected based on their dedication to the community through volunteer work and the potential for their work to be expanded or improved. Ideal candidates have been active in charity work, can identify specific challenges they would like to address with the help of a mentor, and have specific goals for the future of their community service project. Applicants must be NAR members.

The grant money and mentoring each recipient receives can make a difference with a Realtor®’s charity program. 2011 Volunteering Works recipient Joy Lynch developed a successful fundraising strategy for her charity, Just 4 Women. “My mentor has been phenomenal in guiding me along the path to effective fundraising. She helped me write a grant and provided leads to companies that have a history of funding projects similar to mine,” said Lynch, of Northeast Signature Properties, in Piscataway, N.J. “The grant now serves as seed money to perpetually fund our efforts.”

TheREALTOR® MagazineGood Neighbor Award winners who mentor the Volunteering Works recipients spend an average of more than 20 hours a week on volunteerism and have built and led some of the most effective charitable organizations in the country. Since 2000, more than 120 Realtors® have won or received honorable mentions of the Good Neighbor Award.

“The Realtors® who serve as mentors are crucial to the Volunteering Works program,” said Craig Conant, Good Neighbor Society Advisory Council Chair and a 2001 winner ofREALTOR® Magazine’sGood Neighbor Award. “Recipients benefit from their mentor’s insights and guidance, and learn valuable skills such as fundraising tactics, how to recruit volunteers and build an effective board.”

Volunteering Works is funded by The Stuart & Jill Siegel Charitable Foundation.

For a Volunteering Works entry form, go to www.Realtor.org/gna and click on “Volunteering Works.” The entry deadline is Feb. 24, 2012. Recipients will be notified in April.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

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Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org . This and other news releases are posted in the News Media section.

REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. All REALTORS® are members of NAR.