Chapter Challenge: Take Our Money! - Counselors of Real Estate

Since 1965, your Foundation has awarded over $1.2 million among 80 projects worldwide.

Grant criteria, traits those 80 projects share:

Benefit positive social, community, and educational efforts;
Feature a meaningful connection to real estate and knowledge sharing;
Demonstrate CRE’s Mission of helping others and commitment to giving back - worldwide.

*Information on Grant Parameters speciﬁcs is included in the Toolkit and available here*

Why is the CRE Foundation Impact Funding successful?

Proper selection - project identiﬁcation and implementation support.

A Counselor of Real Estate must be involved in either the grant application process or in actively monitoring/implementing the project.

Funds are used the CRE Way: By solving problems in an impactful and efficient manner.

The Ask:

Because a CRE must be involved, we need your leadership in identifying and implementing projects in your market which meet the funding criteria.
The Foundation has a $1.5 million asset base available to support this challenge.
We would like the chapters to collectively fill the grant proposal pipeline for projects in your communities.
Identify a deserving group or philanthropy in your market.
Partner with your CRE® chapter or colleagues to identify a need or opportunity.
To extend the reach of the Foundation’s general corpus, a special international corpus is available to fund projects executed outside the U.S.
Giving back is a prerequisite for moving forward.
Make an impact while enhancing the proﬁle of real estate counseling and building CRE® brand recognition.
Empower one another by identifying and illuminating issues, investing in people and projects, and implementing positive change in our community and worldwide.

CRE® Foundation Background Information

We need your help investing Foundation funds in your communities. We can fund grants totaling about $55k per year based on current fund balances (~5%).

Grant Parameters:

Support CRE’s mission:

- The Counselors of Real Estate Foundation supports projects that benefit positive social, community, and educational efforts that feature a meaningful connection to real estate and knowledge sharing, while enhancing the ability of The Counselors of Real Estate® to help others and give back to communities - worldwide.

Grants typically range between $10,000 and $30,000 per year per recipient but can be higher (up to $100,000) for multi-year project funding.
Grant period no longer than three years.
A CRE must be involved in either the grant application process or in actively monitoring/implementing the project. (to maintain the quality of proposals and projects as well as to avoid being inundated by professional grant proposal writers)
Grant applications are accepted at any time. However, Foundation meetings typically take place in the spring and fall, and applications received less than 30 days in advance may be deferred to a future

Grant Restrictions:

Except under unusual circumstances, grants are limited to government and/or not-for proﬁt entities and initiatives.
Except under unusual circumstances, grants are not made to fund local charities which might be more appropriately funded by local interests.
The CRE Foundation generally does not fund projects which:
- Include stipends to CREs with the possible exception of research with a direct connection to the commercial real estate industry ("abstract" academic research is not traditionally funded).
- Include allocations to:
  - Salaries, Administrative costs, Travel and associated expenditures by project staff
  - For-proﬁt entities and/or commercial enterprise.
- Provide education targeted to professional audiences who have the means to cover expenses.
- Underwrite curriculum development.
- Advocate a certain position, initiative, or point of view.

Examples of Past Grants (Below) Some of these may give you thoughts about projects that you might want to propose. Consider sharing relevant examples with organizations that may need projects funded that are similar to some we have done in the past. You can also provide them with the application (attached and online).

These are grouped in four categories:

Planning / Development / Redevelopment
Educational
Policy
International

So how does your Foundation get its funding?

Annual donations from CREs – 185 average yearly donations

Planned Giving - This program enables members and other interested parties to formally include The Counselors in their overall estate planning.

CRE® Foundation “Impact Funding” Examples

Planning/Development/Redevelopment

To the Paradise Association of REALTORS in conjunction with the CRE Consulting Corps to provide a strategic action plan for housing and commercial redevelopment in Paradise, California after the 2018 ﬁre that devastated the community.

Funding to conduct a study of Portland Oregon’s efforts to address commercial affordability in retail, industrial and other types of commercial space in gentrifying urban areas.

To a University District Commercial Redevelopment group to assess the feasibility and community acceptance of various approaches for redeveloping its surrounding commercial real estate areas.

To a university minority program in real estate which provides training for individuals active in redeveloping minority and underserved communities, either by completing development projects or by participating in the development and planning process.

To a community design collaborative to support the third phase of the Inﬁll Philadelphia project which will focus on retooling and recycling Philadelphia’s industrial landscape as sustainable, 21st Century workplace environments.

To the Counselors’ Consulting Corps to fund the development of a strategic plan for the Benedictine Women of Madison for utilizing its real property holdings, thereby enabling them to attain sound ﬁnancial footing while protecting environmentally sensitive land.

To a homeless coalition to help fund the CRE Consulting Corps undertake a study to identify and evaluate site options, structure a plan for the relocation process, and document the potential economic impacts of relocation to the organization’s homeless clients.

To the CRE New England Chapter to work with a not-for-proﬁt in development of a model to guide the development and management of a ﬁnancially self-sustainable portfolio of housing facilities, the proceeds of which will ultimately help subsidize shelter for lower income citizens.

Educational

To underwrite a project in educational outreach designed to create an adequate supply of affordable workforce housing.

To fund the Interdisciplinary Development and Design for Senior Housing project by three universities.

To a university law school’s Land Use Institute to begin development and publication of a series of pamphlets designed to educate property owners and citizens involved in land use planning and regulatory activities, as well as the public at large, on key issues they face and options for addressing them.

To a state university Center for Real Estate to conduct a study of mixed-use redevelopment of school properties in downtown regions, including research, a symposium and a ﬁnal report.

Partial funding for two global research symposia to promote and illuminate understanding of common issues relating to property markets worldwide: the Global Cities in an Era of Change symposium at Harvard University and the Global Cities in an Era of Change symposium at Stanford University.

Policy

To fund an Initiative on Local Housing Regulation by a public policy institute in partnership with a university to develop policy recommendations based on its ﬁndings relative to local barriers to housing development.

To fund an Initiative on Local Housing Regulation in Massachusetts in partnership with Harvard University’s Rapport Institute for Greater Boston.

To an Institute for Public Policy to develop policy recommendations based on ﬁnding’s derived from its study on local barriers to housing development.

To fund the template for a downtown revitalization strategy in Oxford, New Jersey.

International

To assist in the development of a market oriented real estate system in the country of Kyrgyzstan through presentation of a ten-session distance education Real Estate Seminar Program by a university’s real estate school.

To a Women of Uganda Training Seminar to provide education and training classes regarding women’s property rights in Uganda to protect them from attempts to take their land, leaving them with no means of economic gain.

To the Polish Association of Real Estate Counselors, the ﬁrst real estate counseling organization in Central and Eastern Europe, for the development of educational seminars and conferences.

To fund travel expenses associated with facilitating 1) appraisal classes in both Uganda and Rwanda, 2) CRE participation in providing a two-day valuation and lending seminar in Abuja, Nigeria in conjunction with the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria and the International Real Property Foundation, and 3) the presentation of a seminar in South Africa on Valuation and Lending Practices.

To Yantaló Volunteer House for construction of the ﬁrst housing project in Yantaló and the development of framework for future housing in Peru.