State Realtors reorganize association

Following a 10,000-member decrease during the recession, the Missouri Association of Realtors has undergone a fundamental organizational overhaul.

Falling numbers have plagued the association since 2007, when the group tallied 28,000 members. MAR CEO Russ Cofano said current membership has held steady between 17,500 and 18,500 for the past couple of years.

“Membership goes with the market,” he said, noting MAR had a 1 percent decline in members for 2012. “We expect to be flat for the next couple years, but that follows historical norms. Being a Realtor is a hard job. There is a lot more to it than what appears on the surface.”

In an effort to help curb its falling numbers, the association is injecting organizational changes with the hope of increasing member value.

The O2 Initiative, developed by MAR’s Strategic Action Committee in spring 2012 and adopted during the association’s September business conference, gets its name from the association’s new focus: outreach and output.

During the recession, real estate agents were evaluating and questioning the value proposition and relevance of the association at all levels, scrutinizing whether MAR provided anything beyond political advocacy.

In 2010 and 2011, the association spent more than $800,000 on seven conferences, accounting for 4,000 days members spent away from their businesses. The strategic action committee estimates the efforts reached less than 5 percent of MAR members.

“It was clear we needed to do a better job delivering value to our members,” Cofano said. “It took an eight-day meeting, 20 people and almost 1,000 hours of volunteer time during a six-month period, but the O2 Initiative became effective Jan. 1.”

Cofano said the initiative overhauls MAR’s organizational structure.

“Previously, we had four meetings a year to discuss our goals, set up events and conduct all official business,” he said. “However, it took so long during each meeting to recap the history and re-educate everyone on the topic at hand, that it took many months for anything substantial to get accomplished.

“The O2 Initiative has changed that. Smaller output groups can meet anytime they want, as much as they want and however they want, whether its via conference call, in person or over the Web. In just these first six months, these small groups already are getting things done.”

Putting forward numerous small changes already, Cofano said the largest results have come from the legislative action output group which conceived of, organized and executed a political rally April 25 in St. Louis with more than 300 MAR members in the span of 99 days.

“That is something which would have taken two years to organize before,” he said.

Cofano said the association’s board of directors still directs financial and policy oversight, but O2 allows members a more nimble atmosphere to keep pace with the ever-changing market.

Through more than a dozen output groups such as advocacy fundraising, economic development, risk management, consumer education and leadership development, the association hopes to incorporate the second step in the O2 equation – outreach – and bring members of the State’s 37 local organizations into the conversation.

In southwest Missouri, Miles Noennig, MAR strategic planning committee member, board treasurer and Carol Jones Realtors chief administrative officer, said members of the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors represent 9 percent of MAR membership and about 20 serve on output groups.

“Our local strategic planning committee is not structured the same as statewide, but the GSBOR also has a focus on issues,” he said. “The output committees are great for our local agents to participate in. They offer more flexibility and have more of a call to action.”

Agents such as 16-year veteran Douglas Andrews, of Century Realty in Marshfield and a board member of the National Association of Realtors, have embraced the new initiative.
 
“The question wasn’t just how can MAR become relevant, but how can the association partner with this smaller, rural boards who don’t have the financial means to maintain the needs of its members? I believe the O2 Initiative is the answer,” said Andrews, who sits on the profession development output committee. “Boards are very inclusive with only 10 to 20 members. Output groups encompass everyone, celebrate diversity and bring new and needed ideas to the table.”

Andrews said the initiative’s largest asset is an online platform called TheLanding.net.

“All group ideas, topics and goals can be talked about, debated and brought to life through The Landing,” he said.

Cofano said some members have dove into the fundamental organizational overhaul and some are still dipping their toes in the water.

“This is a major departure from what members were used to,” Noennig said, adding it takes time to break old habits. “We want the association to be a leader. We want to move as fast as the industry does. Now, we have the tools to make that happen.”[[In-content Ad]]