REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Society has launched a new program, Volunteering Works. The program matches Realtors® who would like to expand their community service outreach with a mentor who is already a successful volunteer leader.

The Good Neighbor Society is composed of past recipients of REALTOR® Magazine's Good Neighbor Awards for volunteer service. Each year, the Good Neighbor Society will solicit applications from Realtors® who work on small-scale charitable efforts that have great potential for growth. Five applicants will be selected to receive 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.

“Realtors® build communities, and the Volunteering Works program will inspire our members to encourage community service throughout the country,” said National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Mentors will impart valuable knowledge to people who have the passion to help others, allowing them to overcome the everyday challenges of getting a charitable effort off the ground.”

Recipients will be selected based on their dedication to the community through volunteer work and the potential for their charitable work to be expanded or improved with the help of an expert mentor. Ideal candidates will also have achieved some level of success through charity work, be able to spell out specific challenges they would like to address, and have specific goals for the future of their community service project. Applicants must be NAR members.

The Good Neighbor Award winners on average spend more than 20 hours a week on volunteer work and have built and led some of the most effective charitable organizations in the country. Since 2000, there have been nearly 90 winners and honorable mentions of the Good Neighbor Award.

“Realtor® mentors will share their insights and help motivate other Realtors® to action,” said Craig Conant, Good Neighbor Society Advisory Council chair and 2001 winner of REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Award. “Mentors will provide guidance and advice on things like setting up an effective board of directors, establishing the appropriate nonprofit status, improving fundraising success and recruiting volunteers.”

“So many Realtors® across the country are active in their communities,” said Frank Sibley, REALTOR® Magazine publisher. “The wonderful thing about this mentoring program is that it will help Realtors® reach out to even more people to make a real difference. This is an exciting opportunity for Realtors® to learn from some of the country’s the most successful volunteers, the Good Neighbor Award winners.”

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

For a Volunteering Works entry form, go to www.Realtor.org/realtormag and click on “Good Neighbor Awards.” The entry deadline is Feb. 20, 2009. Recipients will be notified in April.

Download the Entry Form (PDF)