Giving your business to a socially responsible professional enables you to support your cause for free. Participating professionals pledge at least 10% of their commission for you, their client, to direct to the participating nonprofit(s) of your choice. Your real estate transactions can generate funding for nonprofits worldwide, and since the donation occurs at the professional’s expense, it doesn’t cost you a dime!
As a consumer of real estate services, only you have the power to transform the real estate industry into an engine of positive social impact. Real estate professionals are accustomed to paying for new business, but with IIC they donate to your favorite nonprofits!
As a discerning client, you can dictate the terms of your real estate transaction. If you and other consumers give business to socially responsible professionals, the real estate industry will become a system that creates shared value - that's private profit and public good.
No, it doesn’t cost you a dime! Real estate is highly competitive, which prevents professionals from passing on the cost of their 10% charitable pledge. Remember, that 10% is less than comparable business development costs that professionals face!
No! The donation comes out of the professional’s commission. See "How does a transaction work?" below.
In business as usual, real estate professionals frequently pay 15-25% of their commissions as referral fees. That means a for-profit third party benefits from their new business, not the broader community. The IIC minimum charitable pledge is only 10%, so when real estate professionals get business by doing good, they keep more of what they earn and improve our communities.
Professionals who participate in IIC differentiate their services, empower their clients as philanthropists, receive positive publicity, and attract new business from socially conscious consumers. With IIC, professionals get more business by doing good - making IIC a win-win-win for consumers, real estate professionals, and nonprofits.
Click "Find an IIC Real Estate Member” and search by city or zip code. If there are no professionals in your immediate area, ask your preferred professional to join IIC. The process is simple and brief. Make sure that he or she joins before you enter into a representation or service contract so that your transaction is registered with IIC. This must occur for you transaction to generate funding for your favorite nonprofit(s).
If your favorite professionals are not already participating in IIC, just invite them! Any licensed real estate professional can participate. Click here to ask your preferred real estate professional to participate.
No, we will not recommend or refer you to a specific real estate professional.
For Sellers & Landlords: Listing agents work on behalf of clients seeking to sell or lease a property. When a listing agent finds a buyer or tenant for a property and successfully negotiates a deal, the seller or landlord pays the agent a commission. When you elect to work with a socially responsible professional to sell or lease your property, at least 10%* of the commission you pay will go to the participating nonprofit(s) of your choice. The commission you pay as the seller or landlord is not increased.
For Buyers & Tenants: Buyer brokers and tenant reps work on behalf of clients who are looking to purchase or lease a property. When a buyer broker or tenant rep finds a property that meets the client’s needs and successfully negotiates a deal, he/she will be paid a percentage of the listing agent’s commission. If you elect to work with an socially responsible real estate professional to purchase or lease a property, at least 10%* of the commission your agent receives will go to the participating nonprofit(s) of your choice. The commission paid by the seller or landlord is not increased.
*IIC retains 8.75% of funding distributed to keep the lights on. IIC also retains $50 only from a nonprofit’s first calendar year distribution.
Your transaction is eligible to generate funds for nonprofits only if your real estate professional agrees to participate and to declare the transaction an IIC transaction at that time. If your current transaction is not eligible, your future transactions are still eligible.
You can direct funds from your transaction to any participating nonprofit. Click here to search our database of participating nonprofits.
If you want to fund a nonprofit that isn’t currently participating in IIC, encourage them to participate! Applying online is fast, easy and free! If a nonprofit is not already participating in IIC, IIC reserves the right to determine a nonprofit’s eligibility to participate in IIC through an application process.
You can search for nonprofits to support using our online directory. Nonprofits are organized by region, focus area, size, and budget. You can also ask your favorite nonprofit to participate. It’s free for you, and it’s free for the nonprofit!
The exact amount the nonprofit receives will depend on the percentage pledge that you negotiate with your real estate professional. Below are three examples.
A Conservative Purchase/Sale Example: Assuming a 5% commission on a purchase/sale in which only the seller’s agent is participating in IIC, a $300,000 transaction from which the seller’s agent earns 2.5%, or $7,500, would generate at least $684.38* for the nonprofit(s) of your choice.
A Conservative Office Leasing Example: Since leasing commissions are highly variable, this example pertains to Downtown Chicago in 2011.
Our cash flow model is built upon transparency. Click here to read more about how money flows through IIC. Or click below to download a description of how an IIC transaction works.
IIC Transaction Overview (PDF) (90 KB)
In order to keep our operations efficient, we distribute funds on a quarterly basis. This means that the funding generated by your transaction will be held for at most 3 months and 12 days (to account for a “cutoff” grace period) before being distributed to your nonprofit. When your nonprofit receives the funding from your transaction, an email notification will be sent to you immediately.
No. Although you direct the donation, the funding comes out of the commission earned by the participating professional. However, the professional can deduct the amount of their pledge as a business expense.
Individuals: No worries! We’ll keep your identity anonymous unless you’d prefer to be recognized for your contribution. The only information that will be made public is your first name, your last initial, and the zip code where the real estate transaction occurred. If you wish, you can to notify your selected nonprofit of your identity.
Businesses: Yes. We will make public certain information provided by your corporation or organization. This topic is discussed in the form submitted by a corporation or organization when joining IIC. We will also disclose the number of donations, dollar value of donations, and nonprofit recipients associated with businesses’ and organizations’ real estate transactions. Lastly, we will publicize the IIC transactions of your organization’s employees. The positive publicity generated upon completion of an IIC transaction further enhances IIC’s value as a CSR tool for your corporation or organization.
Yes. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, contact info@iiconline.org.
