Rhode Island Association of Realtors

Membership dues are based on the budgetary needs to financially accomplish pre-planned objectives. The profits from the educational program and income from investments offsets some of the expenses related to these objectives, and the remainder is funded by the dues. The major expenses funded by dues include the administrative function which includes bank fees and meeting expenses. Also included is the governance function which includes leadership training for our volunteer leaders, strategic planning and travel to the national Association of realtor meetings. Another area funded by the dues income is membership services expenses. This area includes professional standards expenses related to training and arbitration hearings. This area also includes the expense of our on-line forms application which provides all of our copyrighted forms to our members to utilize in their transactions. Communication and public relations is funded by dues income. This area includes the cost of our public relations consultant, press releases, and an electronic newsletter to our membership. Our contract lobbyist is funded through the dues income as well as lobbying expenses incurred by our staff. Dues also fund all of our overhead expenses which include our rent and utilities for our office space, and salaries and related benefits for those employees who work for the Association.

The annual meeting includes our financial review for the previous year, review of the minutes from the previous annual meeting, includes a vote on any proposed by-law changes, acknowledges all of the volunteers who have served in leadership and committee positions for the year, and also serves as the venue for the installation of officers for the new year.the annual program (mini convention) is an all-day event that includes speakers (some paid and some volunteer) who speak about current issues and trends, technology and other business related topics. The event includes a buffet lunch, and a small trade show area. The Association gets sponsorship money from affiliate members, and also charges a fee for an exhibitor booth for the trade show. Most of the trade show booths are purchased by companies that are directly involved with the real-estate business. There is no charge to our membership to attend this information day. Although it is not a money maker, it is a huge membership benefit which the Realtors and vendors appreciate.

The professional development department is our education department. We provide our members with the ability to meet the mandates of the department of business regulation's minimum requirement for licensure. The prof. development dept. Offers all of the mandatory courses as well as a good number of optional courses to meet the credit hours mandated by "dbr". We also offer many educational courses beyond the minimum requirement to enable them to remain current with industry standards. We also offer a group of courses which, if taken, afford the member the honor of a designation acknowledged by the national Association of Realtors.

Other program services