We have never been comfortable with the idea that a real estate practice is only accountable to the people who sign the closing documents. A brokerage does well because a place is doing well — because the schools hold up, the parks are maintained, the hospital is good, and people want to live near all of it. Some share of what that generates ought to go back.
“I did not want to build a company that was only good at making money in a community. I wanted one that was useful to it.”Chevonna Davis, Realtor & Founder
One percent of every commission
Since 2015, one percent of the commission on every closing has gone to a local cause. It comes out of our side of the settlement statement — it is not added to what a client pays, and it is not a line item anyone has to approve.
Clients choose the recipient when they want to, from a short list of organisations we have vetted, or they name one of their own. Most people choose. It has sent money to a food pantry in Wauwatosa, a youth sailing programme on the lakefront, a historical society restoring a mill, and, more than anywhere else, to a childrens hospital foundation on the west side.
Every December we match whatever the year produced. In a slow year that is a smaller number and we say so publicly rather than quietly dropping the practice.
The partnership that outgrew the office
What began as a staff team walking a fundraising 5K has turned into the through-line of everything we do here. Our people sit on a leadership giving committee, work the phones during the radiothon each autumn, and run the school supply drive that now fills a storage unit rather than a spare desk.
We are a small contributor to a very large effort — the radiothon alone raised over a million dollars across the region last year — and that is precisely the point. The work matters more than our share of it does.
“There are companies that write a cheque and companies that show up. This is the second kind. They are in the building, on the phones, and asking what we need before we have thought to ask.”Development officer, regional childrens hospital foundation
Where the time goes
Money is the easy part. These are the commitments that take a Saturday.
- The radiothon
- Three days on the phones each autumn, taking pledges alongside about four hundred other volunteers.
- Run & walk
- A team every August, plus sponsorship of the shirts, since the second year the office existed.
- School supply drive
- August, for three district elementary schools. Started with one classroom and a car boot.
- Historic preservation
- Pro bono valuation work for two local historical societies weighing whether to buy a building.
- First-time buyer nights
- A free session each spring at the public library. No pitch, no sign-up sheet at the door.
If you run something local
We read every note that comes in through the form below, and we add organisations to the client-choice list a few times a year. Tell us what you do and who it serves. A phone call is fine too — (414) 899-5736.
