Real Estate Journal — Central New Jersey — June 9 - 22, 2017 — 9B
www.marejournal.com
M id A tlantic
N orthern N ew J ersey
By James F. Costanzo, Charity Realty International 3 Keys to a Successful Charity Business Model
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seems counter to the spirit of charity to us. 2. Make sure you can afford the philanthropy. When we first opened our doors, we pledged 20% - 50% of our revenue to our clients’ charities. Within 18 months we realized that this schedule was too aggressive and counter- productive to our business. We now pledge 10% - 30% of our revenue and there is some money left over to expand our footprint. We found that when the model produces a 20% in- crease in opportunity we make more money by giving it away!
charity that provides mort- gage free, custom homes to our most severely injured heroes. Sponsorships and seats are available, contact us at jim@ charityrealtyint.com for more information. Charity Realty International is a for profit commercial real estate brokerage & consulting firm. We are founded on the vi- sion of using revenue from real estate brokerage to help fund and bring awareness to our clients’ favorite causes. James F. Costanzo is pres- ident of Charity Realty International. n
years-ago Charity Realty International made its debut. It is New Jersey’s
3. Give what you can and goodwill showers down on you 10-fold. Clients do not work with us because we pledged a donation to their charity. We earn the business like the rest of our competition by demonstrating that we are the best suited for the job, period. There are how- ever, unintended consequences of our charity model. Our post transactional promotion, gen- erates interest not just in the charity, but in our company as well. That in turn produces more meetings, more opportu- nities and more revenue. It also
provides goodwill and a lifting of spirits that is contagious; promoting honest, hard work, cooperation and again more revenue. We have been blessed to collaborate, with some of the finest and brightest Brokers, Owners, Environmentalists and Legal Counsel, the State of New Jersey has to offer. Our charity model provides a philanthropic platform, from which we are launching an annual charity benefit. On November 3, 2017, we will be hosting a Developers Night dinner to benefit Homes for Our Troops , a veteran’s
only commer- cial real es- tate broker- age & con- sulting com- pany based on a charity model that is designed for both pro f i t
James F. Costanzo
and philanthropy. It has not come without some growing pains and valuable lessons that we are pleased to share. 1. Be very careful who you choose to support and associ- ate with. There are nearly 1.5 million charities in the United States. That is more than 1 charity for every 300 people. The business is filled with well meaning, good intentioned individuals with a single focus of raising money and providing services. It is very competitive and these groups are fighting for market share like the rest of us. A word of caution, be careful where you send your money. Unfortunately, there is a fair share of charlatans, frauds and those who are in the business to enrich themselves. Research your charity, we use www. charitynavigator.org. They will list the amount of donations, where they come from (private vs. public funding), percentage spent on services (we prefer +90%), how much is spent on fund raising and how transpar- ent they are. They also list the executive salaries. There is one very well-known charity where the executives “earn” nearly $500,000 annually. This Marcus &Millichap NJ completes the sale of $5.85 million retail property Woodbridge, NJ —Mar- cus & Millichap, announced the sale of Children’s World Academy & Northfield Bank, a 12,204 s/f retail property for $5,850,000 located in Wood- bridge, according to Brian Hosey , regional manager of the firm’s New Jersey office. Alan Cafiero, Ben Sgam- bati and B rent Hyldahl , investment specialists in Mar- cus & Millichap’s New Jersey office, had the listing to market the property on behalf of the seller, a developer. The team also secured and represented the buyer, a private investor. n
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