If you’re a Realtor, you may have heard about the Real Estate Foundation recently, if you attended your local board’s AGM. Or perhaps you already knew a little about it, but still had questions. We can help! Here are seven things you may not know about the Real Estate Foundation of BC:

1. It’s been around for 30 years. The Foundation was enacted in 1985 through a partnership between the Provincial Government and the three industry associations: BC Real Estate Association, Real Estate Institute of BC, and the Real Estate Council of BC.

2. We have given away more than $69 million to BC communities. Since launching our grants program in 1988, we have been supporting healthy, resilient communities in our province.

3. We support sustainable land use. We provide funding to non-profit organizational projects, working with them to enable positive change in BC – through education, research and law reform, related to land use and in the public interest.

4. Real estate transactions fund our work. Under the Real Estate Services Act, the Foundation receives interest from pooled deposits held in trust by brokerages. This is public money – we invest it, and give it back to the community in the form of grants, and other initiatives. So when you buy or sell property, the whole province benefits.

5. We connect people. Organizations from all over the province talk to us about ideas for innovative and transformative projects. This means we have a unique perspective to help convene, connect and foster collaborations. We believe that great things happen when people work together.

6. We work in your communities. We know that the challenges and priorities of a community in the north may not be the same as those in downtown Vancouver. With a provincial mandate, we are looking to advance sustainable communities in all corners of BC. See a map of grants.

7. We would love for you to spread the word. Do you work in a field that could benefit from our research? Perhaps you’re interested in sustainability. We have significant resources available online to help communities and organizations. For more information, check out our 2015 Fact Sheet or visit www.refbc.com