Executive Compensation at the National Association of Realtors (2018)

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is the largest professional trade association in the US. A non-profit tax-exempt 501 (c) (6) based in Chicago, Illinois, NAR represents 1.4 million members who belong to one or more of the 1,200 associations/boards and 54 state or territory associations.  Members can be residential or commercial brokers, sales people, property managers, real estate appraisers, counselors and others who work in the real estate industry.

NAR functions as a self regulatory agency, a lobbying organization, and as a provider of accreditation and certification of designations.

Mar generally raises about $250 million annually, spends about that amount, and has about $300 million in net assets.

NAR reported total revenue of $245 million in 2018 (compared to $242 million in 2017), of which $204 million (83% of revenue) came from membership dues.

Expenses totaled $259 million with the largest expense being compensation ($59 million or 24% of total revenue) for the 354 employees who received an average compensation of $167,000. However, only 181 employees (about half the staff) received more than $100,000 with the 13 most highly compensated employees reported to be:

• $4,006,384:  Dale Stinton, CEO (retired)
• $1,968,232:  Bob Goldberg, CEO
• $  692,747:  Katherine Johnson, SVP General Counsel
• $  659,163:  Lawrence Yun, SVP Chief Economist
• $  652,809:  Mark Birschbach, SVP, Strategic Business Innovation and Tech
• $  632,808:  Jerry Giovaniello, SVP, Chief Lobbyist
• $  630,794:  Bill Malkasian, Chief Advocacy Officer
• $  599,026:  John Pierpoint, CFO
• $  494,320:  Marc Gould, SVP, Membership Development
• $  471,386:  Mark Lesswing, SVP Chief Tech Officer
• $  463,415:  Donna Gland, SVP Talent Development Resources
• $  377,008:  Matthew Lombardi, Former Key Employee
• $  350,657:  John Smaby, President Elect

The 13 most highly compensated employees received more than $12 million or an average compensation of about $950,000 each.  If the most highly compensated employees were excluded from the total amount of compensation paid, then 341 employees were compensated about $47 million, which equates to an average compensation of $138,000.

11 of the 13 (85%) most highly compensated employees are male while 2, or 15%, are female.  9 out of the 10 most highly compensated employees are male while 1 is a female.

NAR paid for first class travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, and personal services (i.e. The CEO’s personal tax return along with tax or legal services for for certain SVP’s of the organization, and reimbursing the President for housing related costs while traveling for company business). In addition, NAR provided tax indemnification and gross up payments. For more information on these expenses, see Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information of the IRS Form 990.

87 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five most highly compensated reported to be:

• $38,421,881:  Havas Media Group, of Chicago, IL for marketing and communications
• $13,515,546:  Ziplogix, of Fraser, MI for software provider
• $ 3,392,569:  Arnold Worldwide, LLC, of New York, NY for realtor marketing and branding
• $ 2,454,550:  Projection Presentation Technology, of Springfield, VA for video production services
• $ 2,304,396:  Colbalt Media Group, of Pompano Beach, FL for marketing consultants

To read the IRS Form 990 (2018), click here.