Meet Rick Avery | Realtor & Founder – Giving Back Group

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rick Avery and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rick, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Having spent the first 35+ years of my adult life working in sales and management for numerous major media companies and a technology company, I decided it was time to transition out of the corporate world. As I thought about what I wanted to do, it was my wife who suggested real estate would be a good fit. I was always intrigued by the process of buying and selling homes whenever we moved (I also became pretty familiar with the real estate business when I was in the newspaper business) and with her blessing, I decided to make the move. Realizing I was getting a late start and didn’t have 10 years to build my Realtor brand, I thought about what I could do to differentiate myself…to give people a reason to want to work with me. I was also at the stage in my life where helping the less fortunate was important. I decided that donating a portion of my commission to charity in the name of my clients was a clear differentiator and it also helped to “Make our community stronger, one home at a time” (this has become a tagline we use in our promotion). I met with a number of charities to discuss the concept, got very positive response and realized that these organizations could help to spread the word to their communities. While we have a number of charity partners, where we make the donation is ALWAYS up tho the client, regardless of the source of the lead. Once I put the plan together, I met with the management at RE/MAX Alliance (the brokerage I have been affiliated with since I started), explained the concept and then went about putting the plan in motion. Since launching, I have made a few tweaks to the program and with Victor Pereira having recently joined the team, we are in a good place to scale our efforts!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The Giving Back Group’s business model is simple. We’ll donate 20% of our commission on each transaction to the nonprofit/charity of our client’s choosing in their name. Upon early conversation with clients, we make it well-known that this is our model, but that it not any more important than our commitment to making sure we provide exception estate services to both buyers and sellers (we have never gotten anything less than a 5-Star rating). We also make sure clients understand there is absolutely no cost to the them. We promote this model in all marketing communications and our charity/nonprofit partners promote the Giving Back Group in a variety of ways to they constituencies/communities including via social media, newsletters, events, listing on websites, etc. The donation addition to our regulated process is for engagement opportunities and for us to create a diverse approach to funding for nonprofits that are stretched thin on resources.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Prior to visiting, I would have them look at the Red Rocks calendar and pick a date based off their favorite artist performing live. Endless possibilities with restaurants including my favorites, Odyssey Italian Restaurant and Mas Kaos Pizzeria on Tennyson. A trip to the mountains is inevitable therefore a nice long hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park or a nice drive up Guanella Pass followed by a drink and lunch in Boulder’s popular Southern Sun Pub & Brewery. Depending on the weather, golfing at Colorado National Golf Club would be a day well spend on a great Colorado course. Additionally with more time, a walk around through RiNo’s beautiful murals and atmosphere.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We’d like to dedicate our shoutout to all of the partner organizations who’ve helped us create a brand and continue to support our local organizations. Further, we’d like to dedicate our buyers and sellers who have great stories about how the organization they’re donating to will make a positive impact for them and our community.

Website: www.givingbackgroup.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/givingbackgroup/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-giving-back-group/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/givingbackgroup

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GivingBackGroup/