Kathy Pineo Barrett
Paying it forward comes naturally to Kathy Pineo Barrett, who has done it informally for years. Now she has created a formal program with a referral component and wants other Re/Max brokers and agents to join and reap the benefits. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a thing to join.
Pineo Barrett, a sales associate with Re/Max Group Four Realty in Fredericton, N.B., makes contributions to charities on her clients’ behalf and an official tax receipt is mailed directly to them. “We have two food banks and two SPCAs (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in my area. I’ve always owned animals. Animals are close to my heart,” she says. “I’m from a large blue collar family and when someone needs a hand, everyone rallies. I’ve lived for a time as a single mother with two kids and I know what it’s like to live paycheque to paycheque. I’ve always supported food banks.”
Participating agents are also free to donate to the charity of their choice.
Agents who have heard about her Re/Max Paying It Forward Referral Network have made positive comments but some didn’t want to join because they thought they would have to pay an annual fee, or she says, they didn’t want to ‘step on her toes’ by using her idea.
But she wants to recruit others to join the free program across Canada.
To date, 21 Re/Max sales reps, based in Alberta, B.C., Labrador, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, have been inspired to pay it forward. Pineo Barrett looked up Re/Max agents across the country, read their bios and emailed those who had personalities similar to hers, she says. “If I’m referring, I want to know who I’m referring to.”
The idea for the program was planted when Pineo Barrett was out for a drive with her husband. They passed a grocery store, and Pineo Barrett wondered what the store does with uncollected Air Miles points. Wouldn’t it be great if each cashier had a card to put unclaimed points on to, with points going to charity, she thought? She contacted the store but they were already working with a charity and declined. Not one to give up, Pineo Barrett started giving grocery gift certificates, with a note letting clients know they could use the certificate themselves or donate it to a food bank and pay it forward. The problem was that clients could not get a tax receipt when donating grocery certificates, so Pineo Barrett donates on her clients’ behalf and tax receipts are issued in the client’s name.
Pineo Barrett had previously given doorknockers as closing gifts. You can only give so many doorknockers, especially when your clients are military families who are always on the move and you have a lot of repeat customers. She had to come up with a new plan for a meaningful closing gift and the Paying It Forward program was it, says the military relocation specialist.
Now she wants to spread the word. Her licence plate reads “paitfwd” and she is redoing her business cards to include her charities’ logos on the back. But her newest idea is to mail or email about 250 newsletters on the charities’ behalf (instead of mailing out information about herself) to keep her top of mind with her clients. It’s a win-win for everyone, she says. The Oromocto and area SPCA and Fredericton SPCA are already on board.
For more information, contact Kathy Pineo Barrett at 506-470-9888 or [email protected].
