Miracle Milestone: RE/MAX Gold Raises $1 Million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

The leaders and agents at RE/MAX Gold tend to set aggressive goals – and exceed them. According to VP of Operations Stephenie Flood, the company has its eye on an important new metric for business: hospitals served.

As the organization has grown in market share, it’s also expanded the roster of hospitals supported by agent donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. With the acquisition of RE/MAX Realty Affiliates in Reno, Nevada, the RE/MAX Gold network now contributes to seven different children’s hospitals.

“I love looking at our growth that way,” Flood says. “It’s not just business growth. It’s our ability to impact more sick and injured kids, and their families, at the time when they’re most in need.”

The impact that agents across the 100-office brokerage have been able to make is significant: RE/MAX Gold just crossed the $1 million threshold of donations to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a milestone only three RE/MAX brokerages in the U.S have reached. Also impressive? The company reached the milestone in just five short years.

Flood says the fact that donations to CMN Hospitals stay local made it an easy decision for the company to focus its fundraising efforts on the organization. Donations are primarily made through the RE/MAX Miracle Home program, in which an agent pledges to make a donation to CMN Hospitals with each closed transaction. Donations help fund critical care and research for hospitals – always staying in the agent’s own community.

“CMN Hospitals is a universal cause we can all get behind because our support benefits families in the communities where agents actually live, even as a company that operates in different markets and regions,” Flood says.

As agents become more engaged with the program, they quickly see the impact their donations make.

“The more you support a CMN Hospital, the more people you encounter who know someone who was saved or treated at that hospital,” Flood says. “That makes the connection really strong for our agents.”

RE/MAX, LLC began its partnership with CMN Hospitals in 1992. To date, affiliates across the U.S. and Canada have raised more than $160 million to help kids receive the care they need. In addition to the RE/MAX Miracle Home program, offices also host golf tournaments, festivals and other creative programs to generate funds for CMN Hospitals.

Below, Flood offers her best tips for offices looking to engage agents in the program. “Every last penny counts. It makes a huge difference in the lives of kids,” Flood says.

1. Make the choice easy by sharing the mission – and streamlining sign-up

“The simpler it is to participate, the easier it is to get engaged in the program,” Flood says.

For RE/MAX Gold, at first that meant bringing information directly to agents as part of a “roadshow” instead of hoping agents would discover the Miracle Home program on their own. Once agents learned about the benefits of donating and how easy it was to sign up, they were excited to get involved.

“Our system of donations is built-in, so agents just fill out a Miracle Agent form and tell us how much to withhold from each of their commissions,” Flood says. Agents can donate any amount, often choosing to donate between $25-$100 with each transaction.

“We also account for it in the Miracle System so at the end of the year we can send a form showing the total amount of their donations and thanking them for their contributions,” Flood says.

As giving back to the community is a core value of RE/MAX Gold, they also promote the partnership in all of their conversations with prospective agents. When an agent does join the company, a Miracle Agent form is included in the welcome packet. The program is optional, but many agents are eager to participate. Flood estimates that 35% of the company’s 2,000-plus affiliates are Miracle Agents.

2. Lean into the local hospital

The local CMN member hospital can be a valuable resource for brokerages looking to build their charitable program. Many have staff members dedicated to fundraising who can visit the office to share more about how donations are used. They likely will be able to arrange for a family or child who has been treated at the local hospital to share their experience with agents.

“Agents really feel the connection when they hear these children speak,” Flood says. They realize their money will help other kids just like this one – maybe right down the street.”

One of the best ways to inspire agent involvement, according to Flood, is to work with the hospital to organize a tour. A hospital visit gives agents a first-hand view of the impact their donations will make.

“During a hospital visit, agents realize there are so many kids who need our help,” Flood says. “It’s not just the preemies in the NICU or the cute toddlers. There are also teenagers who need our support with the challenges they’re facing. It’s heartwarming to help them and really see the benefits of donating.”

3. Practice gratitude and look for ways to help others

During a recent fundraising golf tournament organized by RE/MAX Gold, Flood invited a friend from high school and her son to speak.

“Her son was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was 3. He’s a fourth grader now, in remission and doing great,” she says. “His mom will go anywhere now to share her story and give back to the next generation of kids who might need help at the hospital.”

Stories like these inspire Flood to reflect on her own experience raising two daughters, now 19 and 21.

“We recognize every day that we were very fortunate they didn’t have to go through a trauma or illness,” Flood says. “Juxtaposing that against other’s experience really reinforces how lucky we are and how we need to help those that aren’t.”

Affiliates who are interested in becoming a Miracle Agent and supporting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals can visit beamiracleagent.childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org to sign up today.