Real estate with purpose
As a professional in real estate, you know that shelter is more than just a roof – it’s a home. It’s the foundation for life, for families, and for communities.
At ShelterBox, we’re transforming despair into hope by providing displaced families with emergency shelter and tools enabling them to rebuild their homes and transform their lives after disaster.
You can, too.
Philanthropy Builds Business
People want to do business with those who share their values and put those values to work. Why not give back by doing what you do best, putting families into homes.
Through the Give a Home program, you will inspire your clients and give them a sense of purpose each time they use your services by donating the cost of a home for each home sold.
How it Works
As a member of ShelterBox’s Give a Home program, every time you sell a home, you’ll make a donation to ShelterBox that will provide emergency shelter and life-saving supplies to families who have lost their homes and belongings to disaster or conflict.
With your initial donation, you will receive recognition on our Give a Home members web page and exclusive updates on the operations of ShelterBox.
DONATION IMPACT LEVELS
$50
Light a Home
Provides a family with two solar-powered LuminAid lights offering protection at night and a way to read, cook, or work after dark.
$100
Build or Repair a Home
Provides a ShelterKit, filled with essential supplies like heavy-duty tarps, tools, and building materials to repair a home
$500
Give a Shelter
Provides a family with safety and protection from the environment in a tent that can withstand 75 mph winds and monsoon rains
$1,000
Give a Home
Provides a full ShelterBox filled with a family tent, and essential supplies such as blankets, solar lights, a kitchen set and more
Read More
Member Spotlight
How you're making a difference
IN THE NEWS
Santa Barbara, California.
June 4, 2020
Commissions are a common way to motivate and reward salespeople. In the case of a real estate commission, which can be 4%- 8% of the home price, a sale can net a realtor, tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. For Newport Beach, California real estate agent, Brian Fox, he wanted to do more than just find a seller or buyer for his properties, he wanted to build philanthropy into his real estate business. Fox’s dream was to translate real estate sales into homes for families made homeless in disaster or crisis situations around the world, giving away a home every time he sold a home.
In early 2019, Fox’s dream came true and he partnered with global humanitarian relief organization, ShelterBox, a non-profit that provides emergency shelter and essential household supplies to families around the world who have been displaced in an instant. Each ShelterBox contains the items for a family to quickly set up a household, including an emergency tent to live in, solar lights, a water purifier, cooking equipment, blankets, a mosquito net, a tool set, children’s activity set, and more. ShelterBox also deploys shelter kits, which repair damaged homes or can transform into single shelter for a family in need.
The program which Fox and ShelterBox created and named, “Sell a House, Give A Home,” is designed for real estate professionals who wish to build philanthropy into their business model. Inspired by TOMS Shoes and its, “Buy-one-give-one model,” Fox is committed to donating the cost of a shelter each time he closes a property sales. Every time Fox and his colleagues sell a home, they make a donation to ShelterBox.
“There are more people displaced than any time in recorded history. Disasters are happening more and more frequently, whether it’s man-made or related to climate change, and shelter is one of the basic needs we all have in the world,” said Brian Fox. “I grew up in a family who gave back and when I started my real estate practice, I wanted to have social responsibility embedded into the business. But I didn’t just create this idea with my business in mind, I wanted to build a program that is scalable so other realtors around the world can participate and together we can make a bigger impact.”
When a family friend shared the work of ShelterBox with him, providing emergency shelter and essential supplies to families who have lost everything to disaster, Fox knew this was the perfect opportunity. The idea was then solidified after meeting with ShelterBox USA President, Kerri Murray. “In late 2018, I received a call from Brian Fox, who shared his idea for donating a home every time he sold one. I was inspired by Brian’s passion to make a difference and little did I know, that one year later, real estate professionals from around the world would be reaching out to inquire about getting involved in the program. Today we have dozens of real estate professionals signed up for, “Sell a House, Give a Home,” from across the United States, and interest from as far away as Australia and New Zealand,” said Kerri Murray, President of ShelterBox USA.
To date, Brian Fox has donated more than 30 shelters from his participation alone. He also credits the program with helping inspire his clients around his humanitarian efforts.