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Whether through coat and toy drives, donations or other charitable events, real estate firms across the U.S. and Canada shared with Inman the myriad ways they give back to their communities.

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It’s that time of year when most people are feeling a bit more grateful for what they have and more generous towards others. For many brokerages across the U.S. and Canada, that means giving back to the communities in which they live and work every day.

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From putting in service hours to donating commissions and more, firms are not holding back from giving to others who are less fortunate, even during a year rife with economic uncertainty.

Take a look at the ways in which a number of firms are spreading the joy of the season by giving back to their communities.

Coat and toy drives

Brown Harris Stevens has long held coat drives during the holidays, and this year the firm’s Connecticut outpost is hosting one in partnership with The Junkluggers. All six Connecticut offices will accept donations through January.

The company’s New York City region will also accept coat donations in partnership with New York Cares through Dec. 31. Coat donation bins are located at Brown Harris Stevens’ East Side, Midtown, West Side, Union Square, Tribeca, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Park Slope 7th Ave and Riverdale offices. Digital monetary donations can also be made at New York Cares’ website.

Palm Beach-based Brown Harris Stevens agents also donated toys to pediatric oncology patients at Palm Beach Children’s Hospital during the firm’s annual holiday luncheon this year.

For the past five years, Coldwell Banker Warburg has held a coat drive for One Warm Coat, which distributes them to families in need. The brokerage also supports the nonprofit Sanctuary for Families, which creates holiday packages that include essentials and toys for children.

Many offices at The Agency host annual Toys for Tots drives in their local markets and often include opportunities for photos with Santa. The Agency in LA also supported the Union Rescue Mission by donating Christmas decor and volunteering to serve hot cocoa and snacks during a lunch event earlier this holiday season.

On Giving Tuesday, the firm hosted its first-ever Giveback Homes Build Day in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where team members directly contributed to building new homes for families in need.

A number of Realty One Group-affiliated offices are hosting donation drives for the holidays. Realty One Group Focus is running a sock donation drive for the homeless and foster care children around Philadelphia, and is also hosting a holiday toy drive.

Realty One Group Esteem and Fountain Mortgage teamed up in Kansas City to support Toys for Tots and the local food pantry, A Turning Point, earlier this month. Realty One Group Complete created holiday kits for children in the company’s community and raised an additional $1,000 to support those children.

Realty One Group Terminus is in the midst of an annual food drive that runs through Dec. 30. Realty One Group Next Level hosted a Dec. 20 cookie and cocoa with Santa event, at which the firm will collect toys for Chaos & Kindness.

Commission donations

The agents of Amalfi Estates, a boutique brokerage based in the Palisades community of Los Angeles, routinely give 10 percent of every commission earned to charity. This year, that translated to $277,000.

The firm partners with seven nonprofits, and clients can choose which charity the donation from their home sale goes to. This year, Amalfi Estates founder Anthony Marguleas also cofounded 1Pali, a community initiative that supports residents who were impacted by the January 2025 Palisades Fire.

This year, Compass made it easier for agents to donate to the company’s charitable organization, Compass Cares, by incorporating a way to donate directly through the Compass platform. Now, each time agents close a transaction and submit their commission form in Business Tracker, they can specify how much they would like to give to Compass’s 501(c)(3) at the same time.

Giving campaigns

Redfin teamed up with Rocket this year to give $236,385 in team member donations and a match from Rocket’s Community Fund to community food banks. The donation will provide 951,842 meals to those in need in cities where the company’s employees live and work.

Magnetic, the firm founded last February by NYC vet Scott Harris, supports an initiative called Back on My Feet year-round. The program, which operates in 16 cities across the country, works to break cycles of poverty, with members receiving access to support services and workshops from the day they enter a homeless shelter or rehab facility until they graduate. They are also able to join fitness communities that commit to running or walking two to three times per week.

Each year in October, Douglas Elliman hosts “Elliman Gives Back,” a weekend-long event dedicated to serving local communities in which the firm operates. Offices across the country support organizations like food banks, SPCA branches, children’s research hospitals and more. Individual agents have also continued to hold a number of volunteer activities and charitable events since the week of Thanksgiving, which will be documented at Elliman Insider throughout the holiday season.

Coldwell Banker Realty has partnered with Covenant House, which provides shelter, food and support to youth experiencing homelessness or who are survivors of human trafficking. The firm’s fundraising campaign began on Dec. 15 and includes a silent auction.

NextHome celebrates Luke Day every June 15 in honor of the company’s mascot, a French bulldog named Luke. On this day, everyone at the business takes time to step away from working and support causes in their local markets, including food banks, animal shelters, schools and nonprofits. The firm said even though this day of service occurs in the spring, its spirit resurfaces around the holiday season when brokers and agents show up for their local communities.

For instance, NextHome Tri-Covenant Realty in Lawton, Oklahoma, this year pledged $40,000 to go towards scholarship programs at the Lawton-Fort Sill 9th and 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers chapter, and has secured 99 pledges of $100 to go to a local homeless shelter (they expect to exceed a goal of 100 pledges by Christmas).

Virtually all agents at Red Oak Realty contribute a portion of their commissions each year to the brokerage’s nonprofit, the Red Oak Opportunity Foundation (ROOF). This year, the brokerage allocated more than $130,000 in donations to 29 local charities (including YES Nature to Neighborhoods, Destiny Arts Center and the Rising Sun Center for Opportunity), as well as an international school in Nairobi, Kenya.

Although it is not brokerage-specific, the New York State Residential Real Estate Council (RRC) partnered with the American Red Cross this year to launch a Realtors Virtual Blood Drive, which first began in September and runs through Dec. 31.

On Dec. 19, Howard Hanna hosted its annual corporate holiday luncheon to benefit the Howard Hanna Children’s Free Care Fund, which supports hospital care for children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the brokerage is headquartered. Howard Hanna offices in the company’s markets, which span across 14 states, will also plan individual community events to raise funds for their local children’s hospitals. The brokerage’s agents and employees have raised over $23 million for the Children’s Free Care Fund since it started in 1988.

Corcoran Group’s in-house nonprofit, Corcoran Cares, has supported more than 50 nonprofit organizations in New York City, the East End and South Florida throughout 2025 to aid causes including cancer and juvenile diabetes research, homelessness and family services, LGBTQ+ advocacy and more. The nonprofit has raised more than $5 million in total since it was launched.

This year, the brokerage’s Manhattan and Brooklyn offices also donated more than 550 coats in an annual coat drive that the organization holds.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England/New York/Hudson Valley Properties raised $230,403 this year for the Sunshine Kids Foundation, a nonprofit that supports children with cancer and their families. The entire BHHS network supports the organization, but this particular region has been the top contributor across the network for the last two years, and in 2025, hosted 40 different fundraising events.

The Hudson Valley offices also adopted a family through Angels of Life, a charity that supports families with children facing life-threatening illnesses. The company’s Cheshire office also hosted its second annual toy drive last weekend to benefit Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and the Women and Families Center.

The RE/MAX Hallmark Group of Companies supports its communities through the franchise’s nonprofit, Hallmark Giving. Since 1993, the nonprofit has raised over $2 million for local and international charities that largely support efforts surrounding housing stability and food security.

Real New York cofounder and co-CEO Robert Rahmanian gives back year-round to the Maccabee Foundation, a charity founded by his grandfather to provide scholarships and financial assistance to Israeli veterans as they transition out of the military. He also hosts the annual Maccabee Foundation Charity Poker Tournament, a fundraising event that, as he puts it, “combines philanthropy with real estate networking.”

Email Lillian Dickerson

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