Why should associations care about getting out the vote? If they should care, when should they launch their programs? How do they even go about launching a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) program?

Answering those questions and more, Gerald L. Allen, managing director of campaign services at the National Association of Realtors, walks us through the "who, what, where, when, why, and how" of NAR's own successful GOTV program.

Who: The National Association of Realtors

What: A get-out-the-vote program, which aims to turn out voters on Election Day. In some cases, NAR, as well as some of the state and local associations, advocate for a specific candidate that supports realtors and the real estate industry. But, regardless of the candidate, NAR's larger goal is voter turnout by realtors.

Encouraging realtors to vote is the starting point to building a culture of member political involvement.—Gerald Allen, National Association of Realtors

Where: NAR works with state and local realtor associations across the country with the goal of getting realtors to vote. In fact, according to Allen: NAR's Registering Realtors to Vote program "has resulted in 82 percent of our 1.1 million members being registered to vote."

When: "With early voting and vote-by-mail prevalent in many states, a GOTV program can start as early as four to six weeks before Election Day," Allen says. "Election Day messages are good to catch anyone who has not gone to the polls, but your communications plan should take into consideration when your members can start casting votes."

Why: "A GOTV program helps further NAR's and our state and local realtor associations' goals of promoting advocacy in our membership," Allen says. "By encouraging realtors to vote, we are encouraging our members to be involved in the political process. Realtors are active and engaged members of their community, and elections are important building blocks to develop, maintain, and improve our communities. Encouraging realtors to vote is the starting point to building a culture of member political involvement."

How: Allen says that NAR starts by sending its members reminders on topics like deadlines for early voting or voting by mail. It also reminds them to check their local resources for information on obtaining absentee ballots.

In addition, in the days leading up to Election Day, it sends an email to all realtors, this year from the current NAR President Tom Salomone, reminding them to cast their ballots if they've not already done so. NAR also works with its state and local associations on their own message deployment. "Our goal is to have as many realtors as possible participate in the election process," Allen says.

"By focusing some communications to your members that encourage voting, not for a specific candidate, you may motivate a member to take part in the political process even though they may not agree with the candidate being supported," Allen says. "That may serve as an opportunity to engage a member to become more involved in your association's advocacy programs, how to get a better understanding of how candidates are chosen, and how they can become more involved in the member advocacy."