Binding Sponsorship Agreement

1. Choosing a Sponsor

Choosing a Sponsor is a very important decision that you must consider wisely since the person you choose will be your sponsor for life. The Profit Share System and Growth Sharing Program were implemented to reward Keller Williams Realty associates and employees for helping build the company by attracting additional talented and productive members.

The spirit of the system is that your sponsor is that person whom you feel is primarily responsible for bringing you to Keller Williams Realty. In fact, it may or may not be the first or last person who talked to you about joining.  You may over time have met with many people in the company.

Your Sponsor should be the person most instrumental in bringing you to serious discussions with Market Center leadership about joining the Market Center.

While you may initially consider one of the following leaders as your sponsor because they made personal contact with you, that leader is ethically bound to honor leads given to them by other Keller Williams Realty family members by ensuring you name the person most instrumental in facilitating your meeting with them.

These leadership positions include:

* Market Center Leadership / Staff

* Regional Leadership / Staff

* Keller Williams Realty, Inc. Executives and Staff

Additionally, sponsorship is NOT related to the following:

1. Whose team you join.

2. Any promises to help you.

3. Any benefit offered you to join.

4. Any promise to mentor.

5. Someone wanting or thinking or asking that they be your Sponsor.

6. The Team Leader’s presentation.

You are the sole person with the right to name your Keller Williams Realty Profit Share Sponsor — any future profit sharing benefits should be given to the person whom you believe actually helped us grow because they brought you to us. We honor your rights because your affiliation with us adds value to the entire Keller Williams Realty family.

2. Positioning in the Profit Share Tree

If you join Keller Williams Realty and are the primary reason others come along with you (spouse, family member, partner, staff, etc.) you may want to consider how you/they are “stacked” in the Keller Williams Realty Profit Share Sponsorship Tree. After you choose your primary Sponsor, others, if they choose, may then name you as their sponsor. You may do this in such a way as to maximize the Profit Share you can receive.  For example, spouses that qualify to participate in the Profit Share system may decide to have the producing spouse name the other spouse as their sponsor so that they may actually receive Profit Share from their own family’s production.

If you bring family or team members, the only requirement is that they are ACTIVELY in the real estate business with you. If they are an administrative staff member, they do not need to be licensed to receive Profit Share. Once with Keller Williams Realty, you and each of your family or team members may also sponsor new people who can then build their  own Profit Share Tree. Please discuss all of this with the Team Leader or Operating Principal of the Keller Williams Market Center you are joining. You want to make the right decisions now, because YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR DECISION LATER.

3. Formal Designation of Sponsor

Fully understanding the meaning of Sponsorship, the undersigned hereby designates: 

as his/her Permanent Sponsor for purposes of the Keller Williams Realty Profit Sharing system and Growth Sharing program. The undersigned, by execution hereof, understands that the designation of a Sponsor, once executed, can only be changed as follows:

A.           SUBSTITUTE SPONSORSHIP

(Section 4, Policies and Guidelines Manual)

The Associate’s Permanent Sponsor (named above) has not yet joined Keller Williams Realty but, he/she intends to join within 90 days of the Associate's start date. Because the Permanent Sponsor designated above has not yet joined Keller Williams Realty, the Associate hereby designates                                                                                  to be their 

Substitute Sponsor, and understands this individual will automatically become their Permanent Sponsor unless written notification is given WITHIN 90 DAYS OF THE ASSOCIATE'S START DATE*.  Notification of the change from Substitute to Permanent Sponsor, using the ASSOCIATE SPONSOR CORRECTION FORM in the MORE system, must be signed by the Associate, Substitute Sponsor, Permanent Sponsor, Team Leader and Regional Director, and forwarded to the KWRI MORE Administrator, ALL WITHIN 90 DAYS FROM THE ASSOCIATE’S START DATE*.

No change will be made if:

- the Permanent Sponsor designated above by the Associate, does not join Keller Williams Realty WITHIN 90 DAYS OF THE ASSOCIATE’S START DATE*;

- the proper notices are not given as noted above; or

- the ASSOCIATE SPONSOR CORRECTION FORM is not completely executed and submitted to KWRI’s MORE Administrator WITHIN THE 90 DAY PERIOD*.

IT IS THE ASSOCIATE’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT HIS/HER SPONSOR IS PROPERLY CHANGED WITHIN THIS TIME FRAME.

* For an Associate that joins Keller Williams Realty as part of a new Market Center launch, the 90-day grace period begins on the first day of the month that the new Market Center transmits for the first time.

B.           CHANGE OF SPONSORSHIP - CLERICAL MISTAKE

(Section 4, Policies and Guidelines Manual)

A clerical mistake can be corrected ONLY WITHIN 90 DAYS OF THE ASSOCIATE’S START DATE* by the Associate submitting a written statement of the clerical mistake to the Market Center, using the ASSOCIATE SPONSOR CORRECTION FORM in the MORE system.  The ASSOCIATE SPONSOR CORRECTION FORM must be signed by the Associate, Current Sponsor, New Sponsor, Team Leader and Regional Director, and forwarded to the KWRI MORE Administrator, ALL WITHIN 90 DAYS OF THE ASSOCIATE’S START DATE*.

IT IS THE ASSOCIATE’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT HIS/HER SPONSOR IS PROPERLY CORRECTED WITHIN THIS TIME FRAME. IF THE ERROR IS NOT NOTED AND CORRECTED WITHIN 90 DAYS OF ASSOCIATE’S START DATE*, THEN THE SPONSOR, AS ENTERED INTO THE MORE SYSTEM, WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED.

* For an Associate that joins Keller Williams Realty as part of a new Market Center launch, the 90-day grace period begins on the first day of the month that the new Market Center transmits for the first time.

C.           CHANGE OF SPONSORSHIP AFTER AN ABSENCE OF 9 MONTHS OR LONGER

(WHEN RETURNING TO ORIGINAL MARKET CENTER OR JOINING ANOTHER) (Non-Vested) (Section 4,

Policies and Guidelines Manual)

Individuals moving from one Keller Williams Realty location to another, individuals who go to work as an assistant or member of another associate’s team or group and individuals who leave Keller Williams Realty for a period of time and later return, all keep their original sponsors - unless they are away from the Keller Williams organization and removed from the Keller Williams Profit Share System for at least nine (9) months. Upon return, provided they were not vested at the time of departure, they may choose a new Permanent Sponsor only after the minimum 9-month period of absence.

4. Online Confirmation of Sponsor

The undersigned Associate acknowledges that an online confirmation of his or her Permanent Sponsor is required.  The purpose of the Online Confirmation of Sponsor is for the Associate to confirm that a clerical error was not made in the input of the Permanent Sponsor.

5. Associate Affirmations

I understand that Keller Williams Realty, Inc. and its authorized representatives (“KWRI”) have no financial interest in my designation of a Sponsor and that, in recording my Sponsor’s name, KWRI merely follows my instructions.

I understand that I will have no vested interest as a sponsor of any other Keller Williams Realty associate unless and until that person properly designates me as his or her sponsor in accordance with Keller Williams Realty policies and procedures.

I understand that, except for a per distribution Real Estate Associates Tracking System (RATS) fee for the administration of the Profit Sharing program or the Growth Share Management ("GSM") fee collected for the administration of the Growth Share Program, KWW or KWRI does not receive any part of a Market Center’s Profit Sharing or Growth Sharing contributions and does not otherwise share in or benefit financially from Profit Sharing or Growth Sharing contributions.

Duty to not compete: I specifically acknowledge and agree that I forfeit my opportunity to continue to participate in and receive any benefit from the Profit Share program by competing with Keller Williams Realty brokerages through the following actions:

1.            Affiliating with any non-Keller Williams real estate brokerage company; or

2.            Directly or indirectly inducing any individual retained as an Associate, staff member or owner of any Keller Williams brokerage to leave the Keller Williams brokerage or affiliate with a non-Keller Williams brokerage.

On the basis of these understandings and their consequences, I voluntarily waive and relinquish any claims I may have against KWRI and KWW on account of any disagreement over the designation of my Permanent Sponsor or my status as the sponsor of another participant in the Profit Sharing and Growth Sharing programs, except in cases based on my good faith belief that KWRI or KWW has acted with actual malice toward me or in willful for my rights.

6. Designation of Beneficiary

I hereby designate the following person or entity as my Beneficiary of my Account under the Keller Williams Profit Sharing System and Growth Sharing Program payable in the event of my death.