Brand Story – As stewards and employers, nonprofits need full-spectrum insurance strategies to succeed.
On their missions to protect people and planet, many nonprofits overlook critical steps for protecting themselves. Patchy health benefits and liability coverage leave room for risks that can dismantle a lifetime of effort. On the other hand, according to experts at leading insurance brokerage Marsh McLennan Agency, full-spectrum insurance strategies let nonprofits shine as exceptional employers and stewards, ultimately translating into growth and resilience.
Despite shoestring budgets, nonprofits still have complex responsibilities to uphold, from managing benefits (401K, PTO, medical,dental…) to implementing effective processes (payroll, onboarding, donor tracking…). Then, there’s the complicated world of risk management—negotiating airtight contracts, transferring risk and securing competitive rates.
“All of this represents dollars being diverted from their mission,” explains Jacob Colmenero, Sales Executive, Employee Health and Benefits, Marsh McLennan Agency. “And with nonprofits, we do everything we can to minimize that. We make sure we understand where they’re going, how they’re growing and if their policies reflect that.”
Nonprofits, along with mainstream businesses, can often miss vulnerabilities or redundancies, simply due to the complexities of insurance or a lack of experience—their eyes set on their mission, not on the worst-case scenarios.
“Nobody starts a nonprofit assuming they’re going to be sued one day,” says Dominique Easterling, Sales Executive, Business Insurance, Marsh McLennan Agency. “Inevitably, lawsuits or threats of lawsuits are going to happen. But when an autobody shop closes down because they got sued and didn’t have the right coverage, you go to a different one. If a youth shelter for homeless teens gets shut down, those teens can’t walk down the street to different housing.”
To fully protect nonprofits, Marsh McLennan Agency works together across departments to illuminate blind spots, synergize strategies and design cost-effective solutions. For example, when a nonprofit reached out due to an unbearable price increase to its employee health and benefits package, the team answered with a holistic solution.
“We came in, did an evaluation and ended up saving them 20% on their employee health and benefits package,” Colmenero recalls. “But while in conversation, they mentioned other issues, such as their property insurance being denied due to being in a high-risk fire zone. That’s where we brought in Dominique [from the insurance team].”
Marsh McLennan Agency understands that nonprofits live in a high-stakes, low-budget, big-vision world and need specialists who understand both nonprofit constraints and carrier appetites. The liability insurance team works with nonprofits to help them gain competitive coverage.
“Often, organizations don’t realize what they can do to make themselves more appealing to carriers,” Easterling points out. “For nonprofits that work with kids, for example, it sometimes just comes down to providing a specific employee training, or installing additional cameras.”
In this case, it meant trimming brush to 10 feet from the property line and installing sprinklers tied to the central alarm system. Not only did the client end up getting their buildings insured, but Marsh McLennan Agency also helped them implement cybersecurity coverage and volunteer accident coverage, all within budget, leaving the nonprofit physically and financially protected.
Proper benefits and liability insurance extend beyond risk management, impacting professionalization and credibility. It displays competence to the board, donors and employees. As federal policies change and nonprofits compete for dwindling funding, reputation becomes increasingly more critical, as does cost savings.
Before designing a holistic service package, Marsh McLennan Agency begins with a consultative deep dive into the company, in search of inevitable gaps and redundancies.
An organization, might for example, have solid auto and property coverage but overlook employment practice liability insurance (EPLI), directors and officers (D&O) insurance or cyber insurance. Or, they might have one area double insured.
“Many entities don’t realize that there’s also third party EPLI which covers them if a member of the public accuses an employee of discrimination,” Easterling elaborates. “Then there’s the importance of a robust D&O program. Without it, somebody can name you personally in a lawsuit. This affects your home, your kid’s college fund…”
“During the consultative process, we look at everything.” Colmenero continues. That includes digital solutions, cybersecurity and data showing common practices among their peers. “Nonprofits tend to be smaller and leaner, but we provide guidance to nonprofits of any size.”
As one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, Marsh McLennan Agency draws on an expansive portfolio of specialized carriers, pinpointing optimal pairings and working to get competitive rates. By collaborating across departments, its team prepares nonprofits and their people for every opportunity and risk scenario.
“We’re never going to hit the easy button,” Colmenero concludes. “We want to empower them, remove the veil and show them how the market works. That way they can hold us accountable and make informed decisions.”n
Special opportunity for current & prospective Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO) members: Reach out for a complementary insurance review & evaluation by Marsh McLennan Agency experts.
Brand stories are paid content articles that allow Oregon Business advertisers to share news about their organizations and engage with readers on business and public policy issues. The stories are produced in house by the Oregon Business marketing department. For more information, contact Evan Morehouse at [email protected]
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.