Opportunities Abound for Nonprofit and Social Services Accounts
Care Providers Underwriting Managers Julia Sewell and Erin Crawford Peterson authored an article for The Rough Notes Company outlining key opportunities in the nonprofit and social services sector.
Julia and Erin provided actionable strategies for agents looking to grow their book of business in this space, including some often-overlooked tools.
“As the saying goes, opportunities are everywhere, if you know where to look. It’s clear there’s a huge amount of untapped potential for agents like you in the nonprofit and social services sector. With a strategic approach and partners who can bolster your expertise, you can take your pipeline to the next level—and help others in a big way.”
Read the full article here.
5 Strategies for Effective Summer Volunteer Risk Management
Most nonprofits depend on volunteers to advance their missions. Approximately 63 million Americans — 25% of the adult population — volunteer their time, talents and energy to making a difference, demonstrating that volunteering remains an important activity for millions of Americans.
Volunteers make nonprofit missions happen, but they can also expose them to risk — one that can expand significantly in the spring and summer months when there’s an influx of volunteers. To remain vigilant with a stream of seasonal helpers, nonprofits should remember to:
Run appropriate background checks: At no point should nonprofits ever assume that they can’t be sued because of their 501(c)(3) status. Having a charitable purpose won’t protect them if a volunteer or employee commits a criminal offense. Completing thorough background screenings in compliance with relevant local, state and federal laws can help to ensure that the volunteers they hire are the right people for the job. Volunteers should also sign a waiver of liability that essentially says the volunteer is assuming risk. In this case, they’re not employees so they wouldn’t be covered under workers’ comp.
Determine proper oversight: To determine the level of supervision they need, organizations should first evaluate whether they have low, normal or high exposure depending on the ratio of volunteers to clients. However, the general recommendation is to always have two adults supervising. Supervision should be on a regular, day-to-day basis, so it shouldn’t tail off after a few weeks and it must be consistent on every occasion when volunteering takes place.
Use position descriptions to clarify responsibilities: This isn’t to say that job descriptions are always necessary. Organizations don’t need to write them if they’re recruiting people to do a simple task such as handing out flyers for a one-time special event. But creating job descriptions for more complex, long-term assignments is encouraged. And besides clarifying what volunteers are expected to do, job descriptions send the message that the nonprofit is well-organized. Every volunteer wants to do a good job; a better understanding of their personal obligations sets the stage for stellar performance.
Conduct proper training and onboarding: Volunteers should be treated as staff members and be provided the same health and safety protection organizations guarantee their full-time employees. The same goes for training. Volunteers should have equal access to training for equivalent positions and learning and development should be a collaborative effort between the nonprofit, supervisors and volunteers to align individual goals with the overall direction of the organization. It’s important to not skimp on training or assume volunteers know how to do the job.
Promote a speak-up culture: One harsh reality is that, from time to time, even the most promising, mission-driven volunteers make judgment errors or fail to meet performance expectations. Despite organizations investing millions in misconduct prevention, employee silence, and thus volunteer silence, continues to perpetuate wrongdoing. With the leading cause of silence being the fear of repercussions, nonprofits should encourage their employees and volunteers to communicate regularly, honestly and openly. They do this by earning their trust and demonstrating to them that it’s safe to speak up, especially if a team member witnesses wrongdoing.
Nonprofit risk management is an ongoing process. It takes time and oversight, and while it may seem tedious at times, it ultimately saves nonprofits time and money in the short and long term. By focusing their efforts on risk prevention before a new wave of seasonal volunteers join, nonprofits avoid being one that we hear about in the news for the wrong reasons. Putting in the effort now helps build an organization that is safe, strong and ready to serve.
How to insure your social service organization with Care Providers Insurance Services
Care Provider Insurance Services Director Chris Hale answers your top 5 most pressing questions about our appetite and how we provide underwriting and insurance services for social service organizations.
For more than 25 years, Care Providers Insurance Services, a program built by NSM Insurance Group, has been solely focused on delivering best-in-class coverages for nonprofit and social service organizations that serve our communities. Our approach to nonprofit insurance is guided by three key pillars: partnership, expertise and service. These pillars all share a common yet critical theme — our people. From our designated claims teams to our underwriters to our business technology and operations experts, our people are dedicated to providing unmatched service and customer experience. In fact, our underwriting team has an average of 15 years of experience managing nonprofit insurance — which truly sets us apart as experts in the industry.
The nonprofit sector is undeniably diverse, and we receive a number of questions on a daily basis regarding our coverages and appetite, which is why we sat down with Chris Hale, the director of CPS, to answers these questions and more.
Question 1: What classes do you cover?
Chris Hale: We have a very broad appetite in the social services space. We cover more than 15 classes that span services for both children and adults, including churches and other religious institutions, private/charter schools, Head Start/early childhood education, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and other youth mentoring programs, IDD – group homes, sheltered workshops, schools for those with special needs, community action agencies, boys & girls clubs and after-school programs, YWCA, adult and family service, counseling services and crisis intervention, senior services, pregnancy help centers, handicapped and disabilities organizations.
Our primary focus is on any operation that is providing services to meet the needs of members of our communities. While most of the organizations we write are classified as nonprofits, we can also evaluate select for profit operations that share the focus on helping others. We bring tailored insurance products to brokers and their customers to provide the protection and peace of mind they need to further their mission of providing help and support to those they serve.
Question 2: Do you write in all states?
Chris Hale: Yes, we operate in all states. However, there are some classes that we do not currently write in Alaska, Hawaii and Massachusetts, but we continually review our filings to ensure we can meet the needs of our broker partners and their customers.
Question 3: What size accounts do you target?
Chris Hale: Similar to our appetite, we have the ability to accommodate many accounts by premium size. Our minimum account premium is $2,500 on all classes except religious organizations, which is $15,000. Our account premium ranges from a $2,500 minimum to accounts with a premium of several million dollars. This flexibility allows us to tailor accounts to fit the needs and operations of our insureds. Our typical account size is the middle market type of risk that ranges between $25,000 to $250,000 — these accounts are typically written on a first dollar program and our risk management products align well with the customer’s needs.
Question 4: What lines of coverage do you offer…and what about workers’ compensation?
Chris Hale: We offer a full package policy, including general liability, abuse and professional — and all can be written on occurrence or claims made. Our standard limits are $1MM/$3MM, with the package also including property, inland marine and auto and umbrella/excess through our exclusive program agreements. In addition to these key coverages, we also can help provide solutions for other areas, such as directors & officers, employment practice liability, cyber liability, wind/hail buy down options and accident & health coverage for participants and volunteers. Our breadth and depth of coverages allow us to meet the full needs of most of our customers. Additionally, all of the policies provided by Care Providers Insurance qualify to be included in the 0% interest premium finance option that we offer through First Insurance Funding, making managing the payment of your various policies a simple, single pay process.
While Care Providers does not write workers’ compensation directly, our parent company NSM Insurance Group does offer the AllComp program. AllComp is exclusively focused on writing workers’ comp insurance and is a specialist when it comes to WC needs for social services.
Question 5: Who is your carrier partner? Are they A+ rated?
Chris Hale: We have exclusive agreements with two trusted industry leaders to cover the unique nonprofit sector. We work exclusively with ARCH Insurance for private/charter schools, pregnancy support centers and religious institutions. For all other classes, we have an exclusive relationship with Berkshire Hathaway’s GUARD Insurance. Both are A+ rated carriers with the financial strength to ensure that your customer is protected by a company poised to handle risk, overcome any market conditions and stand by their promise to protect your assets.
At Care Providers Insurance Services, we understand that providing insurance for social service organizations is always complicated due to the personal nature of their work. There is often not a one-size-fits-all approach, which is why it’s important to bind with an insurance program that can meet the unique needs of your clients. By working with Care Providers, agents and policyholders alike have access to our in-house claims department and premier risk management services to ensure that each organization has the appropriate resources to mitigate any risks that could distract from their core mission. Trust our expert underwriting team to quote and bind your social service accounts.