Life Lessons: Insurance applications are easy grant applications. You should love your broker and vice versa. You should win money for risk management

For the first time in a long time I am sitting in on a few insurance workshops being given by our own Peter Andrew of Council Services Plus (the CCSNYS insurance subsidiary). We're in our New York City office today, it's rainy and cold and windy but we've got about 20 people here intrested in risk management and insurance "secrets" for nonprofits.

Since you probably couldn't get away to the city today I wanted to pass on two things that I think are really easy to understand (ok, maybe three) and implement tomorrow. Many of you know I am like the Racheal Ray of Nonprofit Issues. I want solutions in 30-minutes (preferably less.) So, here we go:

1. How much time would you spend on a $5k or $10k unrestricted grant? Fill out your next insurance application like you're filling out a grant application. Take your time with it. Tell the insurance company what you do to practice good risk management. It could be as easy as noting your policies and procedures, it could be staff training, it could be board training - there are many things you can do to make risk management a part of your nonprofit's daily life. If you are paying $5k, $10k, $25k for insurance and have the opportunity to save 10% to 30%, look at is as an unrestricted grant award!

What to do tomorrow? Take out your last application for General
Liability insurance. See if it looks like your organization spent time on it. What measures did you take to make the case for the risk management you practice? Going forward, every time you update policies, procedures, do training, get
certificates - put copies in the insurance file - so you remember to use them to
help support your proactive risk management the next time your up for renewal.

1. You can't make these lawsuits up/Your broker should be your best friend. (ok - so I'm cheating and putting two together). If you think your nonprofit can't be sued take a look at this. I think #3 resonates with most nonprofits. How many of us do delivery, transportation or Meals on Wheels programs? Your broker needs to know what your risks are and be working to lower your rates and get you the coverage you need. If you only hear from your broker once a year about your insurance renewal - that's not good enough folks. Did you know they are making anywhere from 10% to 17% of the premium amount (generally speaking)? They need to be proactive in researching your needs and educating your staff on any changes or needs in insurance coverages.

What to do tomorrow: Here's a plug - and it's not shameless because I can
safely say it's the best service/advice you're gonna get. If you want to talk to
a broker who knows this stuff and will give you an honest answer about what
you should expect from your current provider, contact Council Services Plus at
(877) 501 - 4CSP or fill out this little form and start getting some answers. Then call your own broker and set up a face to face meeting. Ask them the hard questions. Or call CS Plus in - they'll help you out.

Are you already doing some of this? If risk management is already a top priority at your organization, and you're already spending time on your applications, policies, procedures, training, working on a proactive level with a responsive broker - why not apply for the Nonprofit Risk Management Award - win $2,000 for your efforts?

Hope all is well in your organizations - it's exciting to see what's happening on the NYNED Blog. We know you're 'lurking' out there - remember - feel free to comment or ask questions. Aggressive sharing is good.

Other resources:
http://www.rims.org/
http://www.riskinstitute.org/
http://www.nonprofitrisk.org/