Just Like regular businesses, nonprofits need cyber coverage, said Robin Medina, nonprofit practice leader for
HUB International in Colorado.
“It’s not a tough sell at all,” she said. “Nonprofits really see the value in it. When I point out that they have a donate button on their website, they immediately say need cyber coverage. It is actually one of the easier sales.
“People understand cyber. They see it every day in the media. A lot of people have experienced identity theft themselves,” she noted.
Even so, she said that any insurance coverage can involve a longer sales cycle than with a typical business. “It is not always the executive director or a staff member who makes the decision. Sometimes I have to go and present at board meetings, so it can be a longer sales cycle, but when it comes to cyber, they definitely get it,” she said.
Even more than with most businesses, she said coverage for sexual molestation is pretty much standard for any nonprofit that works with children or other vulnerable populations, as is coverage for volunteers. She said coverage for volunteers is “very inexpensive and a very prominent part of our book of business.”
With a specialty in social services, Medina said coverage for sexual molestation is pretty standard. “If they are working with children and volunteers they need the coverage, and they tend to know it.”
Medina, who was CEO of the Colorado Nonprofit Insurance Agency (CNIA) for 5 years before it was acquired by HUB last year, said HUB continues to enjoy the close relationships with Colorado nonprofits that had been built up over the years since CNIA’s founding in 1989 by the Colorado Nonprofit Association. “They come to us looking for resources. We need to make sure we are offering the best possible protection for their organization, and we do,” she said.
In the past, she said CNIA had a lot of focus on social services agencies but that thanks to HUB it is expanding today into educational organizations and churches as well as other groups. Also, she said while CNIA did most of its business in the Denver area, HUB has offices in 8 Colorado cities and is now building its nonprofit practice throughout the state and beyond.
