Advice for Nonprofit Brokers

Pamela Cutchlow, executive director of two centers for abused and abandoned children, in Southern California, doesn’t mince words when asked what she wants to hear when an insurance broker comes in to speak to her about her operation.

“Workers’ compensation issues. Are the rates the same across the board, or are they determined by the size, type of clients, or judged on merit, etc.?” Cutchlow said. “Their availability to speak directly to employees about the importance of keeping their driving records clean. The importance and training of staff in the right procedures needed to protect our ability to get proper insurance at an affordable rate.”

Cutchlow, who runs a boy’s home called Orange County Children’s Foundation Inc., and a girl’s home called Paragon Center Inc., said the biggest mistakes brokers make is thinking she hasn’t heard about any of this before.

“I get approached all the time,” she said. “They always say they can undercut the price. They’ll look at the policy and say they’re not insuring you enough in this area.”

Rhonda Sciortino, national child welfare specialist for Markel Insurance Co., who also chairs Successful Survivors Foundation, a nonprofit in Southern California that assists abused children, is in a unique position to talk about how brokers should deal with potential clients.

Sciortino’s Child Welfare Insurance Services in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was acquired by Markel in 2008, she’s been involved in the sector for several years and knows a great many nonprofit executives.

“People in nonprofits say if another broker walks in here and takes 35 minutes telling me about their great services and their agency I’m just going to throw up,” Sciortino said. “Instead they want to hear, ‘I feel your pain, I understand what you’re doing, and here’s how I can help you.’ Period.”

Sciortino recommends brokers ask nonprofits these five questions:

Wayne Tesch, founder and CEO of Royal Family Kids, a network of camps for abused, neglected and abandoned children across the country, said he wants to hear from brokers who care about his organizations’ mission and its vision, and who can be at their side when the organization is in trouble.

“I don’t want to be an expert in insurance,” Tesch said.

“I want a broker who has passion to educate and help so I can fulfill my calling and passion,” he said.