Nonprofits Eligible for Free Digital Advertising

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

According to the Blackbaud Institute, charitable giving creeped up by only 1% in 2019… But online giving increased 6.8% last year and increased 10% over the last three years! To help avoid a decrease in private donations due to the Coronavirus pandemic, nonprofit leaders have turned their attention to a powerful tool used to increase website traffic and online donations: Google’s Ad Grant Program.

Consider how many organizations spend thousands of dollars each month on Google Ads to gain website traffic, market share, and online customers.

Now consider that Google Ad Grants provide up to $10,000 per month (maximum of $329/day) of free advertising on Google search result pages to eligible nonprofit organizations. The result: high-quality, converting traffic.

Marketing consultant Reese Harris, founder of Ree-Source, Inc, adds “Whether you are driving donations, increasing brand awareness, or amplifying engagement, the Google Ad Grant Program is essential for any nonprofit organization. We encourage all nonprofits to include this strategy in their marketing and outreach.”

To make this a successful strategy, most nonprofits should make use of Geo-Targeting. In other words, your ads should only show to searchers in locations that are important to your organization.

It’s also important to track and measure the results of your campaign. That’s the beauty…this is the internet, not a billboard! Google will provide you with a behind the scenes pass to view exactly which of your keywords attract converting traffic and which keywords aren’t working.

Google Ad Grants is an amazing tool nonprofit leaders can use to increase awareness, web traffic, and engagement. Regardless of your web-marketing experience, the learning and adjusting is an ever-evolving process that promises to deliver. Good luck!

Rancho Mesa understands the importance of every dollar that is raised by nonprofits through advertising efforts, donor relations and fundraisers. That is why we offer the risk management tools your organization needs to minimize costly risks and manage insurance costs, so more of your funds can serve your mission.

CA Governor Issues Executive Order Making Workers’ Compensation Benefits More Readily Available to Essential Workers

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

On Wednesday, May 6 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order making workers’ compensation benefits more readily available to essential workers.

The Executive Order states “any COVID-19-related illness of an employee shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of employment for purposes of awarding workers’ compensation benefits if all of the following requirements are satisfied:

a.  The employee tested positive for or was diagnosed with COVID-19 within 14 days after a day that the employee performed labor or services at the employee’s place of employment at the employer’s direction;

b.  The day referenced in subparagraph (a) on which the employee performed labor or services at the employee’s place of employment at the employer’s direction was on or after March 19, 2020;

c.  The employee’s place of employment referenced in subparagraphs (a) and (b) was not the employee’s home or residence; and;

d.  Where subparagraph (a) is satisfied through a diagnosis of COVID-19, the diagnosis was done by a physician who holds a physician and surgeon license issued by the California Medical Board and that diagnosis is confirmed by further testing within 30 days of the date of the diagnosis.”

Insurance companies have 30 days from the date of a COVID-19 diagnosis to rebut with evidence.

According to the Executive Order, the presumption pertains only “to dates of injury occurring through 60 days following the date of this Order.”

The order establishes a rebuttable presumption that any essential workers infected with COVID-19 contracted the virus on the job. It is important to understand the order shifts the burden of proof from the injured worker and now requires employers or insurance companies to prove the employee didn’t get sick at the place of work.

Prior to the change, it was difficult to prove workers’ compensation claims related to a COVID-19 infection.

Rancho Mesa’s Response

In response to the Executive Order and other proposed rule changes, Rancho Mesa President David Garcia interviewed Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies President Rob Darby on the impact to California businesses and the workers’ compensation market. Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest workers’ compensation insurance companies in California.

Read Governor Newsom’s Executive Order on Cal/Gov website.

Please contact your Rancho Mesa broker with questions specific to your business.

Youth Protection Policy - Are You Protected?

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

California Governor, Gavin Newsome, signed a new state law on October 13th, 2019 to better protect California’s survivors of child abuse. In response, youth organizations and insurance companies expect a surge in legal activity in 2020.

This new law will give survivors of childhood sexual abuse until age 40 to file a civil suit against their attackers. This is a 14-year increase from the previous age limit of 26. Adult survivors previously had three years from discovering the abuse to sue, but the new law now provides a five year window. The new law also suspends the statute of limitations to three years beginning January 1, 2020. No age limit will be enforced during the three-year span.

The State of New York passed a similar law on January 25, 2019 named the “Child Victims Act.” Among other changes, the new law allows survivors of any age to come forward beginning August 1, 2019. More than 400 lawsuits were filed the first day the act took effect.

Insurance companies offering abuse liability insurance in California are prepared for a surge in legal activity in 2020. New lawsuits may cause an increase to insurance premiums and negatively impact the carriers’ capacity to offer higher limits of liability.

Youth organizations that normally rely on insurance companies to cover the cost of defense and settlement in these cases, may find themselves in financial jeopardy if insurance limits become exhausted.

It is imperative that school districts and other youth organizations take a critical look at youth protection policies and safeguards moving forward. This may include added training, mandatory background checks, and eliminating one-on-one interactions.

Please contact Rancho Mesa to learn about resources for creating a strong youth protection policy.

Information sourced from The Legal Examiner and ABC News.

OSHA Offers Grant Programs to Nonprofits

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Nonprofit leaders who want to make workplace safety training more accessible may be surprised to learn about a unique grant program through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Since 1978, OSHA has offered grants to nonprofit organizations for safety training. Specifically, grants are awarded on a competitive basis to provide employees with training on the recognition and prevention of safety/health hazards in the workplace. The intent of the program is to reach audiences who might not otherwise receive safety training. OSHA renamed the program the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, in 1997.

Grant applications in the past have typically fallen into three categories:

1. Capacity Building: OSHA awards these grants to help an organization grow or build its capacity to provide safety and health training to target audiences; small business employees, hard-to-reach or low-literacy workers, and workers in vulnerable and high-hazard industries.

2. Targeted Topic: These grants focus on occupational safety and health hazards associated with one of the OSHA selected training topics.

3. Training Materials Development: Grantees develop training materials on one of the OSHA selected training topics.

Although state or local government agencies are not eligible to apply, nonprofit organizations, including qualifying community and faith-based organizations, employer associations, and labor unions may submit applications.

The Harwood solicitation for grant applications can be found on the government-wide Grants.gov website.     

3 Ways for Nonprofits to Opt Out of Unemployment Tax

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Nonprofit leaders who want to reduce overhead and tax burdens should consider revisiting their organizations’ unemployment tax status. More to the point, thanks to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act of 1972, nonprofits can eliminate the unemployment insurance tax and outsource the headache of claims administration. Let’s investigate further.

Traditionally, the state charges a nonprofit employer payroll tax to fund the state unemployment insurance program. Each nonprofit’s tax rate adjusts each year depending on employee turnover and unemployment claims. According to several sources, nonprofits pay an average of $2.00 in taxes for every $1.00 in paid claims. So how do we reduce this overage?

Now for the good news; nonprofits are not required to pay the state unemployment tax. Provision 3309a of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act allows 501(c)(3)s to choose whether to pay into the state program at the prescribed tax rate, or to pay into the program an amount equal to the actual unemployment benefits paid out by the state program. In other words, a nonprofit employer may “opt out” and reimburse the state.

Below are three “opt out” and administrative solutions a nonprofit should consider depending on its desired level of risk.

1. First Dollar Insurance: A private insurance company provides a fixed rate based on the nonprofit’s individual claims history and expected future claims. This option provides budgetary certainty with a low-risk product. If unemployment claims exceed expectations, there is no additional cost to the employer.

2. Customized Stop-Loss Insurance: For nonprofit leaders who want to accept more risk and realize higher savings, the employer pays an agreed upon self-insured retention, after which point the insurance company pays all benefits.

3. Nonprofit Unemployment Trust: For nonprofit organizations with high employee retention or low unemployment claims frequency, a trust can offer a high return in exchange for higher risk. In most cases, the trust protects the employer against unexpected, catastrophic charges. The nonprofit employer has a high retention that must be met before the protection is triggered.

Each solution presented above provides services to further reduce risk and unemployment expenses. These services include claims management, hearing representation, unemployment cost management training, and transparent billing and accounting.

Whether the nonprofit pays unemployment taxes or reimburses the state, there are advantages and disadvantages. Nonprofit leaders who understand these details and the nuances of each solution will have the confidence to move forward in the direction that best suits the organization.

Cyberbulling: Identify and Prevent

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

While schools and nonprofit agencies serving youth are typically very serious about preserving child safety, organizations’ leaders may not understand the risk factors or have a plan in place to prevent a growing threat: cyberbullying. The Cyberbullying Research Center states that about 28% of recently surveyed youth and teens have been the victim of cyberbullying in their lifetime, and 16% admitted to participating in cyberbullying. This article will define cyberbullying, identify risk factors, and list preventative measures.

Defining Cyberbullying

The Cyberbullying Research Center defines cyberbullying as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.”

Identifying Risk Factors

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, young people who have difficulty interacting with others in-person are the most likely to participate in risky online behavior. According to StopBullying.gov, these are the following warning signs that a child is being cyberbullied or is cyberbullying others:

• Noticeable increases or decreases in devise use, including texting.

• A child exhibits emotional responses to what is happening on the device.

• A child hides their screen or device when others are near, and avoids discussion about what they are doing on their device.

• Social media accounts are shut down or new ones appear.

• A child starts to avoid social situations, even those that were enjoyed in the past.

• A child becomes withdrawn or depressed, or loses interest in people and activities.

Preventative Measures

In the Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s article entitled “Cyberbullying and Cyber Threats to Young People,” Lexie Williams lists useful preventative measures. This list includes:

• Reparative Justice: Rule violations result in a concerted effort to repair damaged relationships between all impacted individuals. This approach has the potential to help the cyberbullying victim as well as the bully, reducing the likelihood of repeat incidents.

• Behavior contracts for youth and teens, served by the organization, should explain how cyberbullying will be handled, and require a signature prior to an individual being allowed to use the Internet. This effort can be supported with training and supervision.

• Establish consequences for youth who misuse technology, and follow a process for parent notification.

• Reassure youth that being bullied is never their fault and provide training on what to do when they are the victim of bullying.

• Keep computers and other technology in a shared and supervised area.

• Convey to program participants the negative effects cyberbullying has on victims and perpetrators.

Bullying of any sort has negative effects on a nonprofit or school’s youth participants. Cyberbullying is the latest version, so an organization’s leaders must adapt to today’s tech savvy kids and the inherent risks technology can present.

Please contact Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. at (619) 438-6869 to access the “My Risk Assessment” tool and learn how to better protect your youth participants.

Four Factors When Developing a Nonprofit Agency's Youth Protection Plan

When designing youth protection measures, many nonprofit leaders want to understand the industry’s “best practices” and incorporate what already works for others. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to identify one set of “best practices” or a universal checklist all organizations should adopt. As a result, it will benefit nonprofit leaders and their clients to tailor daily practices to the unique exposures and operations of the agency. When doing so, it’s best to consider four important factors when designing a youth protection program.

In A Season of Hope, authored by the staff at the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, the authors refer to these interlocking factors as the “Four P’s: Personnel, Participants, Program, and Premises. Let’s explore:

Staffing

The nature of the services offered to youth will dictate the staff’s professional background and education. Those nonprofits offering therapy and counseling will aim to hire employees with advanced degrees; whereas, some programs may feel comfortable hiring responsible teens and young adults. In each case, supervision and background checks are vital to client safety.

Participant Mix

Is the agency serving a pre-school program for kids who are relatively close in age with similar needs? Or, perhaps, it is a group home involving minors who all have differing special needs due to their unique family situations and backgrounds. What unique risks to the organization does each group present? Considering the characteristics of a nonprofit’s youth clientele will shape an organization’s approach to youth protection.    

Program and Mission

An organization must consider how its mission and programs will impact youth safety. A nonprofit conducting group outings to encourage social behavior will not have the same concerns as an organization matching children with foster families. Each will present unique exposures. 

Environment

Nonprofits serve youth in a wide range of venues and environments, and each present different risks. The variables can include supervision, activities at height, access to emergency care, and sleeping arrangements. Knowing this, it is vital for an organization’s leaders to identify how a venue presents risk to youth safety and then plan accordingly. 
   
“My Risk Assessment” is a very strong tool available through Rancho Mesa Insurance Services. This interactive module allows nonprofit leaders to identify potential gaps in risk management in a number of areas, including client safety, transportation, and facilities.

Keeping young clients safe while in a nonprofit’s care is a core promise of the organization to the community. When nonprofit leaders take a careful look at the four P's, they can reduce the risk of harm while also ensuring the mission endures.

Please contact Rancho Mesa at (619) 937-0164 to learn more about sound risk management practices.
 

4 Simple Steps for Passenger Van Safety

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Many of our agency's social service and nonprofit clients serve an important function for individuals and families...transportation! Whether helping a physically challenged child get to school or embarking on a day trip to the mall with a group of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it's vital to manage all risks associated with transporting clients.

This article outlines important driver safety guidelines. You will also learn safety tips and the factors contributing to rollovers with large passenger vans.

Start from Day 1

Ensure all new hires receive a driver safety orientation. Make sure they understand the organization's safety policies as well as processes tied to safety. This must include volunteers who may perform driving duties for the organization. 

Employee Screening and Incident Reports

Require new hire candidates to submit a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) with the employment application, while also checking MVRs periodically. Candidates and employees who don't meet your insurance company's driver guidelines, or pose a liability to the organization, can be restricted from driving or be required to complete additional driver training. It is also a best practice to formalize an accident reporting and investigation process. 

Establish a Written Driver Safety Policy

Document the organization's culture of safety and the need to protect clients, employees, and volunteers while on the road. Include a code of conduct with regards to seat belt use, driving while under the influence, distracted driving, incident reporting, and vehicle maintenance. 

Understand the Risks of Passenger Vans

Large passenger vans, such as 15-passenger vans, are at a high risk of rollover. 

Contributing factors

• Number of occupants: vehicles with less than 10 passengers are three times less likely to rollover
• Speed: The odds of rollover are 5x greater when traveling on high speed roads (+50mph)
• Road curvature: The odds of rolling over double on curved roads vs. straight roads
• Tire inflation: An NHTSA study found that 74% of 15-passenger vans have at least one tire underinflated by 25% or more. Underinflated tires are at a higher risk of blowout.

Safety Tips

• Never allow more passengers than allotted seats. Fill seats from front to back of the vehicle if you have open seats.
• Only allow experienced and trained drivers to operate 15-passenger vans.
• Load cargo forward of the rear axle to enhance stability and control.
• Inspect vehicles for wear and tire pressure. Maintain an accurate log.
• Replace tires on a regular basis
• Keep the vehicle within the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR).

The risk associated with transporting clients is important to recognize and manage. With close attention to safety and written procedures any social service or nonprofit organization can successfully help move around town. Be safe out there.

For more information about transportation safety, contact Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. at (619) 937-0164.

Resources:
Safety is Not a Luxury: Understanding the Risks of Passenger Vans, https://www.nonprofitrisk.org/app/uploads/2016/12/1222-NRM-16-Summer-Newsletter-D3
Before You Hit the Road: Stepping Stones of Driver Safety, https://www.nonprofitrisk.org/resources/articles/before-you-hit-the-road-stepping-stones-of-driver-safety/

7 Tips for Managing Risk at Nonprofit Special Events

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Nonprofit organizations often conduct special events throughout the year. These events can successfully increase awareness of the nonprofit’s mission, generate important unrestricted revenue, and offer all stakeholders a nice opportunity to have fun. Unfortunately, important risk management steps are often overlooked before the day of the event. Let’s look at a few that can limit exposure to risk.

1. Documenting Risk Management Activities
In addition to helping train and supervise personnel, a written plan can help to ensure important actions take place. Documenting activities also helps an organization defend its actions if an accident occurs. 

2. Safety Officer
Consider assigning risk management oversight specifically to one person. The “safety officer” should receive the proper training and resources to safeguard the event, the organization, the participants, and others.

3. Crisis Response Team
To prevent a crisis from draining valuable resources, develop a crisis response team of three to five people. This team should handle any emergency quickly and effectively while working with all stakeholders.

4. Pre-Event Inspections
This important step helps you identify and correct unsafe conditions before an event as well as identify pre-existing damage to the property. During the inspection, note any damages prior to the event and give a copy to the facility manager. It is also a good idea to inspect the premises during and after the event. 

5. Emergency Plans
A host of things can go wrong at a special event, so an organization must know how to address these when they occur. Consider the following: evacuations, medical emergencies, crowd control, and limiting alcohol consumption.

6. Volunteers
Ensuring that your “day of” volunteers are properly trained and supervised is a very important risk management challenge. Without such precautions, great harm can come to the organization. Allow time to screen and select the best candidates.

7. Food and Beverages
Will your organization provide and serve food, or, is a vendor performing these functions? You can transfer risk to vendors in most situations, but if your organization is providing food and beverage then consider the following:

• Facilities: Is there adequate preparation, storage, and refrigeration facilities for the type of food?

• Health Regulations: Do you need a health department permit? What other health department regulations should you consider?

• Food Spoilage and Contamination: Do your food handlers have the proper training for handling the food being served?

These are only a few of the very important risk management practices a nonprofit organization should consider before a special event. Ignoring these exposures in the planning phase can turn a fun day into a costly event.  For a full risk assessment of your special event and other activities, please contact Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.s at (619) 937-1064.

Sources: The Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s “My Assessment“ module (www.nonprofitrisk.org).