Pamela Davis on Nonprofits Insurance, Risk, and Staying Mission Driven for 35 Years

Insurance is not glamorous. It is paperwork, premiums, and conversations most nonprofit leaders would rather avoid.

But if you run a nonprofit long enough, you learn a hard truth.

The moment you need insurance is the moment it is too late to start thinking about it.

In this episode of the Charity Charge Show, host Stephen Garten sits down with Pamela Davis, Founder and CEO of the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance, a nonprofit insurer that serves roughly 26,000 to 27,000 nonprofits across California and 32 additional states. Pamela shares how a graduate school thesis turned into a 35 year mission, why traditional insurance markets fail nonprofits, and what new and small organizations need to know before a claim ever happens.

Episode highlights

Pamela Davis is the founder and CEO of the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance, a group of two nonprofit insurers built specifically to serve 501(c)(3)s. One entity insures nonprofits in California and the other insures nonprofits in 32 other states.

Together, the organizations serve about 26,000 to 27,000 nonprofits and have grown to roughly $1 billion in assets.

Stephen and Pamela also dig into the practical side of nonprofit coverage, what to buy first, how underwriting works for small budgets, and why advocacy has become a crucial part of keeping the nonprofit sector insurable.