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They said it couldnot be done
“Leadersarevisionarieswithapoorlydeveloped senseof fear andno
conceptof theoddsagainst them.”—Dr. Robert Jarvik
Our companieswere founded in response
to a crisis, duringwhichmany nonprofits
suffered from skyrocketing liability insur-
ance prices in themid-1980s.Nonprofits
were poorly understood by commercial
insurancecarriers, who viewed their diverse
community serving activities as risky.
Our founder envisioned a different type
of insurer—one that wouldpartnerwith
nonprofits tomake them stronger andmore
effective organizations by pricing their poli-
cies fairly, andmaintaining stable prices
over the longhaul. This partnershipwould
extend beyond responding to claims; it
would include valuable resources and
training to help prevent accidents from
happening in the first place.
It was a lofty goal, and anuntestedpremise.
Many doors slammed shut, but with the
financial backing of some forward-thinking
foundations, PamelaDavis turnedher
master’s thesis into a business plan and in
1989, launched theNonprofits’ Insurance
Alliance ofCalifornia (NIAC).
A littlemore than ten years later, on theheels
of unprecedented success inCalifornia and
with $10million in foundation grantmoney,
we expanded themodel into other states.
Today, 25 years later,more than 13,000non-
profits in 31 states and theDistrict ofColum-
bia are insuredby thisGroup of companies.
Withmore than $350million in assets, we
arenow a leader in the insurancemarketplace
for nonprofits.
It’s been a long road, but becausenonprofits
took charge of a difficult situation, they have
better options available to them today no
matterwhere they buy their insurance.What
started as a response to a crisis has become a
leading example of the power of nonprofits
working together.
“WehavebeenwithNIAC from thebeginning.
For 25 years,wehaveappreciatedhaving
apartnerwecancount on toprovide the
coverageweneedand inspired service.
Asanonprofit itself,NIAC trulyunderstands
whatnonprofitsneedandvalue.
Congratulationson thismilestone!”
—MarilynBorchardt, FoodFirst, Inc.
