How This Nonprofit Saved $50,000 on General Liability Insurance
- Daryl Henry
- Jul 29, 2025
- 4 min read
If your nonprofit is paying too much for liability insurance, you’re not alone. General liability premiums can eat up a huge part of your budget. Especially right now in 2025 for social services, it’s easy to be put in a position where you are not getting the best consideration. All it takes is one bad inspection report, or one claim, and you may get the feedback that the insurance marketplace considers you to be uninsurable.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through a real story of nonprofit general liability insurance savings—how I helped an after-school program save 75% on their premium. That’s a $50,000 drop in annual cost without sacrificing coverage.
This wasn’t a fluke. It was the result of a clear, strategic approach—and if your organization feels stuck, the same process might work for you.
The Problem: $70,000 Premiums and No Way Out
This nonprofit was operating five after-school program locations across Maryland. Their mission was strong – they provide after-school programming for families in Baltimore that would otherwise have a difficult time affording care. Their operations were solid, which was evidenced by the fact they had no claims. But their insurance? It was killing their budget.
They were paying over $70,000 a year for general liability insurance.
Worse yet, every time they spoke to their broker, it was more bad news:
“There are no better options.”
“This is just how the market is right now.”
“Sorry—another increase this year.”
Sound familiar?
This client didn’t just feel overcharged. They felt hopeless.
Step 1: Understand the Risk—and the Story Behind It
When I sat down with them, I quickly found the root of the issue.
They had a bad license inspection on record—something that makes underwriters nervous. Especially right now in 2025. There has been avalanche of abuse and lack of care lawsuits, and any hint there could be issues with a program is enough for an underwriter ot pass on a deal. But the real problem wasn’t just the inspection. It was that their broker wasn’t telling the whole story.
The application was going out to carriers without any explanation. No context. No plan. No narrative that showed how the organization was improving.
In insurance, perception is everything. If all the market sees is a red flag and no response, they assume the worst—and price it that way.
Step 2: Build a Narrative That Unlocks Savings
To unlock true nonprofit general liability insurance savings, you have to tell the right story to the right markets. So I built a full underwriting narrative that did just that.
Here’s what I included:
Acknowledgment of the inspection issues—no hiding or sugarcoating.
Details on what changed—new compliance leadership, new internal systems, and a commitment to proactive risk management.
Profitability proof—this client hadn’t had a claim in years. Their previous carrier had made money on them despite the inspection.
This wasn’t a spin job. It was a clear, truthful explanation of risk—and how that risk was being managed.
Step 3: Submit to the Right Carriers—With the Right Positioning
Now here’s where things turned around.
The previous broker had submitted this nonprofit as if they were a for-profit business. That mistake excluded them from a big portion of the market—carriers that specialize in nonprofit risks.
When I repositioned the account as what it actually was—a mission-driven, community-focused nonprofit—I was able to access a different segment of the market. These carriers understand nonprofits. They know how to price them. And they care about the story.
Sure enough, one of those nonprofit-specialty carriers responded.
Just one.
But it was enough.
Their quote came back at $20,000. That’s a $50,000 drop—a 75% savings—on the exact same general liability coverage.
Step 4: Think in Multi-Year Strategy, Not One-Year Band-Aids
One of the biggest takeaways from this case is that true nonprofit general liability insurance savings comes from strategy, not shopping around every year.
From the very beginning, I talked with the client about taking a multi-year approach:
Year 1: Control the damage, tell the story, and get the best result possible.
Year 2: Build on the improvements, create positive inspection history.
Year 3: Position the risk for more competitive options as trust is built.
This is what most brokers miss. They focus on short-term price and ignore long-term results.
Why This Worked
This wasn’t magic—and it wasn’t about cutting corners. It worked because:
We submitted a complete picture of the risk.
We told the truth—but framed it in a forward-looking way.
We targeted carriers who specialize in nonprofits.
We treated the client like a partner with a long-term plan.
What This Means for Other Nonprofits
If you’re running a nonprofit—especially one with multiple locations—you’ve probably felt some of the same pressure:
“Why is our general liability premium so high?”
“Why doesn’t our broker have any better options?”
“Why can’t anyone explain how this stuff works?”
You deserve better than vague answers and “take it or leave it” renewals.
This case proves that nonprofit general liability insurance savings are possible—but only if someone is willing to dig deep and actually tell your story to the market.
The ROI of Better Insurance Strategy
Let’s put the savings into perspective.
This nonprofit saved $50,000. That’s not just a number. That’s:
More teachers in the classroom
More students served
More dollars reinvested into the mission
They didn’t get there by luck. They got there by working with a broker who had a strategy, not just a submission form.
And you can too.
Final Thoughts: Your Premium Isn’t Set in Stone
If your current broker is telling you there are no better options, maybe it’s time to get a second opinion.
If your inspection history is working against you, maybe it’s time to fix the story, not just the price.
And if your nonprofit is ready to finally unlock real general liability insurance savings, maybe it’s time to work with someone who knows where to look—and how to get there.
Got questions about your nonprofit’s insurance? I’m always happy to talk through what’s possible—and whether a better path might be out there for you.
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