Nonprofit insurance in New York

Not for unpaid volunteers. The Workers' Compensation Board says unpaid, uncompensated volunteers doing charitable work for a nonprofit are not employees and don't have to be covered, and a nonprofit that pays no one, executive officers included, doesn't need a policy. Watch the word compensation: the Board counts stipends, room and board and other perks with money value, though money that only reimburses expenses doesn't count. Once you pay anyone, workers' comp applies to them unless the Board lists an exception, and DBL and Paid Family Leave follow after 30 days of employment in a calendar year.

Yes, though New York limits it. Under Not-for-Profit Corporation Law §720-a, unpaid directors, officers and trustees of a 501(c)(3) organization are liable to outsiders only for gross negligence or harm they intended. That doesn't stop the lawsuit from being filed, it doesn't apply to an action by the Attorney General, and it doesn't cover the organization itself. Defending a claim until a court applies the rule costs money, and that is the first thing D&O insurance pays.

Directors and officers insurance pays defense costs and settlements when the board or the organization is accused of a wrongful act in running it: a mismanaged grant, a dispute with a member or a vendor, a decision someone says broke the bylaws, or an employment claim if the policy includes it. Section 726 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law lets a nonprofit buy insurance for its directors and officers, but no policy can pay them, beyond defense, where a final judgment finds deliberate dishonesty or personal gain they weren't entitled to. Board candidates ask because their own savings stand behind their decisions if there is no policy.

Abuse and molestation coverage, deliberately added. A standard general liability policy may exclude abuse claims or say nothing about them, and the coverage that answers them has its own limits and conditions: background checks for staff and volunteers, a rule that no adult is alone with a child, written reporting procedures and training. Carriers ask about each before they quote. If you run a licensed child care program, see the daycare page as well.

It depends on who sells the drinks. The State Liquor Authority describes three ways a nonprofit can sell or serve alcohol for drinking on site: a one-day permit for beer, wine and cider, its own on-premises license, or an event catered by a licensed business. If you sell under a one-day permit, check whether your general liability's host liquor cover still applies or whether the liquor exclusion takes over, and add liquor liability for the event if it does. If a caterer pours, ask for its liquor liability certificate naming your organization as additional insured.

Crime coverage, sometimes called a fidelity bond or employee dishonesty coverage. It pays the organization back when an employee, and by endorsement a volunteer or officer, steals money or property. General liability and D&O don't. Pair it with controls carriers ask about: two signatures on checks, a second person reconciling the bank statements and an annual review of the books.

Yes, anywhere in New York. I meet boards in person in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties and work by phone, email and video everywhere else. Once you choose and the policies are in force, I get you the certificates for your landlord, venues and funders.