Nonprofits Insurance Alliance
Nonprofits Insurance Alliance (NIA) is a group of cooperative 501(c)(3) nonprofit insurance organizations that provide liability and property insurance exclusively to other 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The group is rated A (Excellent) VIII by A.M. Best and currently provides coverage to 18,000 nonprofits in 32 states and Washington D.C. Mission and Services. NIA's mission is to provide a stable source of reasonably priced liability and property insurance tailored to the specialized needs of the nonprofit sector, and to assist these organizations in developing and implementing successful loss control and risk management programs. The motto for the group is , “A head for insurance. A heart for nonprofits.” The group's insurance coverages include General Liability, Directors and Officers, Flat Rate D&O, Improper Sexual Conduct, Social Service Professional, Employee Benefits Liability, Business Auto, Non-Owned/Hired Auto, Umbrella Liability, Auto Physical Damage, Employee Dishonesty, Commercial Property, and Participant/Volunteer Accident. NIA also published the online nonprofit trade magazine "Blue Avocado". History. Pamela Davis, NIA's Founder, President and CEO, was a graduate student at UC Berkeley during the liability insurance crisis of the 1980s, when insurance companies raised their premiums drastically, reduced their coverages, and left some segments of the  market, including many nonprofits, completely uncovered. Davis' master's thesis, documented how the insurance crisis was harming nonprofit organizations and in some cases even putting them out of business. In 1987, she testified before the California General Assembly that: Based on her research, Davis was convinced that conventional insurers did not fully understand insurance risk in the nonprofit sector, so she set out to create a nonprofit risk pool that could better meet the needs of nonprofits in California. In 1989, Davis secured $1.3 million in loans from nonprofit partners and foundations to create the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of  California (NIAC), the first and largest company in NIA. Over the next decade, NIAC grew to serve thousands of nonprofits, but its operations were limited to the state of California. In order to replicate the NIAC model nationwide, Davis secured $5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and $5 million from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation to found the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group (ANI). Companies in the group. Nonprofits Insurance Alliance is an insurance cooperative composed of four distinct 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations: Press Coverage. Coverage of the Nonprofit Insurance Alliance's work includes