Insurance Designed for Nonprofit Organizations
Nonprofit organizations exist to serve their communities — but that mission does not protect them from lawsuits, property losses, employment disputes, or the financial consequences of a cyberattack. In fact, nonprofits often face greater exposure than similarly-sized businesses, with less financial cushion to absorb a major loss.
GLS Insurance specializes in nonprofit insurance across all 17 states in our territory: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. We work with carriers that understand the nonprofit sector and build coverage programs tailored to how nonprofits actually operate.
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Directors and Officers Insurance
Risk Factor
What happens if a board member invests the non-profit's assets unwisely and loses everything? A creditor might sue the non-profit as well as its directors and officers. Non-profit organizations are not immune to lawsuits. It’s possible someone may disagree with the way you run the organization and file suit. Oftentimes, non-profits don't have deep pockets to fight these types of lawsuits, therefore putting the organization at risk.
Solution
Directors and officers liability insurance protects your directors, officers, trustees, employees, volunteers, and the entity from any act or alleged act, error, omission, misstatement, misleading statement, or breach of duty.
General Liability Insurance
Risk Factor
Water on the floor, slippery entry in the winter, broken glass/hazardous debris, etc. These can all be accidents waiting to happen that make your non-profit susceptible. Claims may arise due to bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, and more.
Solution
General liability insurance is an absolute necessity for any business. It provides broad coverage when you are deemed responsible and liable, and will also pay to defend any covered lawsuit or action regardless of its merit.
Workers' Compensation
Risk Factor
If one of your employees receives an injury or becomes ill due to a work-related occurrence, you are required by law to have the proper coverage in place.
Solution
Workers' compensation protects your employees should a job-related injury or sickness occur during the course of employment. This coverage is required by law and may vary by area, so be sure that you understand your obligations for all physical locations where your business operates in and all physical locations where you hire your employees.
Commercial Property Insurance
Risk Factor
When a fire, theft, or another type of disaster strikes, your commercial property and everything within it can suffer a significant loss. This can have a detrimental effect on your organization.
Solution
Commercial property insurance can help protect the property your business owns and leases, including things like equipment, inventory, furniture, and fixtures. Whether you own your building or lease your workspace, commercial property insurance can be purchased separately or can be combined with other necessary coverage to protect your business’ physical assets.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
Risk Factor
On average, it's estimated that three out of five businesses will be sued by their employees. Claims can stem from just about anything, such as someone taking a joke the wrong way and being offended. While there is nothing you can do to prevent someone from filing a lawsuit, there is something you can do to limit the costs of defending a legal claim.
Solution
The right coverage is critical to your risk management process as it protects against discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and other employment-related allegations.
Business Income Insurance
Risk Factor
What would you do if an email virus impacted the operation of your database and prevented you from serving clients for a day or more? Or what if a hacker or cyber criminal caused a system outage or extended downtime, leaving your business inoperable? These and other events can destroy your ability to serve clients and bring in revenue, which can have a major long-term impact on the viability of your business.
Solution
Business income insurance compensates you for lost income if your company cannot operate as normal due to disaster-related damage that is covered under your commercial property insurance policy, such as a data breach or cyber attack. Business income insurance covers the revenue you would have earned, based on your financial records, had the disaster not occurred. The policy also covers operating expenses, like electricity, that continue even though business activities have come to a temporary halt.
Professional Liability
Risk Factor
Lawsuits can happen to anyone, and the damages can be hefty whether you win or lose. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ll need to defend yourself. So regardless of whether a contract requires it, without professional liability coverage, you could be putting your business’ future at risk.
Solution
Similar to directors and officers liability insurance, professional liability coverage protects against liabilities resulting from mismanagement of the organization, as well as workplace-related claims such as discrimination or sexual harassment. It covers not only directors and officers, but also staff, volunteers, and the non-profit organization itself.
Core Coverages for Nonprofit Organizations
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Directors and Officers (D&O) Liability — The single most important coverage for any nonprofit with a governing board. Without D&O, board members can be held personally liable for governance decisions, financial management, and organizational direction. Many qualified community leaders will refuse to serve on a board without this protection.
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General Liability Insurance — Covers bodily injury and property damage claims arising from your programs, events, facilities, and staff and volunteer activities.
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Commercial Property Insurance — Protects your building, equipment, furniture, and program supplies. Property exposures vary widely — hail in Kansas and Nebraska, hurricanes in Florida and South Carolina, wildfire in Arizona and Colorado.
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Workers’ Compensation — Required by law for nonprofit employees in most states. Requirements vary by state and GLS Insurance helps navigate them all.
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Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) — Covers wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, and other employment-related allegations.
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Professional Liability / E&O — Protects nonprofits providing counseling, case management, social work, or professional services from claims of negligence or errors.
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Abuse and Molestation Liability — Essential for nonprofits serving children, elderly adults, individuals with disabilities, or other vulnerable populations.
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Cyber Liability Insurance — Nonprofits maintain donor databases, client records, and grant data that make them targets. A breach can damage donor trust and trigger regulatory obligations across multiple states.
Frequently Asked Questions: Nonprofit Insurance
Does our nonprofit really need Directors and Officers insurance?
Yes, without exception. Board members can be held personally liable for decisions made on behalf of the organization — even good-faith decisions. Many experienced community leaders will refuse to serve on a board that does not carry D&O protection.
Our nonprofit operates in multiple states. Can GLS coordinate coverage?
Yes. GLS Insurance is licensed in all 22 states in our service territory and regularly coordinates multi-state nonprofit programs. Worker’s comp, employment law, and insurance requirements differ significantly state to state — we manage those differences so you do not have to.
Can GLS also help with employee benefits for our nonprofit staff?
Absolutely. GLS Insurance has a dedicated benefits practice helping nonprofits offer competitive group health, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage — a critical tool for attracting and retaining mission-driven staff.
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