Growing Your Agency While Giving Back to the Community

BY BETSY MYATT, INSURANCE INDUSTRY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

As an industry built upon a foundation of helping people in their times of need, many insurance professionals view serving and supporting their local communities through philanthropic initiatives as naturally complementary to their job. In keeping with this noble purpose, as agents and brokers search for ways to give back in tandem with actionable ways to grow their businesses, volunteer service and charitable giving should be a component of their plans.

While the core of philanthropy and community service is to benefit a greater good, there are business benefits to engaging in such work. In addition to growing an agent or broker’s network and attracting new talent who seek out employers who give back, communicating local engagement in the right way offers the opportunity to humanize business relationships and highlight involvement as trusted and caring community members.

Getting Started

Insurance agents and brokers can easily get involved locally, as well as on a broader scale within the greater insurance industry if they know where to look.

When it comes to volunteering, agency staff can ask clients for information about local volunteer opportunities, charitable organizations, or causes important to them personally. An added benefit of having such conversations is the trust they build. These conversations showcase an interest outside the traditional scope of insurance and highlight the agent/broker’s desire to invest in the betterment of their community.

Second, agents and brokers can tap into organizations like the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) for philanthropic opportunities. IICF is a unique nonprofit that unites the collective strength of the insurance industry to help communities and enrich lives through grants, volunteer service, and leadership. With four divisions across the United States and one in the United Kingdom, IICF offers insurance professionals access to an array of local, national, and international volunteer projects and many other initiatives to make an impact.

Independent agents and brokers are already strongly aligned with IICF in its Northeast Division through their local grants program. IICF’s Northeast Division awards many smaller grants of $10,000, where independent agents are typically the recommenders of these grant prospects. Further, leaders of the Big I New York and the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA NY, NJ, CT, NH, VT), representing thousands of agencies in the region, currently serve as members of the IICF Northeast Division Board of Directors and Northeast Grants Committee.

IICF also hosts many events throughout the year where insurance professionals can network while participating in volunteering and charitable giving. For example, independent agents and brokers have joined together with leading carriers through IICF’s signature Fill the Truck food drives in the Western and Southeast divisions. With their help, the IICF Arizona Chapter recently provided nearly 22,000 meals to local families struggling with food insecurity. Many volunteer projects are available during the IICF Week of Giving, our annual celebration of the industry’s commitment to community service and giving back, held this year October 14-21.

Larger scale leadership events such as the IICF Inclusion in Insurance Regional Forums, hosted every other year in Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, and New York, allow independent agents a more geographically accessible opportunity to network and learn from insurance and other business, wellness, and sustainability leaders and influencers in their own backyards. Making key connections at IICF leadership events can potentially lead to important growth opportunities.

By joining IICF’s Global Membership Program, independent agents and brokers, and their staff, have a way to benefit from IICF’s offerings, such as exclusive volunteer projects along with programming and networking opportunities with industry leaders, on an individual basis. IICF Members can engage with like-minded and socially conscious colleagues to grow professionally, expand networks, and make a difference in their communities.

Leveraging Your Positive Impact

Once agents and brokers have identified the right volunteer and charitable giving opportunities for their agencies, they’ll want to communicate the impact they’re making in the community to existing clients, prospects, and more. Best practices to do this include:

Take advantage of social media: When engaging with a charitable organization or participating in local events, agents/brokers should consider sharing their efforts via social media, tagging their organizations and fellow professionals involved. Tagging and sharing content online amplifies your messages and impact (and be sure to take quality photos for your social media and website).

Embrace thought leadership: Agents and brokers can use thought leadership content to showcase their philanthropic expertise and experiences to their network and with the industry at large. They can publish pieces on LinkedIn, in community newspapers, and in client and prospect mailers. Original content can help to establish that agent or broker as a good business leader and reliable contributor to the community.

Tell a story: Agents and brokers can write and share about the impact their philanthropic work is having by adding a human element and background.

Be transparent: Transparency with your network, especially when soliciting donations, is critical to building trust. People will want to know why an agency is participating in an initiative – what is your connection to the cause, who/ what contributions will benefit, and how to get involved.

As part of an industry rooted in giving back, many agents and brokers feel a responsibility to volunteer and participate in charitable giving. Fortunately, they have a plethora of opportunities to give back and share their good deeds. Get started by visiting the IICF website to learn how to get involved with you community.

Betsy Myatt is vice president and chief program officer for the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, as well as executive director for the Northeast Division. Myatt has led IICF Inclusion in Insurance Conference Series, founded as the Women in Insurance Conference Series, since its inception in 2013.