Are Your Volunteers Protected? What Every Nonprofit Should Know

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Presented by Sarah Goyette

Volunteers are the heart of many nonprofit organizations, but one important coverage gap is often overlooked.

In most cases, volunteers are not considered employees and are therefore not covered under a Workers’ Compensation policy. If a volunteer is injured while helping your organization, they may have limited options for covering medical expenses unless other protections are in place.

To help reduce your organization’s exposure, nonprofits should consider:

  • Using volunteer waivers or liability releases. While a waiver cannot prevent every claim, it can help demonstrate that volunteers understand the risks associated with their activities.
  • Reviewing Volunteer Accident & Health coverage. This optional policy may provide benefits for volunteers injured while performing authorized duties for your organization.

It’s important to understand that Volunteer Accident & Health coverage is generally supplemental. This means a volunteer’s own health insurance is typically the primary source of coverage, and the accident policy may help pay eligible expenses that remain after the health insurance has responded, subject to the policy’s terms and limits.

Every nonprofit is unique, and volunteer exposures can vary significantly depending on the organization’s activities. Taking a few moments to review your volunteer management procedures and insurance program can help protect both your volunteers and your organization.

If your organization relies on volunteers, we’d be happy to review your current coverage and discuss whether additional protection may be appropriate.

 

Keep Your Summer Fun Worry Free

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Summer is the season for vacations, backyard barbecues, pool parties, and weekends on the water. While you’re busy making memories, it’s also the perfect time to ensure your insurance coverage keeps pace with your summer activities. A quick policy review today can help prevent unexpected expenses tomorrow.

  1. Make Sure Your Home Is Ready for Summer Guests

If you have a swimming pool, trampoline, fire pit, or regularly host family and friends, it’s worth reviewing your homeowners liability coverage. Accidents can happen, and if someone is injured on your property, you could be responsible for medical expenses or legal costs.

Take a few minutes to review your liability limits with your insurance advisor. If you want additional peace of mind, a Personal Umbrella Policy can provide an extra layer of protection beyond your home and auto insurance.

  1. Protect Your Summer Toys and Travel Plans

Boats, motorcycles, RVs, campers, ATVs, and Jet Skis all come out during the summer months. Before heading out, confirm that each vehicle has the right coverage for how you use it.

Planning to rent a car while traveling? Check with your insurance agent before your trip to see whether your personal auto policy covers rental vehicles or whether purchasing the rental company’s collision damage coverage makes sense for your situation.

  1. Review Your Renewals and Look for Savings

Summer is a common time for home and auto policy renewals. With continued changes in the insurance market, your premiums or coverage may have changed since your last renewal.

Instead of simply renewing your policy, take the opportunity to:

  • Review your coverage limits and deductibles.
  • Make sure you’re receiving every available discount.
  • Ask about bundling your home and auto policies.
  • Consider smart-home devices, such as water leak detectors or monitored fire alarms, that may qualify for additional savings.

Enjoy Summer with Confidence

Whether you’re planning a family vacation, spending weekends at the lake, or hosting friends for a cookout, a quick insurance review can help ensure you’re protected before the unexpected happens.

If you have questions about your current coverage, the team at Cleary Insurance is here to help. Contact us today for a complimentary policy review so you can enjoy a safe, fun, and worry-free summer.

 

Summer Safety Checklist

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Summer is a time for outdoor adventures, family gatherings, vacations, and making memories. Whether you’re spending the day at the beach, working in the yard, enjoying a backyard barbecue, or traveling with family, being prepared for common summer injuries and illnesses can help you handle unexpected situations with confidence.

A well-stocked medicine cabinet and first-aid kit are simple ways to protect your family during the warmer months. Before summer activities are in full swing, take a few minutes to review your supplies, check expiration dates, and replace any items that are outdated or running low.

Why You Should Check Your Medicine Cabinet Before Summer

Many common summer issues can be treated quickly when you have the right supplies on hand. Sunburns, insect bites, allergic reactions, minor cuts, scrapes, and dehydration can happen when you least expect them.

Medications and first-aid products can lose effectiveness over time, especially when exposed to heat and humidity. Storing your supplies in a cool, dry location and replacing expired items regularly helps ensure your family is ready when they need them most.

Summer Medicine Cabinet Essentials

1. Pain Relievers and Fever Reducers

Keep common medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen available for headaches, minor aches, and fever.

2. Allergy Relief Products

Summer allergies can make outdoor activities uncomfortable. Consider keeping antihistamines, nasal sprays, and allergy eye drops available for seasonal allergy symptoms.

3. Bug Bite and Skin Relief Treatments

Mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects are common during summer. Hydrocortisone cream, anti-itch treatments, and insect bite relief products can help soothe irritation.

4. Sunscreen and Sunburn Care

Protect your skin with a broad-spectrum sunscreen and keep aloe vera gel or after-sun lotion available to help soothe skin after too much sun exposure.

5. Insect Repellent

A quality insect repellent can help protect your family from bites while enjoying outdoor activities like camping, hiking, and backyard gatherings.

6. Hydration Supplies

Hot weather increases the risk of dehydration. Electrolyte drinks or oral rehydration packets can be helpful after extended time outdoors, exercise, or heat exposure.

7. Basic First-Aid Supplies

Every home should have essential first-aid items, including:

  • Adhesive bandages
  • Gauze and medical tape
  • Antiseptic wipes
  • Antibiotic ointment
  • Tweezers
  • Scissors
  • Instant cold packs

These supplies can help treat minor injuries before they require professional medical attention.

Don’t Forget Your Summer Safety Plan

A little preparation goes a long way toward protecting your family and enjoying the season. Along with updating your medicine cabinet, take time to review other areas of your summer safety checklist, including pool safety, home security, and insurance coverage for summer activities.

At Cleary Insurance, we believe prevention and preparation are key to protecting what matters most. If you have questions about your home, auto, or personal insurance coverage, our team is here to help.

Contact Cleary Insurance today for a policy review and enjoy a safe, healthy, and worry-free summer.

Recent College Graduates and Parental Support

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Presented by:

Matthew Clayson Financial Advisor, CA Insurance License No. 0I01304
Cross Coastal Advisors
Needham Office : (781) 400-8641 mclayson@crosscoastaladvisors.com www.crosscoastaladvisors.com
197 First Avenue, Suite 250
Needham, MA 02494

Many recent college graduates are collecting their diplomas and promptly moving back into their childhood bedrooms.

The financial challenges are real for recent college graduates. The market for entry-level jobs has been turned upside-down by artificial intelligence. The costs of everything are going up briskly.

Parents are realizing the Bank of Mom and Dad might have to stay open a bit longer, but are hoping it isn’t forever.

Our panel discussion featured five economists and personal financial authors. The conversation about the intricacies of supporting adult children got surprisingly personal.

The following has been edited for clarity and length.

Oyin Adedoyin, Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter: Say you’re a parent of a recent college graduate who is struggling to land a job and asking for money. What do you say?

Laura Ullrich, economist at job-search site Indeed: I have a son who has just moved home who is actively seeking a job. If graduates, including my son, had a degree in nursing or early childhood education or electrical engineering, he probably would have a job. But he just finished a master’s in data science. That is the softest sector in our data.

Matt Schulz, author of “Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More: How to Take Control of Your Financial Life”: My son just finished his sophomore year and is in the business school. So I am not super thrilled about what you just said about data science prospects.

My general advice is the same as I give in many aspects of money: control what you can control. Maybe the biggest ‘control what you can control’ thing is just networking and getting out and meeting as many people as you possibly can.

Caitlin Zaloom, author of “Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost”: My son is in the next room. He just returned from his sophomore year of college and is madly doing all of the networking that you’re suggesting, Matt.

There’s a lot of pressure on young people to a degree that I have not seen before in my own research.

I think AI and the pressure that it’s putting on young people makes the sort of extended dependence on families—that has been going on for a couple of decades now—in some ways more explicit.

Oyin Adedoyin: When does it make sense as a parent to help your kid, even if it might cost you hard-earned retirement savings?

George Kamel, co-host on “The Ramsey Show” and author of “Breaking Free From Broke”: What we’re finding is a lot of parents are retiring with not a huge nest egg, and then robbing it to try to help their kids get a leg up, which in turn makes them a financial burden on the kids later on in life.

John Campbell, co-author of “Fixed: Why Personal Finance is Broken and How to Make it Work for Everyone”: Some people are in a more comfortable position because they own a home and the home has appreciated. It might well be a smarter move to take out a second mortgage and tap the home equity.

Laura Ullrich: I think it’s also really important to set expectations with your recent college graduates about what you are willing to do and what you are not. They may not want to come home after college and deliver food via DoorDash or Uber, but those opportunities are available.

Oyin Adedoyin: A lot of recent college graduates online are saying, “The economy is so bad that you might as well chase your dreams.” With the risk for entry-level jobs, they are thinking there is value in trying to strike gold with a music career or trying to be a famous internet personality. How long of a financial leash should parents extend to their children to pursue a long shot?

John Campbell: Think about the cost of living in different places. I live in a suburb of Boston that’s super expensive. I also have a weekend house in Biddeford, Maine, which is a former industrial town. And the contrast in the life that you see is very striking because in Biddeford, the rents are low, and young people can actually start interesting small businesses.

If they tried to do that in the Boston metro area, it’s almost impossible because of the cost of living.

Oyin Adedoyin: Say you want your recent college graduates to become more financially independent. Where do you start?

George Kamel: We took a call; it was a couple in their 80s trying to evict their daughter, who was in her 50s and still living at home. That’s a worst- case scenario, of course, but every parent’s fear is that your child never launches.

I just think one of the cruelest things you can do is to coddle your child in a false reality versus helping them figure out the real reality.

Caitlin Zaloom: As Americans, we carry this idea that kids should be autonomous from their parents and financially independent.

That’s the expectation, and that has become increasingly difficult. So that reality needs to be part of the conversation between parents and kids starting quite young.

Oyin Adedoyin: Is it better to get a loan from a family member or a bank?

George Kamel: I think I’d rather go to the mafia than to my parents, ’cause it creates a really awkward dynamic. Mom and dad see you going on that vacation when you owe them money, and the relationship changes.

I always tell people, “Do a gift, not a loan, if you wanna save the relationship.”

John Campbell: I could not agree more.

Matt Schulz: There are cases where borrowing from a parent makes all the sense in the world. My wife and I borrowed money for a down payment from my father-in-law for our first house, and he told me that it was a gift. And I told him, “We are paying you back,” and we did.

Oyin Adedoyin: Why is it so hard for parents to kick their children off of the family cellphone plan?

Caitlin Zaloom: Parents don’t think of paying for their kid’s cellphone as giving their kid money. It’s an extension of being part of the family.

John Campbell: It actually can be smart financially to pool cellphone usage into a family plan. But you can ask your recent college graduates to pay you the marginal cost of their presence in the plan.

George Kamel: It kind of feels like changing your bank. It’s just a little bit of a hassle, and nobody wants to go through with it, but I do think there is a symbolic level of independence when you’re covering your own bill under your name.

Write to Oyin Adedoyin at oyin.adedoyin@wsj.com

This Wall Street Journal article was legally licensed by AdvisorStream.
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