Nonprofits that own or operate real estate are facing a serious squeeze: commercial property insurance premiums have nearly doubled over the past decade, with the sharpest increases coming in the last few years. For organizations running on thin margins and limited reserves, these costs force hard choices between adequate coverage, building maintenance, and funding core programs. Some nonprofits are cutting coverage or raising deductibles without a clear strategy, and some are going without property insurance altogether.
Community Spaces Network (CSN) is leading a research project to identify more affordable and stable property insurance options. We are studying approaches that have worked in other parts of the nonprofit sector, including group purchasing pools, risk retention groups, member-owned captives, and philanthropy-backed risk-sharing models. The result will be a plain-language comparative analysis, case studies, and a decision framework to help organizations of different sizes, property types, and risk tolerances determine which path fits them best.
We are carrying out this work in partnership with a capstone team from the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and we need your help. We are looking for owners and operators of nonprofit real estate to share their experiences through a short interview or survey and by sharing cost information and loss run reports for their property. Your input will make the findings stronger and more useful to the whole sector, and it may help point your own organization toward real savings on insurance. Participation should take two hours or less over a 6 month period.
Please sign up today by sharing your information. Click the button below to share.