First Nonprofit Member Newsletter

MEMBER NEWSLETTER

March 2015

Continued Savings, Security and Service

2015 Enrollment Update

We are excited to welcome 101 nonprofit organizations to our unemployment programs in 2015! First Nonprofit Group (FNG) new members come from states all around the country and represent a variety of sectors of the nonprofit community, including 30 educational institutions, 16 developmental disability service centers and 15 healthcare providers. Today, more than 1,700 organizations, covering over 325,000 employees, rely on us to maintain and manage their state unemployment needs!

Savings

The national average State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) cost per employee continues to rise. In 2009, the average SUTA cost per employee was $256. Since then, that cost has nearly doubled. By opting out of SUTA and enrolling into one of FNG's programs, nonprofits finance their unemployment obligation at a lower cost. New members saved an average of $21,659 state in their first year alone!

Security

Excessively high years of unemployment claims do happen; however, our programs are designed to protect our members from this risk. Bonded Service Program members enjoy risk-free, first and last dollar coverage. Additionally, Unemployment Savings Program members enjoy the benefit of stop loss insurance to cap financial liability and an interest bearing reserve account. Since the inception of the program, members have recovered millions in excess losses.

Service

FNG has the ability to match our program members with the best unemployment claims administrators located throughout the country for the ultimate results with claim processing and cost management. Their services include: claims validation, representation at all unemployment appeal hearings, audit of benefit charges, and consultation regarding the proper handling and documents. We had over $64 million in liability removal on favorable resolutions of protested claims and charge protest credits in 2014.

About the First Nonprofit Foundation

A Grant Making Organization

First Nonprofit Foundation is a private grant-making organization that focuses on bolstering the nonprofit sector in the United States. It originally started as an extension of the First Nonprofit Insurance Company to use funds from substantial investment returns for philanthropy. The Foundation was established with an initial contribution of about $3 million in 2003.

In December 2013, First Nonprofit Insurance Company and AmTrust Financial Group negotiated a merger agreement that resulted in a larger foundation with about $9.4 million in assets. The foundation was created to protect the social covenants of policy holders. Our mission is to disseminate about $800,000 annually in philanthropy to worthy recipients and causes over each of the next 8 years.

Our initial focus was solely on sponsorships and educational causes that helped the nonprofit community. We have since revamped our activity to become a grant making foundation. Between June 2013 and December 2014, we distributed $1,250,000 to 27 different organizations.

Joe Geiger
President and CEO of the
First Nonprofit Foundation

For more information about the foundation, visit our website, www.firstnonprofit.org, where you can learn about the philosophy, activities and process used by the foundation. Or, you can contact Joe Geiger, President and Chief Executive Officer at [email protected].

Member Spotlight: Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans

"Empowering Learners. Inspiring Leaders."

For more than 40 years, the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans (AAMA)'s mission has been to inspire and empower at-risk Latinos to pursue their potential and achieve success. Located in Houston, Texas, AMMA's services include adult education, counseling and prevention services as well as a charter school.

The name of AAMA's adult literacy program is Adelante, which means "to move forward" in Spanish. The free ESL, GED preparation and computer courses provided by this program helped 1,400 adults move forward in their education in 2013. Pre-kindergarten and childcare options offered by AAMA allow parents to attend these courses too.

AAMA's Dinosaur Project, better known as DiNo, provides elementary students with tools to avoid drugs, gangs and violence. Their prevention and counseling services also include residential treatment centers, a communicable infection outreach program and pharmacological treatment. Most of these services are based in Houston, however selected services are also available in Laredo and San Antonio.

The Sanchez Charter School serves pre-kindergarten and sixth through 12th grade students. Through AAMA's partnership with the Houston Community College, older students can complete dual-credit college as well as workforce readiness courses. In 2013, AAMA earned its National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) certification for their Early Childhood Center.

Success Story with First Nonprofit Group

Since 2005, AAMA has saved more than $500,000 by opting out of paying State Unemployment Taxes (SUTA) and enrolling with First Nonprofit. AAMA has been a member of both of our unemployment programs and is currently a member of our Unemployment Savings Program. " We've valued the flexibility of two options to further enhance cost savings," says Lisa Schott, AAMA's Human Resources Director.

"We highly recommend considering moving to one of FNG's programs to lower costs, completely eliminate SUTA and have more evenness in budget," Schott says. Under the SUTA method, employers often submit their largest tax payments during the first half of the calendar year. Budget certainty is a benefit provided by both of our programs. "Knowing what our quarterly costs will be, has given us budget certainty to allow for better cash flow and expense accrual. This has been enormously helpful during several times we've had to lay off staff," Schott continues.

Like all members of our programs, AAMA is partnered with one of our unemployment claims administration partners. Schott works with her claims team on a regular basis. "Having a dedicated claims team to respond to and monitor claims is a huge plus, as we don't have the resources to devote to this."

We look forward to many more years of success with AAMA! For more information about their services, please visit their website, www.aama.org.

Partner Spotlight: New York Council of Nonprofits

"The Soapbox and Toolbox for New York State's Nonprofits"

The New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON) has been a crucial voice, supporter and source of information for all nonprofit organizations in New York State since 1927.This association is also an excellent resource for for-profit businesses and individuals, as well as communities in need of technical assistance services or special projects.

NYCON's more than 3,000 members have access to a variety of services. In addition to governance and operations support, this association offers educational events, group purchasing, discount programs, employee benefits and insurance programs. NYCON members also become members of the National Council of Nonprofits, the national voice of nonprofits.

NYCON partnered with First Nonprofit Group (FNG) in 2006 to provide their members with a safe alternative to the high cost of State Unemployment Taxes (SUTA). Since then, FNG's own Vice President of Member Services, Cecilia Piazza, along with NYCON's Vice President of Membership and Marketing, Valerie Venezia, have travelled throughout the state educating nonprofits about their unemployment options as well as sharing best practices of unemployment claims handling and documentation. Today, more than 100 organizations have saved millions on state unemployment taxes through our unemployment programs.

In the clip below, Doug Sauer, Chief Executive Officer of NYCON and First Nonprofit Unemployment Savings Program Board Member, speaks about our partnership. F or a complete list of all FNG partners, click here . For more information about NYCON membership, visit their website, www.nycon.org.