Prioritizing Community Engagement at Your Agency

April is National Volunteer Month, so we’re spotlighting a few agents we recently brought onto the Insurance Perspectives Podcast to talk about how they incorporate volunteering in their communities: Stephen Turnbull of T5 Insurance Services, and Dawn Janes-Bartley and Mark Sacay of Maverick Risk Partners. Here’s a few things they shared about how agencies can make community engagement a priority.

In this article

• Why make community engagement a priority for your agency?
  • It builds your brand and shows you care
  • It helps you meet new people and strengthen relationships
  • It helps you achieve more together
  • It builds agency culture and strengthens team bonds
• Tips for facilitating community engagement
  • Choose a cause you're passionate about
  • Pace yourself
  • Get your staff involved

Why make community engagement a priority at your agency?

It builds your brand and shows you care

Stephen Turnbull of T5 Insurance Services has a long history of community involvement, thanks to his family’s five generations of agency ownership. He feels community engagement is integral in building an agency’s brand, recognition, and trust with members of the community. “I want to be known as a community partner,” he says. “And from a client standpoint, there’s more accountability and ease of mind when you’re working with a trusted insurance advisor that you see in the community all the time, rather than some 1-800 number.”

He adds that not only does community involvement get the agency’s name out there, but it also makes for engaging, authentic content that the agency can share on their website and social media to help clients see what they care about.

Stephen working with the Young Entrepreneurs Academy in his community

Dawn Janes-Bartley of Maverick Risk Partners considers community involvement to be part of an agency’s responsibility to the community members who support their business. “I am here today because people and businesses in my community have chosen to partner with us for their insurance and risk management,” she says. “I don't exist without them. When you are getting your primary source of income from your community, you have an obligation to support them in some way. It also builds our relationships with customers beyond the transaction of making a purchase.”

It helps you meet new people and strengthen relationships

Being involved in the community helps you meet potential new customers, as well as strengthen the relationships you already have with current customers. “When you’re involved in events and different groups, next time these people think of insurance, they’ll think of you,” Stephen says. “It comes down to relationships. They get to know you as a person, not a salesman.”

Depending on the organizations you’re involved with, it could extend your network outside of your local community or state as well. Stephen points out that his involvement with Rotary Club, which is an international organization, has allowed him to meet and make lasting friendships with people all over the world.

It helps you achieve more together

Stephen also shares that teaming up with local organizations has allowed him to take on bigger community projects than he or his agency would be able to on their own. For example, starting a high-end gala in his small community had always been a goal of his, but he didn’t have the contacts or resources to put it on himself. With the help of the Rotary Club, he’s been able to make this dream a reality. His community has now held four annual galas, each supporting a different local cause, and Stephen expects this year’s event to raise around $80,000!

It builds agency culture and strengthens team bonds

Getting involved in the community also helps the agency staff become closer and learn more about each other. “When somebody wants us to support something that's important to them, I love it,” Dawn says. “I may not know anything about that organization or what they do, but if that's what you're passionate about, that's how I show that what's important to you is important to me.”

Stephen adds that community involvement can even be a great way to find new employees who share your agency’s values. He met his agency’s current CSR through his Rotary Club connections, which allowed him to fill the position without even posting a listing.

Tips for facilitating community engagement

If your agency wants to be more involved in the community, where should you start? Here are a few tips on how to build a thriving engagement program at your agency.

Choose a cause you’re passionate about

The best way to get started in your community is choosing a cause you or your staff are already passionate about. For example, Dawn has several children and loves to support schools, sports, and children’s programs.

Mark Sacay, who is helping bring community involvement to the forefront at her agency, has a strong background of volunteering alongside his wife. She works at the nonprofit Family Adopt Minnesota, and the two of them have been “respite parents” (taking care of an adopted child once a month to give the adoptive family a day off) for the same child from the age of 14 to 21. Mark is also involved with The Mission Continues, an organization that empowers veterans to do community projects, as well as teaching ESL.

Stephen is involved with the Rotary Club, Business Network International (BNI), and his local chamber. “Those are the three buckets where I feel like I can make the biggest difference for myself and my business, and that I enjoy the most,” he says. “It’s important to decide where the best place is to spend your time.”

Stephen with T5's Sauquoit Valley Central School District Employee of the Month

The hardest part is simply choosing a cause and getting started, Mark observes. “It’s about picking the things that are most important to me, that will make the greatest impact with the amount of time that I have.”

Be open to new opportunities and needs that come up in your community as well, Dawn recommends. During the pandemic, for example, she saw that her local schools were very short staffed and in dire need of substitute teachers, so she got her substitute license so she could help as a sub.

Pace yourself

Participating in your community is a marathon, not a sprint. Rather than trying to do everything at once, set reasonable goals that will be sustainable for your agency over time. Dawn, Mark, and Stephen all noted that it can be a struggle to balance time on community projects with the needs of the business.

Dawn talks about giving community support in the terms of three Ts: time, talent, and treasure (financial support). “Sometimes you can donate financially, but you don't have the time or the skills,” she points out. “Or sometimes you have the skills, but maybe not extra time or financial ability. I have kids now, so my time is a lot more limited, but I might have more funds or the ability to bring a skill set. So just prioritize which area you can provide at the moment, and don’t forget the other areas of your life that need those three Ts too.”

Get your staff involved

Getting participation from your agency staff not only helps the cause you’re supporting, but also brings the team closer together. Dawn is excited to build a more formal program for community involvement with Mark’s help, now that the agency has multiple locations. Your agency might want to consider allocating a few hours a month for community service, or creating channels for employees to suggest projects or causes they want to support.

Stephen has loved seeing his employees become involved in the agency’s community efforts. He shared an experience where the agency adopted a family for Christmas, and his CSR took the project on herself, shopping and preparing the gifts and even taking videos of the process. “It was the coolest moment for me as the owner of the agency to see it’s not just me doing this. Others have bought into it. Getting the team involved, whether it’s painting the park or buying gifts for kids, is super important because it shows you’re all rowing the same boat and committed to making an impact.”

Be the difference

Ultimately, getting involved in your community benefits everyone involved – your agency, your business, and the people and community you work to protect each day. “Volunteering gives me the opportunity to see the success of a project, the outcome from beginning to end,” Dawn says. “You get to see and be part of the difference. I know I can donate money, but when you do something in person, you get to have the experience and feel that positive energy and see the rewards of that investment.”

Mark talks about it in terms of David Brook’s book, The Second Mountain, which uses the metaphor of a person’s own happiness being the first mountain they climb, and helping others find their own happiness being the second mountain. “The first mountain brings you happiness, but the second mountain is what really brings you joy,” he says. “I experience that joy when I volunteer, and that joy is what drives me.”