Fast Focus
	It’s no surprise that one of the most successful charities in recent times is an insurance industry idea.
	Earlier this year, in the midst of a slumping economy, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation chose to expand rather than contract, launching a Midwest Division
	Brokers and insurers are intensely competitive with one another, and nothing inspires their charitable giving more than the chance to beat their peers—no matter what the sport.

The Good Life: Giving to Your Favorite Charity

St. Baldrick’s improving the odds for kids with cancer.

By  Ed Leefeldt

[Page 6 of 8]

Harold Morrison Jr., Chubb’s chief global field officer and chief administrative officer, oversees the insurer’s Charity Challenge. He is keenly aware of the difference between the event at the Ritz-Carlton, where teams of golfers compete to help charities, and the mean streets where children play in broken glass. “But as a result of this, we now have people working and volunteering with these charities,” Morrison says.

The 2010 tournament’s winning charity was Misty Meadows Mitey Riders, founded by Harry Swimmer, a retired Chubb agent from Charlotte, N.C. Swimmer’s 80-acre family farm offers disabled children with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and spina bifida, who are normally confined to a wheelchair, the opportunity to experience the world in a very different way—on horseback.

The Insurance Industry’s Charitable Foundation’s annually sponsored Volunteer Week produced more than 140,000 hours of volunteer service nationwide. And for some in the insurance industry, volunteer work really hits home. Ariana Lowe of Nationwide Insurance called the day she came home to find her house on fire the “worst day of my entire life.” Now she donates her time and skill to help build a four-family home in Stanhope, N.J., for Habitat for Humanity. She’s also a Disaster Action Team Leader for the American Red Cross.

And what about the three Irish guys who started it all by tossing back a few at a backyard barbecue? They still have their heads in the game. Bender is chairman of St. Baldrick’s, McDonnell serves on the board and Kenny is chairman emeritus. All of which is reward enough.

Leefeldt is a contributing writer. litenair@aol.com

McKinsey: P-C Carriers ‘Get No Respect’

McKinsey & Co. recently issued a report, “Charitable Giving in the Property-Casualty Insurance Industry,” which shows that, while property-casualty insurers are generous in their giving, they feel “underappreciated” and don’t receive “appropriate recognition” for their efforts.

As the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield might have put it, when it comes to charitable endeavors, insurers get no respect. But the McKinsey report suggests ways that insurers can be acknowledged for their efforts. The report offers an approach that could be called pragmatic philanthropy: Charity works best when it benefits both the beneficiary and the donor.

Insurers do write a big check. For the lean year 2010, p-c insurers alone gave $500 million to charity. Their contributions exceeded the average given by other industries in comparison to their pre-tax profits, says McKinsey partner Peter Hahn, lead author of the report.

But Hahn also found problems. Nearly half of the executives polled said they didn’t believe the industry was giving to the right causes—even though they were playing a major role in setting the agenda. At the same time, nearly half the companies did not systematically measure their charitable performance. And there was also a “nose to the ground” mentality. Where employees live and where insurers are headquartered play a major part in who gets donations.