HOW TO: SCORE YOUR CLUB A GRANT

Could your motorcycle club could do with an injection of funds? A chunk of coin to renovate the clubhouse, improve its tracks, buy some desperately needed equipment, or finally make that junior rider coaching program a reality? If so, listen up because NM Insurance has recently launched a fantastic new program that’s giving community-based organisations – whether they’re motorcycling, boating or caravanning clubs or associations – the opportunity to secure a financial grant to help make worthy initiatives a reality.

We sat down with NM Insurance’s CEO, Lyndon Turner – himself an avid motorcycle rider – to get some background to this unique, community-based grants program, and the inside line on how you might be able to secure a financial leg-up for your motorcycle club…

TM: Give us a little background to this initiative, Lyndon. What was the impetus behind NM Insurance extending grants to community-based organisations?

LT: NM Insurance has now grown to over 70 staff across Australia and New Zealand, so the impetus for the grants program is simply that, as a business, we like to give back to the community within industries that have supported us very strongly over the years and continue to support us. Which is why we’ve limited the criteria to community-based initiatives focused around motorcycling, boating or caravanning. For example, motorcycle clubs help people become more engaged and safer riders. That’s something we’re keen to support, to help foster growth and engagement in those communities. To ensure we’re selecting the appropriate recipients, we’ve created a committee to assess all applicants, and this panel includes external industry experts as well as members of the NM Insurance team.

This grants program seems very much in keeping with NM Insurance’s ethos of “working at a grassroots level to build trust and respect with the communities we live and work within”.

That’s right. We are not a large, mass-market insurer. We’re quite specialised in the products we offer, with a core focus on motorcycling, boating and caravanning. We live and work within these communities and our team are passionate about the assets our products protect and have a level of expertise in those specialist fields. We can also use those connections to ensure we tailor products and services appropriately.

You’ve just gone through the first round of grant applications, so what were your take-outs from that process?

Being an all-new program, we only had a small intake of applicants for this initial round. But of course, we’re mindful that it will take some time to build awareness and help organisations understand how we can assist them. What we’re looking for is applicants who have a very strong plan for what they plan to do with the funds, what they wanted to achieve, and how that would create a long-term benefit. They are the important elements for us. Whether it’s a safety initiative or a broader community initiative that produces a positive outcome, that’s what we want to help support.

Can you briefly explain NM Insurance’s structure. NMI (or National Motorcycle Insurance, which people will have seen as a sponsor at Transmoto’s Enduro Events for a few years now) is the motorcycle insurance brand that sits under the parent company, NM Insurance, right?

Sure. NM Insurance is our corporate brand. Then, sitting below NM Insurance is a number of retail insurance brands: specifically focused on caravanning, motorcycling and recreational boating. National Motorcycle Insurance (or NMI, as many of your event participants refer to us) is our motorcycle insurance brand, distributed direct to consumers and through insurance brokers and motorcycle dealers. A number of trusted brands also partner with us to bring to the market tailored insurance brands like Honda Motorcycle Insurance, Kawasaki Insurance and Suzuki Insurance for motorcycle owners. Given the grants program spans motorcycling, boating and caravanning, it made sense for this program to be launched under our NM Insurance corporate brand.

When you say community-based grants, does that mean they’re limited to not-for-profit organisations?

Not necessarily. I would say that the program is inherently more geared toward supporting not-for-profit organisations, but that doesn’t mean we won’t consider applications from for-profit organisations. Again, the criteria is detailed to ensure it’s very clear; to make sure we’re targeting the right initiatives so people don’t waste time with applications. That information is all found on the program’s application page.

How many grants are you looking to offer, and what sort of dollars are we talking?

We consider applications three times per year. The next deadlines for applicants are in June and October in 2023, and we’ve set aside $50,000 for the initial funding. One recent example of a successful applicant is a sailing club in Adelaide who needed to replace 50 PFDs [Personal Floatation Devices] for their volunteers, so we covered the cost of those. For motorcycle clubs, the application could be for something as simple as a six-by-three marquee that’s needed to sit over the BBQ at the clubhouse to cook sausages for kids who are part of the club’s Junior riding or racing programs. That’ll give you an indication of the style of applicants we’re looking for to begin with. Broadly speaking, applications are capped at $5000. That ensures we can have several successful applicants for the first few rounds of funding, rather than having larger initiatives – even if they’re worthy ones – swallowing up all the available funding in the first round or two of applications.

So, what can a motorcycle club do to give themselves the best chance of securing a grant through this NM Insurance Community Grants Program? What is likely to make their case more compelling?

Know what you’re looking for. Make sure it has a meaningful long-term benefit to both the club and the community it’s supporting. And be able to demonstrate that it’s sustainable in the context of what the club is already doing. So, it’s not about coming to us for funding to help get some more money out of the council and build a new clubhouse. It’s really about augmenting what the applicant club is already doing; about complementing what they’re already doing. There needs to be strong oversight associated with any successful applicant and a community-focused mindset to use the funds in a sustainable way. And we’re not expecting War and Peace for the application. Applicants should also be mindful that we want to support a number of entities across Australia over a long period of time, meaning that if they’re not successful this time around, that’s not to say initiatives with genuine merit can’t subsequently be successful.

Thanks for your time, Lyndon. We’ll keep an eye on the evolution of this grants program with great interest.

No problem, Andy.

READY TO APPLY?

Applications for the June 2023 round of NM Insurance Community Grants are now open. Interested parties representing community-based initiatives focused on boating, caravanning or motorcycling are invited to visit nminsurance.com.au/community for further information and to download an application form.

ABOUT NM INSURANCE

A leading insurance agency operating across Australia and New Zealand, NM Insurance encompasses a stable of nine specialist insurance brands with a focus on marine, motorcycling, caravanning and cargo. Well known within the industries they secure, NM Insurance brands include Nautilus Marine Insurance, National Motorcycle Insurance, Australian Caravan Insurance, and Proetus Marine Insurance.

Backed by Zurich Australian Insurance Ltd, NM Insurance encompasses a team of over 80 passionate insurance experts and specialists, across a network of offices in New Zealand and Australia. Dynamic and helpful, our staff control full cycle insurance operations, including transactional customer service, underwriting and claims. Through market-leading cover, trusted security, great customer experience and claims support, we align our expertise with the aspirations of customers. Thousands of professional insurance advisers and brokers choose to work with NM Insurance. NM Insurance also partners with trusted local and international brands in motorcycles, caravans and marine to deliver market-leading insurance products and services.