Coverage for nonprofit staff in sight

Passion doesn’t pay the rent. Nonprofit workers around the country struggle to put gas in their cars, find decent housing, access basic healthcare, feed their families, and, as a result, maintain their financial, physical, and emotional well-being.

These challenges are more severe for people of color and other groups who have historically experienced oppression. The potential exodus of these workers from the sector — and specifically from our region — destabilizes institutions, diminishes artistic expression, and threatens the creative economy for which this region is internationally known.

For most nonprofits, the math simply doesn’t work. Small organizations face some of the highest health insurance premiums on the market precisely because they’re small with too few employees to spread risk and too little leverage to negotiate with carriers. Many end up offering no coverage at all, or plans so expensive that workers turn them down.

That shortfall carries unusual weight in Berkshire County, where nonprofits generate close to a quarter of local GDP and employ about one in four residents. With a nonprofit for every six people, Berkshire County is among the 30 most nonprofit-dense in the country, so when the sector’s workers go without affordable health insurance, the whole local economy feels it.

New funding announced by state Rep. Leigh Davis on July 9 could begin to change that. The House version of the Massachusetts Economic Development Bond Bill (H.5562) includes $100,000 for the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires (NPC) to launch the Commonwealth Benefits Collaborative (CBC), a statewide pooled health insurance initiative for nonprofits. The bill passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 148–2 and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

"Nonprofits are essential to the economic and social fabric of our communities, but many struggle to offer competitive health benefits," Davis said in a press release. "This investment helps level the playing field, making it easier for nonprofit organizations to support and retain their workforce while expanding access to quality, affordable care."

The concept is simple: by banding together, nonprofit organizations can pool their purchasing power to access more affordable premiums, stronger plan options, more predictable renewals, and streamlined administration benefits typically reserved for large employers. Insurance broker Acrisure will serve as the professional benefits aggregator, organizing the pool and negotiating with carriers, while each nonprofit retains the flexibility to decide whether participation is right for it.

For the CBC to move forward, we first need to know how many employers are interested. The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires and the Pay Equity Coalition are urging nonprofit employers to complete a brief census — with no commitment required—by Sept. 1. You can find the census at npcberkshires.org//commonwealth-benefits-collaborative/ The census is not a commitment to join; it’s a way to measure demand. If enough employers express interest, the CBC can move from concept to reality — building a pool large enough to command the kind of pricing and plan options that individual nonprofits can’t reach alone.

FROM WAGES TO HEALTH CARE: WHAT THE DATA SHOWS

Affordable health insurance is the next frontier in a longer effort to make nonprofit work sustainable, and the clearest evidence of what’s at stake comes from workers’ wages. Across the nonprofit sector, workers face pressures that are often invisible yet existential, and arts and cultural organizations are one area where that impact comes into sharp focus.

It is being actively tracked by the Berkshire/Columbia Counties Pay Equity Coalition, a group of 19 arts and culture organizations that formed in 2022 to better understand the experience of vulnerable workers and to develop structural solutions.

Co-led by Aron Goldman and Kristen van Ginhoven, the coalition’s research points to promising progress: widespread adoption of its 14 employer policy recommendations, alongside meaningful improvements in organizational culture, morale, retention and overall effectiveness.

Key recommendations include setting minimum pay based on MIT living-wage data, eliminating unpaid internships, offering paid time off and health insurance, extending prorated benefits to part-time employees, and investing in retirement plans and professional development.

Among the roughly 15 organizations responding to the coalition’s spring 2026 survey:

• Since 2022, minimum wages among original Coalition members have increased between 15 percent and 66 percent, with an average of 29 percent.

• 93 percent (14 of 15) use the MIT Living Wage Calculator to set minimum pay rates.

• 73 percent (11 of 15) now provide pro-rated benefits for part-time employees.

In their own words, employers describe how pay-equity work changed their organizations’ finances and governance:

• "The board and finance committee insisted on the $23.59 base starting rate in FY26."

• "We now have a board committee focused on pay equity and formal policies."

They describe the effect on culture and retention:

• "There is more consistent compensation, pride in our efforts, and positive morale.

• "Compensation has become a regular part of conversations with the board and donors."

•"It has helped with retention, improved trust, and contributed to an overall sense of community belonging."

WHAT COMES NEXT

Wages have improved, but structural challenges remain — chief among them, access to affordable health insurance. That is exactly the gap the Common-wealth Benefits Collaborative is designed to close.

If you are a nonprofit employee or serve on a nonprofit board, please share this information with your leadership so we can circulate it widely. It is available to nonprofit workers and their families throughout Massachusetts, so spread the news far and wide.

We are grateful to Rep. Davis and the House members who backed this investment. As the bill moves to the Senate, we encourage you to let your state senator know that affordable health coverage for nonprofit workers matters to our community.

Samantha Anderson is the executive director of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires. Reach her at [email protected] | npcberkshires.org.

Aron Goldman is a co-lead of the Pay Equity Coalition, and he is a racial equity consultant and regular contributor to Nonprofit Quarterly. Reach him at linkedin.com/in/arongoldman/

Nonprofit leaders from Berkshire County assembled together on July 15 at Norman Rockwell Museum to learn about the Commonwealth Benefits Collaborative.NONPROFIT CENTER OF THE BERKSHIRES Samantha AndersonNonprofit Notes