Nina Rauch is Social Impact Lead at insurance company Lemonade, a certified B Corporation available in the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Lemonade aims to change the way people think about insurance by focusing on strong values and charitable contributions instead of profit. Nina joins Christine today to talk about Lemonade’s groundbreaking business model, her journey to becoming Social Impact Lead, and the impressive amount of money the company has donated since 2017.

Nina explains the Lemonade Giveback, the charitable core of the company, which means Lemonade annually donates its leftover dollars to a range of nonprofit partners. She discusses how this process was built into Lemonade from the beginning and describes the huge impact the program has had on organizations working with such causes as climate issues, racial justice, support for veterans, and LGBTQ+ issues. Nina goes on to describe her journey from fundraising in high school to working for Lemonade and discusses a few of the organizations that have stuck with her over the years, as well as the challenges and inspirations she’s experienced along the way. To finish up, Nina shares what’s coming up for Lemonade, including their new venture into car insurance and how to balance its environmental impact, and her plans to increase the strength of Lemonade’s voice in the climate space and ensure the company stays transparent and authentic as it continues to grow.

For more information and other episodes on companies and entrepreneurs who give back, please visit TheGiveBackModel.com. That’s where you can also let Christine know about companies you’ve found that give back, and check out The Give Back Model merchandise, where $5 for every sale goes to charity. Thanks for listening!

Episode Highlights:

·   Nina Rauch is Social Impact Lead at Lemonade.

·   Lemonade is an insurance company that tries to connect its policyholders with nonprofits as a means of making charitable contributions rather than profit.

·   Nina was featured in Forbes magazine this year, something that’s always been a goal of hers.

·   Lemonade is trying to reshape how people think about insurance, primarily through an element of their product called the Lemonade GiveBack.

·   Traditional insurance works through pooling small amounts of money by taking premiums from a large number of people to pay for those who need to make claims. This generally leaves money left over at the end of the year (because the amount needed can’t be predicted, so people are asked to pay higher premiums than what winds up being needed), which the insurer keeps as profit.

·   Lemonade wanted to differentiate itself from this model, so it created the Lemonade Giveback, which means that, once a year, the company donates its leftover dollars to its nonprofit partners.

·   The first Giveback in 2017 donated $53,000 to 14 different charities; in 2021, over $2.3 million went to 65 different organizations.

·   The best way to use Lemonade is through their app (though you can use their website as well!).

·   From the beginning, you choose the cause you want to Giveback to, and that cause will stay with you unless you want to make a change (which is really easy to facilitate).

·   The Giveback was built into Lemonade’s product from the very beginning—without it, the product couldn’t exist. It was a B Corp before its first policy was sold.

·   Lemonade wants to make the process of claiming insurance as simple and supportive as possible, from minimizing paperwork to making sure you can talk to a real person or get on their Slack channel when you need help.

·   Lemonade works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, and Nina ensures that their values align...