You don’t need to spend millions (or even thousands) of dollars to minimize your risk. There are ways you can protect your organization simply by changing your practices. Here, Church Mutual offers eight low-cost ways you can reduce risk:

1. Conduct a risk assessment. Yes, you could hire an outside organization to perform a comprehensive risk assessment. But if your budget is low, you could do much of the legwork yourself. Church Mutual provides free risk assessment checklists for many different safety concerns, including fire preparedness and cybersecurity.
2. Install the CM Sensor®. Church Mutual offers no-cost sensor equipment that gives customers peace of mind—the CM Sensor. The sensor kit monitors conditions at your facility and detects temperature changes and the presence of water. If your building triggers an alert, the device will send the information to your designated contact person. If you know about a leak or frozen pipe right away, you can take the appropriate steps to mitigate the problem and save yourself thousands of dollars in property-related damages.
3. Implement an incident response plan. You may not be able to prevent a crisis, such as severe weather, but you can definitely control how you respond to it. You can start right now by putting together a plan that names key personnel, identifies how you can continue your business and offers options for communicating with authorities and stakeholders.
4. Limit employees’ and volunteers’ access to sensitive information. All people in your organization should only have access to the information they need to do their jobs. In the case of a security breach, it is much easier to pinpoint what happened when files are restricted.
5. Train your team to recognize security risks. These risks can range from faulty playground equipment to an unidentified vehicle sitting in your parking lot for a long time. Create a culture of watchfulness in your organization, empowering people to speak up when they notice something out of the ordinary.
6. Develop an internal process for examining contracts before you sign them. There are many situations in which organizations find themselves tied to contracts they didn’t realize they were signing. You should always have more than one person review a potential contract before entering into an agreement with a contractor or other entity.
7. Limit employees’ and volunteers’ use of power tools, heavy machinery or specialty equipment. Only those who have undergone safety training should be operating potentially dangerous equipment. Not only is it a risk for the untrained person using the equipment, but it is also risky for everyone around them.
8. Store first aid kits and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in easy-to-find locations. When you are prepared to handle medical emergencies, you can significantly lessen the impact of injuries and illnesses—and possibly even save a life.

For more tips on how to lower your risk, visit churchmutual.com/resources.