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Young Agents State Liaison Toolkit: Getting Started

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide state association staff and volunteers the tools and resources needed to attract and engage young professionals to perpetuate the future of the industry.

This guide was designed with all aspects of a Young Agents program in mind. The National Young Agents Committee (YAC) created this toolkit to help cultivate commitment to the industry, association, and personal success. Throughout the toolkit, there are best practices from various state programs, checklists, and fillable templates to make achieving excellence easier. A contacts page has also been added to help connect you with your Big “I” National YAC representative and Big “I” Nationals Staff.

An Overview of a Young Agents Committee

A Young Agents Committee needs a few things in order to succeed: Members, a mission and goals, funding, and support from the state association staff and board.

Finding Members for your Committee

Committee positions can mirror your state association board, the Big “I” National Young Agents Committee (YAC) or be more loosely defined – it’s really what works best for your state. At a minimum, you will want a Chair and Chair-Elect position to help maintain program consistency. Other potential positions include:

Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer

Often the more administrative roles (secretary and treasurer) are filled by association staff with committee oversight.

Depending on the committee’s events and activities cycle, it may be best to have multiple-year terms. This gives volunteers a chance to really connect with the mission and implement program enhancements. Your election process will have to adhere to your state’s bylaws.

There is no right or wrong amount of members to have on your committee. You want enough members to achieve a fair representation of your constituents, but not so many that meetings are unmanageable. You might start with four members and add more as your activities and fundraising needs grow. Look to your state board for guidance. Be sure to check your association’s bylaws for voting requirements. A larger committee can make it harder to get full attendance at meetings. If you don’t have quorum, it could affect voting and related actions.

Assigning Committee Representatives

No two state Young Agents Committees will look alike. Some committees are wholly appointed by the state board, while others find a regional approach is more effective. You can divide your state based on local boards, and if you don’t have local boards, create manageable geographic regions. Create committees with a representative from each region who acts as the main liaison to Young Agents in that area. This system ensures your members are fairly represented and makes marketing and division of duties easier.

State Spotlight: The Young Agents Council of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents has Zone Coordinators. The Young Agents Council is divided into 11 Zones. Each Zone has one or more volunteer coordinators who help organize, plan, and execute events in their regions.

Whether your committee uses a regional approach or simply selects the most motivated Young Agents, make sure duties and roles are clearly defined. Young Agent outreach should be an important part of their job description. Member-to-member communication is most effective, and when you deliver a marketing message, have committee representatives follow-up with the same group of agents throughout the year to help build rapport.

Pro Tip: Sub-committees and workgroups are a great way to get more Young Agents involved and can help lighten the workload. You can create small working groups with a very clear charge. For example, planning a community service project. This gives your committee an opportunity to introduce Young Agents to the Big “I” and engage more participants.

Onboarding New Members

While it may seem like a rerun to seasoned YAC members and staff, the beginning of each new term requires an orientation for new committee members. If you’ve engaged Young Agents in other volunteer activities, they should be somewhat familiar with the committee’s charge. But orientation enables you to lay out the guidelines and commitment.

Create a job description or Roles & Responsibilities document that outlines the level of commitment you expect from each committee member. Include things like: What meetings they must attend, what outreach is required, and what the time commitment looks like.

State Spotlight: As part of their membership on the Young Agents of Kansas (YAK), individuals must review a Rules and Regulations document. This document outlines articles of committee participation, officer responsibilities, and common duties of all YAC members.

Corresponding Document: Click here to download an editable version of the National YAC Roles & Responsibilities document. Feel free to update and amend to fit your state's needs.

Involving Company Representatives

Some YACs have company representatives on their board. These committee members may or may not have voting power, but can provide important insights into a critical part of the industry. Whether your state includes company representatives on volunteer committees or not, leveraging company relationships can pay a key role in your overall marketing strategy.

Provide company partners that sponsor your program with marketing materials about your program and events – even a small promotional business card can be an affordable way to promote your programs. The partner will see this as a value add to their sponsorship and your materials and messaging will reach agents you may not otherwise be able to reach.

Charging Participation Dues

To charge dues or to not charge dues, that is the question. Some states charge Young Agents a fee to participate in the Young Agents program. They find that dues encourage a level of commitment from Young Agents who are more inclined to participate in something in which they have made an investment. The fee may include admission to key events or simply be a small stipend to get buy-in and help with program administration.

State Spotlight: The Florida Association of Insurance Agents charges Young Agents a $50 fee to be part of the program. This fee covers the cost to host events and serves as a "buy-in" for members. Charging as small fee has increased overall attendance at Young Agents events in their state since they have implemented the fee.

Making a Mission Statement

Your committee will need a guiding statement that will help define how they serve and lead other Young Agents in your state. The following is an example of a mission that could be for a new or existing Young Agents Committee (YAC).

"The mission of the Young Agents program is to help emerging insurance professionals, or those new to the industry, cultivate skills for a successful career by engaging them in association activities. As a member, you will create opportunities for young professionals to enhance personal growth through education, achievement, leadership development, legislative involvement, and professional networking skills."

Another important piece of your mission is who you are serving, meaning how do you define a Young Agent? The Big “I” national definition of a Young Agent is someone who is 40 years or younger or has less than 5 years in the industry, your state can choose to identify different audience specifications as you best see fit.

State Spotlight: The Young Agents of Big I OK mission statement is, “The mission of the Oklahoma Young Agents Committee (YAC) is to promote the professional growth of Young Agents, provide service to association members and support the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma in its endeavors. It will engage in activities and projects designed to recruit and involve the future leaders of our association. It supports an environment whereby its members can voice their opinions and suggestions with regard to the independent agency system.”

Creating Goals for the Committee

Goals help ensure the committee is working toward something actionable and attainable. The following are some sample goals that could be implemented or adapted for your YAC:

Host a golf tournament in the spring with 200 participants and raise at least $5,000 for Make-A-Wish through registration fees.
Participate in the Big “I” national Legislative Conference and Young Agents Leadership Institute by sending the Chair and Vice Chair to each event.
Organize two Young Agents Speed Networking events this year, one for the east region and one for the west region, with 50 participants at each event.

The goals you create will most likely differ from year-to-year as new leadership guides your committee forward. Some goals may be evergreen – like consistently offering opportunities for emerging leaders to connect with others.

It is important to take time as a committee to create goals and write them down at the start of a new term. This ensures accountability within the group and provides metrics to accomplish as a committee.

Corresponding Document: Click here to download a goal setting worksheet. It can be used as a template for goals for the full committee or split between members.

Funding your Committee Activities

Depending on your state’s company partner sponsorship process, your YAC may need to raise funds to supplement expenses for events and education. Before reaching out to company partners, work with your state’s company relations staff member to determine investment levels and sponsorship benefits.

When it’s time to make “the ask,” assign prospective company contacts to members of the YAC who have a relationship with the company or vendor. Once a company has made a commitment, be sure to provide return on investment updates including brand impressions, number of attendees at events, photos and more.

Touch base with companies regularly, including scheduled calls from committee members. The National YAC will host a Company Partner update twice a year to provide companies with information on current activities and how their investment has supported the development of young professionals.

Helpful fundraising tools:

Track your company contacts, touch points, and funding history in a database, such as Excel or OneNote.
Create a webpage or flyer outlining your sponsorship opportunities.
Write talking points about program activities to create customizable emails for committee members to send out to companies.

Corresponding Document: Click here to view the 2025 Young Agents Company Partner Opportunities Guide. Have any questions about the guide? Contact Jamie Behymer.

Getting Support from your State Association Board & Staff

Buy-in. Skin in the game. There are plenty of cliché meanings of ‘early adoption’ and that’s exactly what you need from your association’s leadership to create or revitalize a Young Agents program.

The first step to doing so: Define your goals and share them with other association staff members and leadership. Gaining the support for your group’s mission and goals is vital. Many leaders will welcome getting their agency’s Young Agents involved in the Big “I” when they know more about the benefit of the program. Often, state leaders have already committed years to the mission of the organization and their legacy depends on Young Agents getting involved to perpetuate and secure the future of the association.

Build Young Agent Member Profiles

Big “I” membership is at the agency level, getting contact information for new Young Agents can be a daunting task, but a clear communication strategy can help. Rely on your state association’s Big “I” Board and committee members, other active Young Agents, agency principals, and Young Agents program alumni to provide contact information for Young Agents in their offices.

Depending on the makeup of your state, Young Agents’ information will be entered into an agency management system or other database. This inclusion often gives these Young Agents access to other association benefits like state and national e-newsletters as well as the Big “I” Virtual University and Ask An Expert service. Focus on these selling points when soliciting the data.

Over time, a YAC can build a meaningful profile of each Young Agent. Collect the data via an online form that each person can complete themselves, over the phone, or through agency visits. Helpful information to gather may include: social media handles, cell phone numbers, and email addresses. Event and education attendance, volunteer roles, and agency visits are also helpful to track.

Once the YAC is full-speed ahead, send a survey to all Young Agents to help leadership understand their expectations of the program. The results can then be used to help form the association’s strategic plan and put emerging leaders at the forefront of these discussions.

Recruiting Members

Visit agencies to recruit Young Agents (visits by state staff, volunteers, or company partners)
Use testimonials from current Young Agents about involvement in association activities and utilize online videos and/or social media to help the recruitment process
Conduct a joint event with another organization (chamber, association, fraternity/sorority, college, etc.) and use the association website for Young Agent promotion
Promote association membership/Young Agent involvement to newly licensed agents
Create targeted messaging for agency principals on the value of Young Agent activities
Work with carrier reps to promote Young Agent activities and involvement
Create a page on your state association’s website about your Young Agents program
Download a list of L&H or P&C agents in your state to grow your outreach list. There is a small fee associated with downloading each list.

State Spotlight: The Alabama Independent Insurance Agents Association (AIIA) hosts multiple licensing classes through their state association. The Alabama YAC will send letters out to newly licensed agents to create connections with activities occurring at the state-level and invite them to participate in upcoming events.

Retaining Members

Hold a new member welcome or orientation event (online or in conjunction with another in-person event)
Send a new member welcome email or snail mail packet
Assign committee members/state YAC liaisons to make phone calls welcoming Young Agents and inviting them to events
Host recurring calls, webinars, and virtual education events
Recognize new Young Agents via a listing on your state website, in an article, at an event, etc.

Engaging Members

Feature a Young Agent profile in a state or industry magazine
Present a Young Agent of the Year award
Have a Young Agent booth or host an event in conjunction with a state association event
Offer a mentorship program to new Young Agents
Ask new Young Agents to volunteer in committee and/or association activities

Last Updated: December 3, 2024

Originally Published: November 25, 2024