New England War Tax Resistance (NEWTR)’s Alternative Fund is an anonymous place where war tax resisters can keep refused taxes and any other personal money that needs to be kept away from IRS knowledge and seizure. It has been operating since 1968, and currently holds nearly $350,000 for its 51 individual depositors, who are current and former war tax resisters. The Fund earns around $10,000 per year in interest that NEWTR gives away in grants. It is one of only two such funds in the US.
The Alternative Fund Manager/NEWTR Bookkeeper has the full responsibility for conducting all financial transactions, including deposits and withdrawals for depositors; investing the money in socially responsible places in accordance with financial policy set by the Board; keeping records of all transactions and depositor accounts; reporting at least annually to the Board on the financial health of the Fund; mailing depositor account statements annually to all Fund members/depositors; and is employed, paid, and supervised by the Board.
If interested, please send by July 15 a letter of application stating qualifications and relevant background to cs4202144@yahoo.com.
HOURS: Average 6-7 hours/month (more time during Jan.-Feb.—see #7 below); average annual time needed in typical recent years was 71 hours/year.
PAY: $25 or more per hour (open to negotiation); annual pay can be roughly estimated (recent average) as $1,800/year.
Specific responsibilities: The Fund Manager . . .
- is the first signer on NEWTR’s checking account and NEWTR’s handful of investment accounts, and manages and keeps track of all those assets.
- uses their home address or a PO Box they set up as the address of NEWTR, in order to receive Alternative Fund mail (which is 95% of the mail that NEWTR receives).
- is available by phone, email, and mail to depositors in the fund, to receive and act on requests to withdraw money from or deposit money into their accounts. (Most years this happens only 5 to 8 times, with activity on 4 to 6 depositor accounts.)
- maintains hard copy and flash drive records of depositor accounts, as well as investment accounts (keeping none of that information on a computer or in the cloud, in order to maintain absolute confidentiality and security for depositors and the investments where nearly all the Fund’s money is kept).
- keeps track of and manages NEWTR’s handful of investments–in inner-city Boston, regional, and national social justice organizations–moving money between them and the checking account as needed to cover withdrawals, NEWTR expenses, and April 15 grants, while keeping as much of the Fund’s money as possible in interest-bearing places, to maximize the pool of money available for grants.
- determines, with the Board’s knowledge, advice, and approval, what investments to close, add to, decrease, or add new, if a depositor makes a five-figure withdrawal, or there is some other need or desire to rebalance the distribution of money among the several investments. (This has happened 5 times in the past 18 years.)
- spends typically 20-30 hours from early January to early February on annual reports and starting up the February-through-April grants season, and more time during those months beyond servicing depositor accounts, as follows:
- does an annual financial report to the Board and Grants Committee in January showing how much income the Fund has generated in the previous year, using an established NEWTR form and formula, and makes a recommendation to the Board on how much of this to give in grants based on the assets-vs.-liabilities balance and other considerations.
- creates and mails annual account statements to all of the Fund’s depositors.
- communicates with the Grants Committee as needed to answer their questions while they’re preparing to send out the RFP (request for proposals/grant application).
- looks at the checkbook balance and the list of interest payments coming in before April and determines whether any money moving needs to happen, and when, to have enough money available by early April to write the grant checks.
- (around or before April 10 each year) writes and mails the typically 10 to 12 grant checks, using the information the Grants Committee has provided around April 1.
