Reducing Attrition

What can we, as funders, do to help reduce the flood of talent that leaves the social justice movement every year? What can we do to better ensure that there is a place in social justice work for the very folks we serve in diverse neighborhoods throughout the country? While providing living wages and decent benefits to our grantees is not the only solution, it is a good start.

Most of the organizations we support offer some medical insurance. Few, however, offer any help toward retirement income beyond a pre-tax saving device. Now there is a retirement pension plan that was specifically designed to help those experienced in the movement, while encouraging younger practitioners to view social change as a long-term career. The National Organizers Alliance Retirement Pension Plan provides an employer-based 401(k) program to its participants. It is structured to serve those who work for social, economic and environmental justice. It gives credit for movement service, rather than just service with one employer, resulting in broad participation and vesting in a sector where many people are quite mobile. Most importantly, it mandates a 5-percent employer contribution for all participants, so that everyone who has worked in the movement for three years since 1985 will have at least something set aside for retirement.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is the NOA Retirement Pension Plan investment carrier. MetLife currently offers 43 investment options, including two socially screened funds. The plan's third party administrator (TPA) is Carday Associates, a firm that has served as TPA for union pensions for nearly 50 years. NOA also has a pension coordinator whose job is to market the plan and facilitate smooth interactions between plan participants, Carday Associates and MetLife.

If you'd like to learn more about the NOA Retirement Pension Plan, please call Denise Hanna at 888-662-7367, x6 or visit the NOA Web site at www.noacentral.org.

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