Directly from the pamphlet “The AA Group, Where It All Begins” page 19, comes these wise words;

“Treasurers generally maintain clear records (a ledger is helpful) and keep their groups informed about how much money is taken in and how it is spent. They may make periodic reports to the group and post financial statements quarterly. Problems can be avoided by keeping group funds in a separate group bank account that requires two signatures on each check. The flyer “The A.A. Group Treasurer” offers many other helpful suggestions.

A.A. experience clearly shows that it is not a good idea for a group to accumulate large funds in excess of what is needed for rent and other expenses. It is wise, though, to keep a prudent reserve in case an unforeseen need arises (an amount to be determined by the group conscience). Group troubles also may arise when extra-large donations—in money, goods or services— are accepted from one member.”

Another thought – if you’re having what may be a problem with a treasurer, the first thing to remember is that the group no doubt voted the person in, and, this person is a recovering person and still ought to be considered imperfect. Help them unless they are so far gone attitude wise that they are beyond human aid once again. Then 3rd Step them…

Post from: Blisstree

Your Group Treasury

October is unofficially “10th Step Month.” And there are a number of places in the Tenth Step in the 12 and 12 that feel appropriate to the last days’ events. Here’s one;

From page 92 – “Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. It will become more and more evident as we go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up.”

The Science and Health Channel manager, Dr. Hsien Hsien Lei, has addressed one of these folks with this post. Hsien quotes one Mike Rundle, an “important” member of the 9rules Community (not a network), who has disparagingly referenced a b5media Blog written by a Stay At Home Mom. This has angered a number of good folks at b5media – understandably so. But, I would remind them “it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up.”

I was about to say something else in this space about not fearing the prospect of saying something to somebody’s face but I think I’d rather point out another principle contained in the Tenth Step. From page 91; “Our first objective will be the development of self-restraint. This carries a top priority rating. When we speak or act hastily or rashly, the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporates on the spot. One unkind tirade or one willful snap judgement can ruin our relation with another person for a whole day, or maybe a whole year. Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen.”

When I give consideration to the somewhat mindless spewage of the negativity embraced by those who apparently have nothing better to do with their life, I stumble upon one more principle mentioned in our Tenth Step on page 88;

“A continuous look at our assets and liabilities, and a real desire to learn and grow by this means, are necessities for us. More experienced people, of course, in all times and places have practiced unsparing self-survey and criticism. For the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.”

Sage advice for those who are young, immature and have some kind of need to take others’ inventories rather than their own.

Lastly, because I could start to ramble with this, I’ll reference one of our Daily Reflections for October 15th. It relates to self-examination and is titled “My Checklist, Not Yours.”

Repeating the words from page 67 in the 12 and 12, we hear this;

“Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness.”

Congratulations to Jeremy and all those who worked hard to put together the funding of b5media with Venture Capital! I can’t make it to the “drinking” celebration, but it is a wonderful happening and here’s to the best future for all at b5media! Way To Go!

Post from: Blisstree

An Application Of Recovery Principles

I received other, much less positive feedback, this morning on the landline I’m attached to. One of our area group’s members brought the old information to the fore at a “group conscience” meeting and became adamant about it’s authenticity. (Ego… yet, I might have done the same thing two weeks ago)

So, to quote the oldtimer that caught me on my “stuff,” “the telephone is a magnificent invention – they’re all over the place” I am waiting for a response to my message to our State Delegate because he knows the group member. Live in the solution.

dAAve, John and Gwen, I very much appreciate your comments. Now, can you folks clone yourselves so we can divide you up all over AA as a whole?

From dAAve;

“Down here, most people have no idea of the difference between a closed and an open meeting, the difference between a clubhouse and a group, what a GSR does, or most of the Traditions as a whole.”

From John B.;

Relating to his attitude for the first ten years of his sobriety – “Lack of education and a general indifference or apathy to anything that doesn’t affect me directly.”

From Gwen;

Relating to her personal experience with an oldtimer who, for 22 years had become good at “ducking the issue” of making coffee for a meeting.

Do you know what this stirs up in my mind? How could you lol?

Road Trip!!! It’s time for a road trip!!!

And now, from an old salesman, if we boil it down to the ridiculous all it amounts to is this;

If every group in AA were to contribute $136.85 in 2006 it would allow the Fellowship to be fully self-supporting from contributions. (I’ve obtained that info from our State delegate who provided it to me from a copy of the General Service Board’s Treasurers’ report from April 2006.)

Take that one more step. Using the numbers in that report its possible to determine that there are about 54,000 groups in AA. Since only 43% of the groups contributed in 2005, that means about 23,220 groups wound up contributing $232/group.

Summarily, if only 16% more groups had contributed in 2005, we would have met paying our GSO supporting service functions completely 100% with personal/group contributions.

Oddly Enough

There’s another way to look at this – if each AA member contributed $6.14 we would have had the same result. What is odd about that is that means the GSO has our individual membership at about 1.2 million members. For the time I’ve been a happy member I’ve heard our membership is about 2 to 2.5 million members. Using 1.2 million means that each member contributed $4.45/member in 2005. At $4.45/member we needed contributions from a bit shy of 1.7 million members to achieve fully self-supporting.

If you’d like to be really very silly about these figures – at $4.45/member for the year that means that each member is making just over a third of a meeting/month if each of us is contributing $1/meeting.

Post from: Blisstree

Let’s Keep Talking

Today, I can tell you that, through some human error (and I told him he deserved a smack lol) by our State delegate the previous talks were not exactly on target.

The issue at hand however, is extremely important, and I would very much like to hand it to you to run with. We are not in imminent danger but the danger is real. Many principles of recovery apply, from a personal basis, leading to group principles, and all ending at the ability to continue to carry the message to the suffering alcoholic worldwide.

From pg. 32 in the AA pamphlet “The AA Group”

How Are A.A. World Services Supported?

“Like the expenses of other A.A. activities, those of the general Service Office are met generally by group and individual contributions. Since these contributions do not completely cover the cost of A.A.’s world services, publishing income is used to offset the deficit.”

In this entry I said “A.A. isn’t able to pay its own way. In 2005 GSO found itself almost $3 Million short of being able to pay our bills.”

It needs to be re-worded. I’ll give it a try and if you have any suggestions they will be appreciated! Here’s the real deal -

A.A. continues to have difficulty adhering to the principle of being self-supporting through its own contributions. In 2005 the total cost of functions for General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous was $7.4 Million. In 2005 the General Service Office of AA received personal contributions from AA members/groups, of $5.4 Million. Publishing profit was used to make up the $2 Million difference.

For a long time AA has been relying on literature profits and literature price increases to cover service structure costs. What has been happening as a result?

• Higher prices result in fewer pieces of literature being purchased and fewer alcoholics being reached.

• Higher prices create more opportunities for outside enterprises to print AA literature.

• Services need to be cut.

• Our trusted servants continually struggle with the challenge of raising prices or cutting services.

Use your imagination… what would happen if, for ex., one large purchaser (outside of AA) of literature decided not to purchase literature?

The Beginning Of A Solution?

First consider these facts – for our State of Georgia (I have no figures for other states) 56% of groups contribute to AA’s GSO, 44% do not. For A.A. as a whole, 43% of groups contribute to GSO, 57% do not.

Secondly, please don’t take this personally

What we’re really talking about is a sum of money that is completely manageable if only the groups that aren’t contributing would begin to contribute.

Why don’t some groups contribute?

I think the feeling is that many groups have formed in recent years which are made up of a “new” generation of AA members who, unfortunately, aren’t educated in the Traditions of AA. Within the past week here in Savannah, one of our groups brought this up as a topic at a regular meeting and a person with 8 years sober took offense, complaining this was not a valid topic for a meeting. That is a very small example.

The beginning of a solution is to talk about this! Please. Let’s try to get the message to those who may not know. If you know someone from a group that was recently formed – ask them if they have a group service number assigned to them by the GSO. Perhaps that will open a conversation which will lead to talk of the responsibilities of a group.

Post from: Blisstree

How Are A.A. World Services Supported?

I love the information I find in Bill W’s writings in “The Language Of The Heart.” In June of 1947 (pg. 57), Bill wrote “Lack Of Money Proved AA Boon.”

He explains the history of how the “Alcoholic Foundation” came about. In the fall of 1937 he and Dr. Bob had put together a plan which would enable the thousands of alcoholics without the answer to know of the “good news” of recovery!

The basics were, they would be sending missionaries across the land to establish new “AA Centers,” there would be hospitals in both Akron and New York where they could “spray” excellent medical care and high-powered spirituality on drunks, and they’d have a book.

“But it surely looked, in 1937, as though we must have considerable money. Did we not already have (in prideful imagination) the beginning of one of the greatest social, medical, and spiritual developments of all time? How easy to raise money for such a cause as ours!”

They were in for a shock as Bill quickly points out – “The awakening from that money dream was rude. It soon appeared that people with money had little interest in drunks.”

Having become discouraged, there came a day when Bill had joined “Whiners Anonymous” and was “bemoaning, in typical alcoholic fashion, how little we poor drunks were appreciated” to his physician brother-in-law. Non-coincidentally, Leonard knew someone who knew someone and in the winter of 1937, at Rockefeller Center, there was a meeting attended by Bill, Dick Richardson (the liason with John D. Rockefeller Jr.), A. LeRoy Chipman, Albert Scott, Frank Amos, the B-I-L Leonard Strong, Dr. Bob and Paul S. (from Akron). Also attending were “a half-dozen New York ex-topers” and Dr. Silkworth.

They told their AA stories and then pleaded for money. Then, as Bill puts it, “Came one more turn in AA destiny.” Albert Scott, the chairman of the meeting, spoke up with understanding (he had been moved by their talks) and said “Shouldn’t we be most careful not to do anything which might lead to a professional or propertied class within your ranks?”

The next words from Bill are: “These were great words for Alcoholics Anonymous.”

From this meeting came the foundation of folks who eventually put the original Foundation Trust agreement together but, I believe more importantly, came what Bill said next;

“Disappointed that our hope of substantial money help seemed to be fading, we confessed, nevertheless, that we had often had such misgivings. But, we persisted, what are we going to do?”

“Finally, our friends agreed that something needed to be done. But they did continue to insist our movement ought never be professionalized. This struck the keynote of our relation to these men of goodwill for all the years since. Rightly enough, they have never secured us large sums of money. But each has given of himself to our cause, generously and continuously; how much, few AAs can ever know.”

Post from: Blisstree

They Gave Of Themselves

“My personal thoughts about being approached for additional money in support of AA, accompanied by a statement that AA itself is not being self-supporting, are – please tell me where AA is falling down in regards to money. Please provide me with specific, concrete examples of bills not being paid, facilities suffering, programs lacking due to not enough dollars. Tell me exactly how the message of recovery is not being carried because of not enough money. Without such “evidence” I will most likely remember that we are all here because we’re not all there and possibly question your motives for promoting additional contributions as being necessary.”

Well, I now have an answer and I am very much appreciative to the person who provided it. No, I can’t/won’t tell you who… but I’ll say this – the answer came from someone who has the real info. And here is part of it;

“We were $2,993,017 short of paying for our bills in at GSO in 2005. When we are short, we rely on the reserve fund; which the Trustees did to pay the bills.”

So, here’s the deal folks. When we’re short and have to rely on our reserves to pay our bills, we have to “re-stock” the reserves because, as a group, AA decided long ago to maintain a 12 month prudent reserve and this situation left us almost three months short. I won’t get into the “business” aspects of this practice, if you don’t understand, please seek guidance.

The solution to “re-stocking” our reserves to the desired level are twofold. One is increased contributions from the AA membership, the other is to increase profits on literature sales to agencies outside of AA. Simple. Unfortunately, if we come to rely on profits from outside agencies purchasing our literature, we are not self-supporting. Also simple.

And now I have a question for you – Are you familiar with this pie chart?

Post from: Blisstree

In Response – Safe Use Of Money