TRADITION SEVEN CHECK LIST
"Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting,
declining outside contributions."
1. Honestly How, do I do all I can to help AA (my group, my
central office, my GSO) remain self-supporting?
By
placing that dollar or two in the collection my group keeps a prudent reserve
and then passes on
All the extra monies to
the district the inter group the area and GSO on a quarterly donation
Could I put a little more into the basket on behalf of the new guy
who can't afford it yet?
Today
I cannot give as much but I can offer my services such as being secretary
treasurer
Chairperson I can go out
on commitments for my group carrying the message to others
Can offer to become a
General Service Representatives
As
far as AA on the whole I could serve as the District Committee Member for my
District
Serve on committees to
plan the many functions we have in our area like assemblies conventions
Secretary or treasurer
leading committees for the area or anyone of the many more Jobs to be filled by
volunteers
How generous was I when tanked in a barroom?
When
I had it I spent it foolishly on trying to make myself important in the eyes of
my peers I had to make a lasting impression on everyone my ego just would not
let me be anything else by the big shot
2. Should the Grapevine sell advertising space to book publishers
and drug companies, so it could
Make a big profit and become a bigger magazine, in full color, at
a cheaper price per copy?
To
do so would make is dependent on those who would buy the advertising space and
we then
Would no longer be
self-supporting and would hurt the basic concept of the program this would put
us a very compromising position given control to others
3. If GSO runs short on funds some year, wouldn't be okay to let the
government subsidize AA groups in hospitals and prisons?
Again
anything that is subsidized always comes with given control to others in this
case not only the government but also to the hospitals and prisons losing or
primary purpose of carrying the message do so would not help AA or the people
who need this anonymous program
4. Is it more important to get a big AA collection from a few
people, or a smaller collection in which
More members participate?
The
individual member of AA is the most single support we have given of our time
and money insures we all have a part in the whole picture of AA and the
ultimate voice in AA affairs besides that AA does limit the amount people can
donate to the fellowship
5. Is a group’s treasurer's report unimportant AA business?
The
treasurer is the one who makes sure bills are paid and if there’s no report
given and expenses to be paid voted on we could lose or meeting hall it is also
the duty of the treasurer to let the group know when its spending group monies
not with in the traditions
How does the treasurer feel about it?
As
a treasure of my group I felt it was my duty to provide my group the
information on spending so
They could as a group
decides where the monies are going many people thing that having dances and
anniversary parties would be proper to pay for with group funds again against
traditions
6. How important in my recovery is the feeling of self-respect,
rather than the feeling of being always
Under obligation for charity received.
In
my 32 years in aa I have never felt like I was receiving charity rather I felt
I was given the best gift in the world a loving God of my understanding who
gave me the wonderful gift of sobriety, recovery and fellowship this can never
have a price on it for it is priceless
More foods For Thought the answers to these Questions are in
Tradition seven
Why was this tradition so hard for AA to accept?
In
the beginning it was a conflict as to just how was the money going to be used a
lot wanted to start up hospitals treatment centers club houses etc have our on
doctors and nurses who could understand the alcoholic
What did the founders mean by collective poverty?
After
seeing all the problems that would come from all these enterprises and how
involved everyone would be they decided it would be best to not have money the
less amount of money in the treasury or we might loss the intent of the 12
steps
Was it initially a matter of necessity is it today?
When
Bill saw all the mail and questions coming into the foundation, as it was
called, then it became apparent more help would be need to answer all the mail
the service office idea was formed then and the need to hire works apparent
Was the fear of exploitation a healthy fear and is it still a fear
today?
There
was so much fear about how to do the work and who should be paid why couldn’t
they find outside help to finance the foundation all fears that turned out to
be very healthy for us all. Today we have the fears of having to much excess
money and would we become greedy and use it for self-centered purposes
Why was it necessary to separating the spiritual from the material
things?
Simply put our
fellowships ultimate authority is a loving God of our understanding and no
amount of money could ever buy His grace so spiritually was the one gift we
keep on given back in love not money
Was it a wise decision to subsist on A.A. voluntary contributions
only?
For
me it was God’s intervention to keep us humble and stead fast to carry out our
primary purpose not get messed up in matters of money and grandiose after all
who among us would not want to get rich of the misery of others
Was it safe to place the responsibility of supporting A.A.
directly upon A.A. members?
It
was the only way we could be self-supporting after all we are AA each and every
individual member who declares themselves as a member is the person who thru
the group conscience tells AA where to spend the collective money of the
program and their individual group
Why did we only keep the bare running expenses plus a prudent
reserve?
We
need to only concern ourselves with paying the group expenses on a monthly
basis the excess money goes to the District Inter-group area and the general
service office and prudent reserve usually three months operation expenses is
keep to be sure to meet the monthly services of the group in slow periods
Is your group keeping with this tradition of bare expenses and a
prudent reserve?
This is a good question
to ask at your next group business meeting like what are the group’s expenses
and where do we use the money collected I can only speak for my group but
anything over or prudent reserve is passed on the inter-group district the area
and then to GSO
© The checklist
is a reprint from June 1970 Grapevine
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