CONTRIBUTIONS
Self Support and the Seventh Tradition
“Self-support begins with me, because I am part of us – the group. We pay our rent and utility bills, buy coffee, snacks and A.A. Literature. We support our central office, our area committee, and our General Service Office. If it were not for those entities, many new people would never discover the miracles of A.A.”
Reprinted from Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix, page 5, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Contributions can be made by PayPal, Venmo or check.
PayPal Contributions
Click This Button to Make a Contribution Using PayPal
Venmo Contributions
ANONYMITY is an important consideration when making contributions by Venmo. Therefore, we strongly suggest going to: Settings > Privacy and choosing “Private” as the Default Privacy Setting for anonymity reasons. Groups will want to encourage members making contributions to do the same, or at least set each contribution to “Private”. Private payments are only visible to the sender and recipient.
Click This Button to Make a Contribution Using VENMO
Contributions by Check
Contributions may be sent to:
Monterey Bay Area Intergroup of A.A. (MBAIAA)
546 Hartnell Street, Suite E
Monterey, CA 93940
In keeping with the Seventh Tradition, Monterey Bay Area Intergroup of A.A. limits contributions to two sources: A.A. groups, and individual A.A. members. While there is no limitation on the amount an A.A. group may contribute, we follow the limits established by the General Service Conference for individual contributions, currently not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per year. Bequests in wills are acceptable on a one-time basis, and not in perpetuity. The limit is no more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00).
Together, group and individual contributions make it possible for us to coordinate the services which individual groups in the Monterey area cannot provide and to facilitate twelfth step work.
About Group Contributions
Central Office appreciates contributions from A.A. members, but does not want to diminish contributions to local A.A. groups. Our local groups need contributions to pay for basic expenses like rent, utility bills, coffee, refreshments and A.A. literature. Then after covering basic expenses, the group may decide to send money to the local district, the area committee, central office and the General Service Office.
Samples of group contributions to A.A. service entities can be found in the A.A. pamphlet:
SELF SUPPORT: Where Money & Spirituality Mix
Why Groups Collect 7th Tradition For Online Meetings
Our regular meeting locations still have operating expenses
- Our meetings facilities may rely on contributions to pay their rent and utilities
- Meeting supplies will still be needed when our meetings reopen – coffee, paper products, literature, refreshments. And after an extended closure, we may experience a large influx of people who are motivated to re-join the fellowship in person.
Central Office and the General Service Office still have operating expenses
- Websites – which we may now rely on more than ever!
- Phone lines, rent and insurance on office space
- Utility and other ongoing expenses
- Paid Special Workers who deserve our continued support. Their compensation is crucial to their ability to serve us.
Our Districts and Areas and H&I still have expenses
- Regular expenses to support the work of committees and events that will take place when the crisis has passed are still there.
- Web services support for groups
- Expenses for venues for events that have been cancelled may still need to be met, since any income from the event won’t be there to support the pre-payment of reservations, cancellation fees, etc. The expense of re-arranging for venues to reschedule events is very real.
About 7th Tradition Digital Contributions
Click To Learn About Digital Contributions. Digital contributions are in addition to the regular basket and the activation process is very simple.