0. 66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
TRADITION SEVEN

1. 66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
AROUND THE PICNIC TABLE
Financial
Report
2017
GSC
Slide 0 - Good afternoon. My name is David Morris and I am a Class A trustee and treasurer of the General Service Board. It is again my privilege to deliver the Treasurer's report to the 66th General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous or, as it is more commonly referred to, “Finance around the Picnic Table,” the phrase coined at the 59th Conference.
This phrase means that much of the finance discussion during Conference is "preaching to the choir." As always, what we need is better communications about what finance really means when members talk about the “numbers” around the euphemistic picnic table before and after meetings. Clear and concise communication is the key. Although our finances continue to grow much more complex, remember that Corporate Poverty is more a state of mind, rather than the size of our bank account. “Too much – and we argue over perilous wealth and lose sight of our primary purpose of carrying the message. Too little – and we risk losing the ability to carry the message at all.”
David M. Morris, C.P.A.
Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee
General Service Board Treasurer 1 1

2. 66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
AN ATTEMPT AT HUMOR
In response to a question at a state convention, "Why is the Treasurer of the GSB always a Class A trustee?", the late Class B Trustee, Dr. David A. replied:
“We gladly allow non-alcoholics to handle our money because we’ve got more important things to do – to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.”
Source - audio tape from A.A. Archives
Slide 2 – is our attempt to interject some humor into a very dry financial presentation. 2

3. THE HAND OF A.A. IS ALWAYS THERE
67th General Service Conference
THE HAND OF A.A. IS ALWAYS THERE
A few examples of what the 90 people of both GSO and Grapevine do each working day to make sure that the hand of A.A. is always there for the Fellowship and the still suffering alcoholic:
13,600 booklets, pamphlets, and miscellaneous items shipped daily
4,900 Big Books and other books shipped daily
390 people (216 first timers) on average attended each of 14 Regional Forums held during last three years
230 s responded to daily
65 phone calls answered daily
300 Seventh Tradition contributions processed daily & thank you letters sent
200 Grapevine and La Vina mailed daily
6 requests for information from the Archives answered daily
Archives conserves A.A.’s history
Manages over 2,700 cubic feet of our history – materials are equivalent to nearly three quarters of a mile of 8½” x 11” pages of paper stacked end to end.
Slide 18 – There has been much positive reaction to the two page Seventh Tradition fact sheet developed by the A.A.W.S. self support subcommittee. This slide are additional facts that may help you communicate to the Fellowship many of the things that the GSO staff does every day to provide services to the still suffering alcoholic.

4. 66th General Service Conference
GRATITUDE
66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Slide 4 – introduces the first agenda topic of our Seventh Tradition of self-support.
TRADITION SEVEN 4 4

5. Seventh Tradition
Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

6. Seventh Tradition

7. 7TH TRADITION SELF-SUPPORT – 2002 – 2016
67th General Service Conference
7TH TRADITION SELF-SUPPORT – 2002 – 2016
Slide 7 – is a chart that shows the 15-year history of generally increasing Seventh Tradition of self-support contributions, with 2016 being the record of $7,934,869.

8. PERCENTAGE OF GROUPS CONTRIBUTING – 2002 – 2016
67th General Service Conference
PERCENTAGE OF GROUPS CONTRIBUTING – 2002 – 2016
Slide 8 – is a 15 year chart of the percentage of groups that have contributed from 2002 through It shows that 41.5% of the groups contributed in 2016, specifically 27,542 contributing groups out of 66,336 total groups. This compares to 40.3% of the groups that contributed in 2015, specifically 26,500 contributing groups out of 65,741 total groups.

9. 67th General Service Conference
7TH TRADITION SELF-SUPPORT – 2002 – 2016
Slide 9 – combines the prior two charts of the 15-year history of the Seventh Tradition of self-support with the percentage of groups that contributed to G.S.O., being the red line running across the top of the slide with the percentages on the right side. For 2016, the total of Seventh Tradition of self-support contributions was $7,934,869, with the percentage of groups contributing being 41.5%.

10. 7TH TRADITION SELF-SUPPORT – 2016
67th General Service Conference
7TH TRADITION SELF-SUPPORT – 2016
Slide 10 – is a new chart that shows the relative significance of each source of our Seventh Tradition of self-support, with Groups contributing 81.4% of the total received, Specials (e.g., conferences, areas, intergroups, etc.) being 8.4%, and Individuals being 7.7% in 2016.

11. 66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Slide 9 – The A.A.W.S. Finance Subcommittee on Self-Support continues to work diligently towards a goal of developing sustainable self-support initiatives. With the ever present possibility that print sales might decline in the future, it is vital that the Fellowship fully embrace the Seventh Tradition. Delegates, other trusted servants and G.S.O. staff have offered many creative and practical ways to communicate the message of the need for self-support, and we are grateful for everyone’s participation. Popular efforts have included the increased discussion of our November Gratitude Month, as well as increasing the focus on Birthday Envelopes. The answer to self-support may very well be in sustained communication – and it is here where we continue to need your help and suggestions.
We are grateful to every member who contributes to his or her local group as a portion of those monies do work their way to G.S.O., helping ensure that G.S.O. has the necessary resources to continue providing the services that our members and groups are seeking. A special word of thanks goes out to all the delegates, D.C.M.s, and G.S.R.s, who have worked to help make this possible. And we hope information from this Conference will help assist in your communication about self-support around the picnic table and why a single dollar put into the basket today at a meeting is no longer enough, as we shall see in the next two slides.
1111 11

12. A DOLLAR IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE
66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
A DOLLAR IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE
Remember inflation when deciding upon your
7th Tradition
Contributions for:
- Group Meetings
- Birthday Plan
November Gratitude Month
$1.00
$13.00
Slide 10 – illustrates the very pervasive and negative effects of how inflation has diminished the value or purchasing power of one dollar since the very first days of A.A. through today. It shows that the $1.00 in 1935 is now equivalent to $13.00 today, regardless of what that 1935 dollar was spent on, whether it went for alcohol, coffee or put into the 7th Tradition self-support basket.
1212 12 12

13. INFLATION CALCULATOR OF A COFFEE OVER TIME
66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Bill W. & Dr. Bob
Coffee - $0.15 in
1935
Equivalent to
$2.60
2017
Average delegate’s
sobriety – 25 years
Coffee - $2.00 in
1990
Equivalent to
$3,47
2017
Slide 11 – is another slide that illustrates the pervasive and very negative effects of inflation. This slide shows the cost of a drink when both Bill W. and Dr. Bob stopped and when you, the delegates of the 66th General Service Conference on average, stopped drinking and what inflation has done to change that cost since then. Maybe this is another way to illustrate why continuing the common practice of placing a single $1 dollar bill into the 7th Tradition self-support basket today is probably not the same as when that practice first started in a by-gone era. Today, more is needed to be put into the basket for both local group needs as well as GSO’s. 11

14. G.S.O.’s TWO BASIC FUNCTIONS
66th General Service Conference
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Publishing
Services on Behalf of the G.S.B
Slide 12 – transitions us to our service structure.
Group Records 14 14

15. 66th General Service Conference
% of Services Supported by Contributions 80,1% en 2016
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Slide 18 – displays the 74.3% for 2015 along with the percentage of services covered by contributions for the last fifteen years. As is evident from this chart, there is a shortfall every year. 15

16. MEMBER SERVICES & STATISTICS – 3 YEAR HISTORY
66th General Service Conference
MEMBER SERVICES & STATISTICS – 3 YEAR HISTORY
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
2016
2015
2014
Number of Members
1,362,402
1,348,072
1,373,497
Cost of Services per Member
$7.27
$7.14
$7.08
7th Tradition Self-Support Contributions per Member
5.82
5.24
5.02
Cost of Services NOT covered by Self-Support
1.45
1.90
2.06
Number of Groups
66,336
65,741
65,222
Cost of Services per Group
$149.34
$146.48
$149.11
7th Tradition Self-Support Contributions per Group
119.62
108.82
105.76
29.72
37.66
43.35
Percentage of Groups Contributing
41.5%
40.3%
41.6%
Number of Groups that Contributed
27,542
26,500
27,103
7th Tradition Self-Support Contributions of Groups that contributed
$288.10
$269.97
$254.51
Slide 19 – displays key member statistics for 2016, along with the past two years. They are simple calculations using the Seventh Tradition of self-support contributions and the cost of services provided divided by the number of members and groups shown on the Contribution Statistical Report. Please remember that those numbers are only as good as the data we capture in an anonymous fellowship system.
Using the 2016 cost of services provided of $9,906,558, we calculate cost of services provided is $7.27 per member or $ per group. Using the 2016 contributions of $7,934,869, we calculate self-support per member of $5.82 or per group of $ The costs of services provided are NOT fully covered through self-support is $1.45 per member and $29.72 per group. 
Since only 27,542 groups or 41.5% actually contribute towards Seventh Tradition of self-support, we show the average amount contributed of $288.10 19

17. 67th General Service Conference
2016 LITERATURE SALES – $13.4 MILLION
Slide 24 – is a pie chart that breaks down the 2016 total gross publishing revenue of $13,413,929 to show the significance of the Big Book sales to total sales. The sales revenue earned on Big Book was $6,568,755, or 49.0% of 2016 sales revenue; Twelve & Twelve was $2,265,801, or 16.9%; Daily Reflections was $1,179,076, or 8.8%; and Living Sober was $452,166, or 3.4%.
In 2016, the revenue from E-Books sales was $215,366, or 1.6% of total revenue, down from $238,102, or 1.9% of total revenue in 2015.

18. 67th General Service Conference
In Thousand
*Excludes 75th Anniversary Edition
BIG BOOK – UNITS SOLD – 1997 – 2016 *
Slide 25 – is a chart that shows the number of Big Books sold in all languages during the last two decades, with 860,674 being sold in 2016. *

19. 67th General Service Conference
E-BOOK UNIT SALES – 2016
Slide 26 – is a pie chart that breaks down the total E-books sold of 58,275 in 2016 by the ten titles in all languages, with 17,132 (29.4%) being the Big Book, 15,855 (27.2%) being Twelve & Twelve. The distribution of all E-books sold is 65.3% for Kindle, 30.9% for I-tunes, and 3.9% for Nook. The comparable amounts for 2015 were 62,411 E-books sold, with the Big Book being 18,686 (29.9%) and Twelve & Twelve being 18,038 (28.9%).

20. 67th General Service Conference
Big Book Pricing
Year Published
Original Price
April 2017 Inflation
Adjusted Price
First
1939
$3.50
$61.34
Second
1955
$4.50
$40.90
Third
1976
$5.65
$24.19
Fourth
2001
$6.00
$8.25
Slide 27 – was created to help put into perspective the October 1, 2014 price increase of the Big Book from $8.00 to $ The decision for the price increase was fully vetted at both the A.A.W.S. and G.S.B. board meetings. In both cases, it was agreed that for the long-term viability of A.A. additional revenue was needed to maintain the level of services that the Fellowship has come to expect and is continuing to seek. We updated this slide to help put in perspective that even at $9.50 the Big Book today is still a bargain compared to what it has sold for during the past 78 years.
Source – 2017 inflation information based on the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Inflation Calculator website.

21. Distribution of the Funds
Seventh Tradition
Distribution of the Funds
ASO
GSO
Group insurance
Literature
Groups Services
Public Information
CPC
Treatment
Correctional
Meetings & Assemblies
Helpline
Archives
Web Site
ICC
Literature (Grapevine – La Vina – La Vigne)
Service Office
World Archives
Literature
Loners and Internationalists
Public Information
CPC
Corrections
Regional Forums
General Service Conference
Groups Services

22. TOGETHER WE ARE RESPONSIBLE
Seventh Tradition
TOGETHER WE ARE RESPONSIBLE

23. QUESTIONS ?

24. THANK YOU Thomas G, Amour & Service Love & Service Amor y Servicio
Délégué Groupe 66, Région 87, Sud-ouest du Québec
Delegate Panel 66, Area 87, Southwest Quebec
Delegado del grupo 66, Aréa 87 Sur-Oeste de Quebec