Bylaws Membership�Presentation

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The Bylaws Committee

Aug. 13^th and Aug. 27^th

The Situation �

• The situation is DIRE! Without updated Bylaws, the organization may be forced to close its doors and incur a significant tax liability
• In 1995, several AA members interested in the idea of coordinating online meetings met at 1995 International Convention in San Diego to continue the planning efforts started in 1994.
• The Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (OIAA) was incorporated in Feb., 1996 as a NJ non-profit corporation and 501c3 status was obtained from the IRS
• However, OIAA fell out of compliance with the State of New Jersey and the IRS:
• It failed to meet the NJ Non-profit legal requirement to meet in person as opposed to email only
• The IRS removed our 501c3 status due to a failure to file our annual tax returns.
• As OIAA makes online A.A. meetings available around the world, anywhere, anytime to anyone with an internet connection, these legal and financial issues threaten the ability of the entire international online community to have a voice and a presence to carry the message of AA through a centralized directory of online groups
• This necessitated the formation of an ad hoc Bylaws committee as a step in reestablishing our compliance with the NJ Non-profit law and reclaiming 501c3 tax-exempt status from the IRS after filing all of our back tax returns and filing the required reports with the State of NJ

OIAA Carries the Message

• Our OIAA Website has over 20,000 hits per day currently but was receiving over 50,000 hits per day at the height of the Pandemic.
• The Website has been recently updated to include a Special Events page and News and Updates on the Home page
• There are currently nearly 6,000 meetings in our online directory
• Meetings are held all over the world in 13 different languages
• Our Steppers committee handles nearly 7,100 12 Step calls on a yearly basis
• The Unity committee is responsible for reaching out to the 63 GSOs and Intergroups around the world to help provide support for online meetings
• The Public Information (PI)/Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) committee has received almost 1,200 inquiries year-to-date

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Here are some facts about how OIAA carries the message:

What's Not Changing�

• As we have seen, OIAA has been carrying the message successfully to online meetings since 1996
• There are many aspects of the organization that have been part of this success
• One key aspect is that we rely on our Membership’s group conscience on a wide variety of matters and THIS WILL NOT BE CHANGING!
• Our membership will still be asked to vote on:
• Bylaw changes
• Guidelines
• Operational Instructions for the conduct of OIAA business
• Elections
• Duties & Responsibilities of OIAA Officers
• Duties & Responsibilities of OIAA's Standing Committees
• Annual Budget
• Election of OIAA Officers

The Bylaws Ad Hoc Committee

• In March, 2022, an ad hoc committee was Assembled which was composed largely of IGRs and several OIAA officers and committee chairs
• The chair of the Policy & Admissions (PAC) committee, who oversees the OIAA guidelines, was also part of the committee
• The committee met on a weekly basis from March through July
• The Bylaws were reviewed on line-by-line basis. The revisions focused on:
• Retaining and enhancing the elements that increased participation and communication.
• Updating the operating procedures to be compliant with the NJ Non-profit laws
• All the changes made were made with A.A. Traditions and Concepts in mind.
• Legal advice was provided by a lawyer, Alexandra Kilduff, who works for Pro Bono Partnership, a nonprofit 501c3 organization who provides free business and transactional legal assistance to other nonprofits in New Jersey.

Changes to Improve Participation & Communication

• A Board of Directors is Required: New Jersey law requires the organization to have a board of officers who hold fiduciary responsibility for the organization and its actions. While OIAA had identified its trustees, there was no formal reporting relationship from the committees to the board and the board to the groups.
• Committees are Advisory to the Board of Directors: The advisory status of the standing committees is not a change for OIAA. The change is that an identified board now acts as the communication hub between the collective of all standing committees and the groups that are served. The board will collect all the information on the work and resource needs of all the committees and report it to the groups.
• Assembly Meetings are Required to be held in Real-time: The law requires meetings with the membership to be held in real time so that participants can hear consider all information as a collective.

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The following changes support OIAA in being Democratic

in Thought and Action:

What Do You Need To Do?

• First, and foremost, BE INFORMED!.
• Download a copy of the revised Bylaws from the link on the website (aa-intergroup.org) and review them
• The Final report of the Bylaws ad hoc committee is also available on the Website to help you understand the work of the committee and the changes being made to the Bylaws.
• Review the Bylaw changes with your group and obtain their group conscience about whether the Bylaws should be approved
• Submit any questions or comments using the form on the website
• At our 2nd meeting on 8/27, we will be available after the meeting to answer questions and receive any comments.
• A list of questions and comments that we receive will be posted on the website.
• Armed with your group’s conscience, attend our meeting on 9/10 to vote on the Bylaw changes. Your vote is very important and we need a quorum to approve the changes.

What Happens After the Vote?

• With a vote approving the Bylaws, we will file the Bylaws with the State of NJ to ensure that we are in compliance with the NJ Non-profit laws
• The Bylaws will be submitted to the IRS to have our 501c3, tax-exempt status reinstated. If this is not accomplished, OIAA could have a significant tax liability in the thousands of dollars.
• The newly restructured Board will begin meeting in real-time as opposed to through email in compliance with NJ State Non-profit laws.
• What may happen if these Bylaws don’t pass?
• This would necessitate shutting down the organization and restarting
• We would most likely be presented a large tax bill by the IRS in excess of $9,000
• The officers of the Corporation would be held liable for the non-compliance
• As you can see, approving these Bylaws changes is of the utmost importance.
• The Bylaws ad hoc committee believes that these changes are best for the organization and will carry us into the future for at least the next 5 to 10 years

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