Self-Support in General Service

NCCAA: Northern California Council of Alcoholics Anonymous

Dan Beaman, CNCA 06 Treasurer, March 21, 2026

Self-Support: Where Money & Spirituality Mix

F-3

• “From its earliest beginnings, A.A. has always incurred expenses…” - page 4
• “Self-support begins with me, because I am part of us - the group… We support our central office, our area committee, and our General Service Board. If it were not for those entities, many new people would never discover the miracles of A.A.” - page 5
• “The Area Committee, which coordinates vital A.A. activities over a broad geographic area; sends a delegate to the annual General Service Conference; holds area assemblies to determine the needs of the Fellowship; and provides information at all levels of service.” - page 7
• “A suggested prudent reserve for central offices, intergroup, and area committees could be one to 12 months’ operating expenses, depending on local needs.” - page 9

CNCA Finance Committee

5 Voting Members

• Chair, 3 Members and Area Treasurer
• Assist and advise the Treasurer: collect and count contributions
• Liaise with Area Committees to propose budget starting in May, due in August, submit to Officers in October, present to Area in November
• Review motions with financial impact to determine whether we have the money
• Items not included in the budget require Housekeeping or Regular Motions; large amounts or higher impact in nature require a motion

Guidelines

Finance Committee & Expense Reimbursement

• Committee Guidelines
• Expense Reimbursement Guidelines
• Receipts required
• Officers, Committee Chairs, Interpreters, Hybrid Subcommittee Travel to Assemblies, ACM, District Visits
• Mileage reimbursed at 75% of IRS annual business rate (75% of 2025 rate is .525, which is rounded to $.53/mile)
• Hotel reimbursed at $150/night

2025 Actuals

Revenue

• Group Contributions: 114,148
• District Contributions: 9,056
• Assembly Contributions: 9,382
• Personal/Misc Contributions: 4,275
• ACM 7th Trad., Other: 5,386
• Total: $142,903

Dollars in thousands

2025 Actuals

Expenses

• Officer: 33,687
• Assembly: 33,224
• Area Committee Meeting: 32,614
• Committee: 30,195
• Delegate: 9,578
• Admin, Other: 4,528
• Conference: 5,300
• Total: $149,125

Dollars in thousands

2025 Area Financial Snapshot

Statement of Financial Position and Actuals vs Budget

• Balance Sheet (SFP/SNP):
• Assets: $34.9 vs Liabilities: 5.2 + Equity: 30.7 = $34.9
• Income Statement (Act vs Bud):

Dollars in thousands

Cost per Member

Total Expenses / Number of Groups

• 2024 Total Expenses: $149,885
• Number of Groups: 1,689
• CNCA Expenses Per Group: $88.74

Prudent Reserve

Savings Account

• CNCA has opted to keep one month’s operating expenses in prudent reserve, which is approximately, $13,850

Forecasting is an Art

Not a science

• Treasurer gives report
• Includes cash on hand (Checking Account Balance)
• Explanation of what happened (Actuals vs Budget)
• Explanation of what will happen (Forecast)
• Treasurer discusses finances with committee, recommends whether we have the money on requests large or small, motions or informal, budgeted or not.
• Principles of Prudence:
• C3: Right of Decision
• C12/W4: Decisions by Substantial Unanimity

7th Tradition Traditional Breakdown

60/30/5/5

• 60% to Intergroup/Local
• 5% to District
• 5% to Area
• 30% to GSO
• Tradition 4: “Each group is autonomous, except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole”.
• Concept 9: “Good leadership… will consult widely before taking decisions and actions.”

Where does our money go

At the GSO?

• Publishes literature and provides services for AA. Translates literature into 90+ languages. 8 million+ books published annually.
• Staff responds to 100k+ requests via email, mail and phone calls annually from groups, members and the public. Maintains and updates aa.org, Meeting Guide and Grapevine Apps.
• Corrections Coordinator responds to 6,500+ letters/year, primarily from incarcerated alcoholics and coordinates Corrections Correspondence Service.
• PI and CPC Services offer AA exhibits to 45+ national conferences that professionals attend and create Public Service Announcements for TV and radio.
• Archives collects and stores AA history, making it safe and accessible for the future.
• Coordinates major events such as the General Service Conference, International Conventions, Regional Forums, and World Service Meetings.

2024 GSO Financial Highlights

Revenue & Expenses

• 7th Tradition Self-Support: $11.2M up 3.8% from $10.8M in 2023.
• Operating Expense before Depreciation: $18.7M up 6.9% from $17.5M in 2023.
• Program Service Expense: $9.1M up 1% from $9.0M in 2023.
• Supporting Services Expense: $9.6M up 13% from $8.47M in 2023.
• Self-Support covered 60% of Operating Expense.
• Cost of Program Services: $6.48/individual
• AAWS Publishing Gross Profits: $7.6M up 13% from $6.8M in 2023.
• Operating Surplus before Depreciation: $1M.

2024 Grapevine Financial Highlights

Revenue & Expenses

• App launch September 1, 2023: Subscribers with App access averaged 14,142 in 2024.
• Grapevine print magazine income increased 3% in 2024, mainly due to first price increase in 12 years. Subscription income for GV Online, GV Complete and GV App increased 25% due to subscriber growth.
• 2024 Grapevine results: $766k gross margin on subscriptions and $824k on other items. Operating Expenses of $2.5M resulted in operating loss of -$852k compared to $858k in 2023.
• General Fund support of La Viña service activity was $572k, compared to $756k in 2023.
• La Viña circulation increased by 17% in 2024 compared to a 3% decrease in 2023.

Seventh Tradition Self-Support 2016-2025

General Service Office

Contributions by Type of Contributor 2024

General Service Office

Expenses by Category 2024

General Service Office

Area Contributions

Page 148 of the conference report

• CNCA contributed the second most in the U.S. & Canadá.
• The number of groups has decreased since the pandemic.

Area Contributions con’t

Page 149 of the conference report

• However, expenses have increased.

Self-Support in 2025

Impact of the pandemic and the AA Business Model

• CNCA contributions:
• Decreasing every year.
• The average also decreased.
• What is happening?
• Online groups increased in number. Do they understand their responsibility?
• The AA business model has always been what we do not bring in with group contributions we compensate with literature sales. But our prudent reserve is shrinking every year. Is this model still working?

Dollars in thousands

What does Bill say?

Concepto XII, Warranty 2, page C-50 in the Service Manual

• “But in recent years these attitudes are everywhere on the decline; they quickly disappeared when the real need for a given AA service becomes clear. To make such a need clear is simply a matter of right information and education. We see this in the continuous job now being done with good effect for our world service by Delegates, Committee Members, and General Service Representatives. They are finding that money-begging by pressure exhortation is unwanted and unneeded in AA. They simply portray what the giver’s service dollar really brings in terms of steering alcoholics to AA, and in terms of our over-all unity and effectiveness. This much done, the hoped-for contributions are forthcoming. The donors can seldom see what the exact result has been. They well know, however, that countless thousands of other alcoholics and their families are certain to be helped…

What does Bill say?

Concepto XII, Warranty 2, page 50 in the Service Manual

• …When we look at such truly anonymous contributions in this fashion, and as we gained a better understanding of their continuous urgency, I am sure that the voluntary contributions of our AA groups, supplemented by many modest gifts from individual AA’s, will pay our world service bills over future years, in good times at any rate.”
• Proposed Solutions:
• Good information is the answer; there is plenty of money in our member’s pockets. We just need to inform them well.
• District Treasurer Workshop February 2026
• Group Treasurer Workshop March 2026
• Possible Town Hall March 2026?

Questions?