This is an unofficial summary of the January 2020 Intergroup meeting provided for convenience; it is not intended to be the completed approved minutes. For a complete copy of the minutes and full committee reports see “Intergroup” on our website aasfmarin.org.

Our Intergroup exists to support the groups in their common purpose of carrying the A.A. message to the still suffering alcoholic by providing and coordinating services that are difficult for the individual groups to execute.

The Intercounty Fellowship has been organized by, and is responsible to, the member groups in San Francisco and Marin for the purpose of coordinating the services that individual groups cannot provide.

The meeting was held on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street in San Francisco. The meeting was started with a call to order and the Serenity Prayer. Baskets for dinner were passed. The December 2019 minutes and the January 2020 agenda were approved.

Standing Reports

Board Chair, Alan G. January through March is Outreach Season, so starting tonight we will hold workshops to develop a clear message for IGRs to bring to groups and work on being comfortable bringing it to them. You will find links to readings and meeting resources at aasfmarin.org. All the committees keep us going, so “yay” budget, “yay” operations! Thank you everyone.

Treasurer, Renee T. For November 2019, we were $19K under budget for Group Contributions, $5K under for Individual Contributions and $1K under for Central Office Bookstore sales. Operating expenses were under by $14K and the total budget deficit was $6K. Overall, our rating is “Good.” Question: Mark noted a typo; $53 should be $53K in Unrestricted Cash. This was fixed. Question: The reduction in Operating Expenses was due to what? Answer: A decrease in the health insurance expense (due to staff member going on Medicare) and Committee expenses coming in under budget.

Executive Director, Maury P. We will need to increase revenue this year, but not too much (likely $1K per month). We have five open shifts at Central Office. There is a one-year sobriety requirement. We are also looking for substitutes or once-a-week volunteers, so please spread the word. Please take a moment to remember Matt T. Also, Barbara M. has 62 years! This is possibly the longest sobriety in San Francisco and Marin. We are sending her a fancy chip and a card for her milestone (nice!).

Intergroup Committee Reports

Fellowship, Elena R. We are ready to go for Safety Workshop on February 29, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at 777 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco. We NEED volunteers! Please reach out to Elena at fellowship@aasfmarin.org.

San Francisco PI/CPC, Molly J. We are working at building fresh relationships with local education through San Francisco USD, San Francisco State and City College. Our focus is Diversity and Inclusion: How to increase this. Come join us! We meet on the 2nd Monday each month. We begin with a 6:00 pm speaker workshop, followed by a business meeting at 7:00 pm. sfpicpc@aasfmarin.org

The Point, John B. (Michael – alternate is covering) We provide local stories about recovery in San Francisco and Marin, so send us your interesting stuff to thepoint@aasfmarin.org. Creative? We have service ops for you: drawing, writing, etc.

Archives, Kim S. Preserve our local legacy in San Francisco and Marin by sharing individual group histories with us. Our next history talk will be on Sunday, March 15, and the topic is the first transgender alcoholic. We need volunteers! Our committee meets on the 3rd Sunday each month at 2:00 pm at Central Office. archives@aasfmarin.org

Sunshine Club, Clayton B. The Sunshine Club brings meetings to people who can’t get to them on their own. One-year sobriety plus attendance at an orientation is required. Please give us your ideas about how to publicize this service to our members. sunshine@aasfmarin.org

Orientation, Trevor J. We have 7 new IGRs tonight. Welcome! Be a buddy for someone new to Intergroup.

The Buzz – Maury P. We currently have more than 2,000 subscribers and a 50% open rate which is good! Most traffic has to do with meetings, 2nd most popular was Holiday Meeting Closures followed by Events. thebuzz@aasfmarin.org

Technology, Taran R. We’ve seen that our communication tool HelpChat is used by lots of newcomers. Contact us at tech@aasfmarin.org

Service Committee Liaison Reports

Teleservice Marin, Carlo We have a 12th Step Workshop in January at the Marin Alano Club. Our commitments are turning over. marinteleservice.com

San Francisco General Service, Alison The District Inventory was conducted in December. The biggest suggestion from it was offering food at the meeting. We are looking for more GSRs, please. The Agenda Topics season is coming up, so help out all our new GSRs. The 5th Edition of the Big Book still being discussed locally as well as the General Service Board strategic plan roll-out.

San Francisco Bridging the Gap, Phil S. We are trying to breathe life into a 12th Step Committee that is in need of refreshing. It’s a work in progress. “Bridging the Gap picks up on where H&I leaves off.” We are looking for a phone list coordinator. sfbridgethegap@gmail.com

Marin PI/CPC, Evan We have a Speaker orientation in January at the Marin Alano Club in San Rafael. Positions are turning over, so please come to the business meeting after the orientation. We have decided to extend positions to 2 years. We plan to present at Marin High School and UC Hastings College of Law, if you want to join us.

San Francisco Hospital & Institution, Elena R. There was no business meeting last month, so there is nothing to report. We do have a liaison.

Old Business

Board Governance Committee: Amendments to IFAA Bylaws

Proposed Bylaws will be sent via email to all IGRs, so read them and give your feedback. The IGR feedback will be during the “Comment Period” of 2 months. You may email to governance@aasfmarin.org or go in person to the Governance Committee meeting. Governance will review and edit, then finalize the IGR proposed draft making it ready for discussion and vote. A lawyer is being hired to review and finalize. Question: what is not helpful feedback? Answer: minor rewordings, fine-tooth comb stuff. Helpful input should be about the content and interacting with the literature. So ask us questions.

New Business

Outreach Roundtable

“Seasons of Focus” – outreach is a primary focus for the entire year. How do we best fulfill our obligation to bring the message to groups? The idea is to increase representation and participation, so if we can bring the message, it will be easier to get people on board. Here are some questions: What are our responsibilities? What is your response when someone asks, “What is Intergroup?” What can we do to support IGRs? Make a couple announcements at your meeting but don’t make too many of them. Keep it short and sweet and palatable. The GSR is the architect, the IGR is the carpenter. Focus on outreach to other meetings. (Find meetings without IGRs? Be the IGR, hit bigger meetings, make more of an impact)

What’s On Your Mind?

The Wits End meeting is celebrating their 34th anniversary in January. Congrats!

Targeted Message

• 12th Step Workshop at Marin Alano Club on Saturday, January 19 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
• Sunshine Club Orientation on Sunday, January 26 in Novato after the 10:00 am Rise N Shine meeting
• Communicate what Intergroup is and does; each of us is part of the Outreach Committee
• Five open shifts at Central Office, one-year sobriety requirement

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting: Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 7:00 pm, at St Andrew Presbyterian Church, 101 Donahue Street in Sausalito. Orientation is at 6:00 pm, dinner is served at 6:30 pm.

Treasurer’s Report

Month Ended November 2019

For November 2019, Total Gross Income (revenue minus COGS) was $13,763, this was under budget by $10,556 due to lower than expected Group contributions. Gross Income is $21,793 under budget year to date.

Total Operating Expense for November was $22,886, under budget by $2,516, due to lower than expected committee costs.

The result is a Net Operating Deficit of $8,642 for the month. This leaves the fellowship with a $20,636 deficit year to date (budgeted deficit is $14,768).   

Group Contributions for November were $7,402, under budget by $12,492. Group contributions are $19,235 under budget year to date. Individual Contributions for November were $5,670, over budget by $2,705. Individual contributions are $5,461 under budget year to date.

Total Unrestricted Cash for November 2019 was $52,933, a decrease of $19,345 from October 2019.  Unrestricted Cash is about 2.2x monthly operating expenses.

The rating for November 2019 is downgraded to “Good”.

OVERALL RATING: GOOD

INTERGROUP FINANCE RATING SYSTEM

Every month we rate our monthly finances as “Excellent”, “Good”, “Fair” or “Poor”.  Generally speaking, here are the definitions of those terms:

EXCELLENT:  We exceeded our budget.  Our income was greater than our expenses for the month and we have more than two months’ worth of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.  Operating expenses are roughly $24K/month, so we’d have over $48K in unrestricted cash balances for the month.  The Intergroup rating has been “excellent” since December 2016.

GOOD: We are meeting our budget.  Our income for the month, or for the YTD, was slightly greater than our expenses and we’d have approximately 1.5 – 2 months of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.

FAIR: We are not meeting our budget.  Our expenses were greater than our income for the month and for the YTD – and our unrestricted cash balance would be somewhere between 1 and 1.5x our operating expenses.

POOR: We are not meeting our budget and our unrestricted cash balances fell below one month of operating expenses. The last time we were “poor” was in November 2016.

This is an unofficial summary of the December 2019 Intergroup meeting provided for convenience; it is not intended to be the completed approved minutes. For a complete copy of the minutes and full committee reports see “Intergroup” on our website aasfmarin.org.

Our Intergroup exists to support the groups in their common purpose of carrying the A.A. message to the still suffering alcoholic by providing and coordinating services that are difficult for the individual groups to execute.

The Intercounty Fellowship has been organized by, and is responsible to, the member groups in San Francisco and Marin for the purpose of coordinating the services that individual groups cannot provide.

The meeting was held on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street in San Francisco. The meeting was started with a call to order and the Serenity Prayer. Baskets for dinner were passed. The November 2019 minutes and the December 2019 agenda were approved.

Standing Reports

Board Chair, Alan G. Volunteer appreciation dinner was successful last month; lots of attendance from volunteers but not as many IGRs. We are looking for feedback for next year. There are Service Committee Opportunities, so check The Buzz for needs. We’re looking to hold more workshops in the next year. We have talked about doing more outreach to silent meetings, so find a buddy and go to a silent meeting and talk about Intergroup. We are working on a template for people to use. We currently have Trusted Servant contact with 25% of the meetings in our service area; 10% are represented at Intergroup; 42% of the groups contribute to the office. Reminder: please update Central Office with holiday meeting changes.

Treasurer, Renee T. See attached Treasurer report for October numbers. Our current rating is Excellent, expenses are under budget YTD. Individual Contributions are also under budget. A sneak peek into November: Group Contributions are way under budget, so please encourage your groups to send in both 7th Tradition and Gratitude Month Contributions before the end of the year (December 31).

Executive Director, Maury P. Please let Central Office know about holiday closures for meetings. This information is very helpful for Teleservice, HelpChat and help@aasfmarin.org. Check Fellowship News (aasfmarin.org Home Page) often for updates. Central Office is going to be closed Saturday, December 21 for our annual Bookstore Inventory, however, aasfmarin.org and the online bookstore will be open 24/7. The renewal period for group insurance certificates through Central Office is coming up. Please call if you have questions or need a certificate. Group Contributions are not looking good ($17K under budget as of November 30). Budgets are based on the prior year history. The percentage of groups contributing is good but the “amount per group” is down. Remind your meetings it is best to send in all contributions, especially Gratitude Month, prior to year end.

Intergroup Committee Reports

The Point, John B. What is The Point? Hella Fubu Grapevine. The Point is online only but easy to print out (just 9 pages double sided). Meeting once a month on the second Saturday at 12:30 pm at Central Office.

SF PI/CPC, Molly J. We are Public Information and Cooperation with the Professional Community. Most of our recent events are restarting relationships with schools. We are always looking for volunteers. Project Homeless Connect is our next event. The second Monday monthly is our speaker training and business meeting at Central Office.

SF Teleservice, Lara A. Our Teleservice hotline has been running in the Bay Area for over 60 years! Our first overnight shift was 46 years ago. We are looking for volunteers. Orientation is the third Monday monthly at Central Office at 6:00 pm, and a business meeting follows. Contact us at sfteleservice@aasfmarin.org.

Archives, Kim S. (Mike reporting) Archives meets every third Sunday of the month at Central Office. We are currently going through files stored at Central Office. Upcoming special event will be a presentation on History of Translation of the Big Book into Spanish.

Fellowship, Elena R. We are hoping to have four workshops this year including another Safety Workshop in February 2020. Anyone who is interested in planning or participating in this workshop, reach out to fellowship@aasfmarin.org.

Sunshine Club, Ann Mc. We’ve had a few orientations since September and currently have 20 new people on the list. The next orientation in Novato (after the Rise ‘N Shine meeting).

The Buzz, Anne Marie C. (Maury P. reporting) Our email newsletter went out to 1880 new people with a 52% open rate. The most clicked link was about contribution data. Email thebuzz@aasfmarin.org if you are having trouble receiving it.

Technology, Taran R. We are currently working on database issues. We are also updating Digital Contributions information for meetings. During October 2019, 10,542 people found us on Google, 376 visited the website and 83 called.

Liaison Reports from other Service Committees (up to 2 minutes/report)

SF General Service, District 6, Steve Alison will be the new Intergroup Liaison. We were the host committee for the Fall General Assembly. It was pushed back twice due to fires. We created an Accessibility Committee to support meeting accessibility. Northern California Coastal wants a 5th Edition of the Big Book and wants for new stories.

Marin PI/CPC, Evan We will be speaking at Novato High School. We filled the African American Outreach Coordinator position.

Marin Teleservice, Carlo Was not at the business meeting (there was a Slayer concert). Our december Business Meeting has been moved up a week to avoid Christmas Week. The 12th Step Workshop will be coming up in January 2020. All positions in Marin Teleservice are turning over, so the time is nigh to get involved.

SF Bridging the Gap, Phil S. Bridging the Gap picks up where the H&I Committee leaves off. BTG helps alcoholics get to meetings upon release. We have noticed troubles with county jails releasing people at all hours of the day and night. We now have four committee members. We are working with Teleservice to add guidance for volunteers interacting with Inmates. We meet the first Tuesday of the month at Central Office.

SF H&I Liaison, Elena We are financially in good shape. We have a new book for people with commitments. There is lots of literature for use, so don’t be shy when you pick up. Contact H&I or pick up at the meeting on third Saturday monthly at 2900 24th Street (Mission Fellowship).

New Business

Budget 2020

The Treasurer Renee T. presented and reviewed how budgeting happens. It is a Zero Dollar Methodology. Committee budgeting is based on budgets submitted by committees and income is budgeted based on 2019 actuals with a 3% increase (similar to a cost-of-living increase). Any increases are added to make sure operating expenses are met.

Intergroup Rep reviewed the Budget.

Budget has been approved by Board and needs to be approved by Intergroup. Question: Evan, Does the PI/CPC line item include Marin PI/CPC? Answer: Yes, line item includes $750 for Marin PICPC plus the budget from SF PI/CPC. A vote taken and the result was Yay – 36; Nay – 0, so the motion passed.

Board Governance Committee: Amendments to IFAA Bylaws

James presented and stated we have a legal requirement to keep Bylaws up-to-date. The last review was in 2011. The Governance Committee has been working on a review and made two types of changes:

Housekeeping changes and Structural changes. The Board approved these changes, so they now need to be reviewed by Intergroup. Intergroup has a legal requirement to review and vote on changes. The review process will come in January 2020.

Old Business

Email newsletters

Should there be more newsletters? We currently produce The Buzz (with business) and The Point (with recovery and service articles). Should there be more granular newsletters (one for IGR, one for secretaries, one for general news, etc.)? Question: Have we considered a Shared Drive? Answer: aasfmarin.org is the shared drive. Question: Have we considered handouts? One third like handouts, two thirds do not prefer handouts. Question: Have we thought about more ways to disseminate the information? Adult learners need more than one media to better process information.

Targeted Message

• Send in Contributions before the end of the year!
• Ask your secretary if they are reading The Buzz
• Communicate what Intergroup is and does – each of us is part of the Outreach Committee

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting: Wednesday, January 8, 2020, 7:00 pm, at the First Unitarian Universalist Center, 1187 Franklin Street in San Francisco. Orientation is at 6:00 pm, dinner is served at 6:30 pm.

Treasurer’s Report

Month Ended October 2019

For October 2019, Total Gross Income (revenue minus COGS) was $17,740, this was under budget by $4,224 due to lower than expected Group & Individual contributions. Gross Income is $11,329 under budget year to date.

Total Operating Expense for October was $24,747, under budget by $1,642, due to lower than expected committee costs.

The result is a Net Operating Deficit of $7,007 for the month. This leaves the fellowship with a $13,291 deficit year to date (budgeted deficit is $13,263).   

Group Contributions for October were $13,249, over budget by $293. Group contributions are $6,744 under budget year to date. Individual Contributions for October were $2,697, under budget by $4,499. Individual contributions are $8,166 under budget year to date.

Total Unrestricted Cash for October 2019 was $72,279, a decrease of $8,708 from September 2019.  Unrestricted Cash is about 3.0x monthly operating expenses.

The rating for October 2019 is “Excellent”.

OVERALL RATING: Excellent

INTERGROUP FINANCE RATING SYSTEM

Every month we rate our monthly finances as “Excellent,” “Good,” “Fair” or “Poor.”  Generally speaking, here are the definitions of those terms:

EXCELLENT:  We exceeded our budget.  Our income was greater than our expenses for the month and we have more than two months’ worth of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.  Operating expenses are roughly $24K/month, so we’d have over $48K in unrestricted cash balances for the month.  The Intergroup rating has been “excellent” since December 2016.

GOOD: We are meeting our budget.  Our income for the month, or for the YTD, was slightly greater than our expenses and we’d have approximately 1.5 – 2 months of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.

FAIR: We are not meeting our budget.  Our expenses were greater than our income for the month and for the YTD – and our unrestricted cash balance would be somewhere between 1 and 1.5x our operating expenses. POOR: We are not meeting our budget and our unrestricted cash balances fell below one month of operating expenses. The last time we were “poor” was in October 2016.

POOR: We are not meeting our budget and our unrestricted cash balances fell below one month of operating expenses. The last time we were “poor” was in October 2016.

This is an unofficial summary of the November 2019 Intergroup meeting provided for convenience; it is not intended to be the completed approved minutes. For a complete copy of the minutes and full committee reports see “Intergroup” on our website aasfmarin.org.

Our Intergroup exists to support the groups in their common purpose of carrying the A.A. message to the still suffering alcoholic by providing and coordinating services that are difficult for the individual groups to execute.

The Intercounty Fellowship has been organized by, and is responsible to, the member groups in San Francisco and Marin for the purpose of coordinating the services that individual groups cannot provide.

The meeting was held on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 101 Donahue Street in Sausalito. The meeting was started with a call to order and the Serenity Prayer. Baskets for dinner were passed. The October 2019 minutes and the November 2019 agenda were approved.

Standing Reports

Board Chair, Alan G. Our first Intergroup of the new year falls on January 1. Due to holiday, the meeting will be held on January 8, 2020. Regarding the Marin meeting place reservation for the next year, the board recommends staying at the present location; everyone feels good about it. It’s Gratitude Month: please ask your groups to consider sending the basket around a second time for Intergroup. Also, mention the Faithful Fivers program. We budget for this, so it is important to get message out.

Treasurer, Renee T. (Maury P. is filling in) Rating for September was “excellent.” Group contributions are under budget for year and Individual contributions are also under budget. Operating Expenses are also under budget (good), and Unrestricted Cash is enough to sustain us for 3 months. Data migration issue: we are working with a consultant to fix issues with COGS versus bookstore revenue discrepancy (it’s a QuickBooks problem). The 2020 Budget is under way and we plan to present next year’s budget in Dec. Question: Regarding Faithful Fivers, has anyone discussed a “rebrand” to reach a broader demographic? Answer: People have suggested “Thankful Tenners” but any amount is welcomed (up to the annual GSO contribution limits). We encourage higher participation over higher contribution amount per member. Sign up and ask a friend to, as well (or sponsor or sponsee)!

Executive Director, Maury P. Do you have or know about holiday meeting schedule changes? Please let us know! Are you aware of holiday alcothons and/or events? Please tell us! We will circulate it on the aasfmarin.org website. Remember that Central Office is a Service Center, which includes HelpChat, the website, Public Information, and Teleservice. We do more than sell books. We are currently looking for Graphic Designers to volunteer for various projects. Maury is now serving on the Intergroup Communications Committee (elected at the recent Intergroup/Central Office Conference) GSO is presenting the idea of launching a meeting finder on aa.org. This is not sitting well with a lot of Intergroups because it is a local service already being provided. GSO already started selling books to individual groups which hurts central offices financially. A.A. literature makes clear that making AA literature available and maintaining meeting schedules is our role and responsibility. This topic has been divisive.

Intergroup Committee Reports

The Point, John B. The monthly November issue is now available on the website. We are looking for articles about your home group! Send them to thepoint@aasfmarin.org. We meet on the 2^nd Saturday every month at 12:30 pm. Please come check it out.

Archives, Kim S. Another History Talk called “A.A. in Spanish Translation” will be coming up on Sunday, November 17, 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.

SF Teleservice, Lara A. Let Teleservice know about any upcoming meeting closures so that it can be communicated. Plug for SF Teleservice: the business meeting is every 3^rd Monday at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco, if you want to learn about what we do, information about our Volunteer Appreciation Event next year, how to spread the message, share 12th Step calls in The Point, etc. We can be reached at sfteleservice@aasfmarin.org.

Orientation, Trevor J. We have 5 new IGR’s tonight. Please pass around the Buddy Sheet, and say “HI” to the new people! What can we do better to keep people here, and to keep them interested (retaining new IGRs)? Think about it.

SF PI/CPC, Molly J. Our purpose: educating medical professionals, laymen, public information booths, informing businesses of what A.A. is and the resources they can find. We also bring A.A. Big Books to local libraries, set up information stands at Sunday Streets and Unity Day, make presentations to UCSF medical students, plus many more events. Contact sfpicpc@aasfmarin.org.

Sunshine Club, Clayton B. Our upcoming orientation for recruiting additional volunteers will be at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco on Wednesday, November 13 at 6:00 pm, then in Marin after the 10:00 am Rise ‘N Shine meeting on Saturday, January 26 in Novato. Anne M. has rotated out as Chair, so we need another co-chair for both San Francisco and Marin. If interested, contact us at sunshine@aasfmarin.org.

Technology, Taran R. We are still in need of a Graphic Designer and someone to take on the Chair position. Fun Fact: In September 2019, 11,222 people found us on Google, 614 visited our site and 72 people called. Awesome!

Fellowship, Elena R. If you are interested in volunteering at some of our Special Events in the new year, contact us at fellowship@aasfmarin.org. The next Safety Workshop will be in late February, date TBD. If you want to help, email us. It has been suggested we have other Workshops on different topics. Offered ideas: Q/A on Sponsorship, Traditions, Anonymity and Technology. Founder’s Day for San Francisco will be in June 2020. A deposit has been put down on the room, but do people like it? Do they have ideas of switching it up? Let us know.

Service Committee Liaison Reports

Marin Teleservice, Carlo Minor website changes will be made adjusting for the holidays.

Marin PI/CPC, Evan Over the past couple of weeks, we visited several high schools and Dominican University, doing CPS presentations for 60 of their employees (super excited about that). We have an Outreach Coordinator position open.

SF Bridging the Gap, Phil We are currently fixing misinformation about Bridging the Gap (BTG) and where does it fit in our fellowship as a whole. The gap is spanning from Institution to joining the local Fellowship. BTG picks up where the H&I committee leaves off. For pre-release A.A. contact, we have a pamphlet for you to fill out and turn in. There has been discussion to kill it but there is still a need. How do we figure out how to make it work? We will send out a clarification on the purpose to other services. Our plan is to mainly work with H&I and as well as with the Intergroup.

SF General Service, Allison The Fall Assembly was postponed due to wildfires and has been rescheduled for Sunday, November 24 in San Francisco. We will definitely need volunteers, so email Chelsea directly or email General Service if you want to help sfgeneralservice@gmail.com.

New Business

Filling Vacated Board Seat Nominated Andy B. whose sober birthday is January 29, 1991. The Andy B. motion passed. Yay Andy!

Old Business

Email Communications Strategy We want to unify our message as much as possible. The Buzz is our primary organ of information. Other was we disseminate info: The Point, Intergroup News, and the Trusted Servants/Secretary’s Monthly. Proposal: parcel out info into a few separate newsletters instead of The Buzz. POV: can we focus on improving the newsletters we currently have? Different levels of understanding, trying to speak to everyone, is a huge challenge. Would it possibly increase engagement with specific things if we separate? But it also might be nice to have just one source for everything. Working with a different format – paper versus online – changes the way people want to see information. Is a long email newsletter effective or do people just not read it all?Proposed table of contents: everything on the first page, plus have links to separate articles. Question: Has the Technology committee been consulted? Answer: The Tech committee has definitely talked about it; they are not in a position to have opinion on this. They can inform based on how to do things but not why (that’s more group conscience).Getting the message to meeting secretaries is what’s important, no matter the format.

What’s On Your Mind?

• Ask your meeting secretary if they are reading The Buzz.
• Safety / Emergency Disaster preparedness: what do we do? Emergency kits? Temporary meeting places? Think about these topics for next month.

Targeted Message

• November is Gratitude Month – Remind your group treasurer – see if your group wants to pass 2nd basket
• Communicate what Intergroup is and does – each of us is part of the Outreach Committee

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting: Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 7:00 pm, at the First Unitarian Universalist Center, 1187 Franklin Street in San Francisco. Orientation is at 6:00 pm, dinner is served at 6:30 pm.

Treasurer’s Report for September 2019

Note: In September, Central Office transitioned accounting software from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. The new system requires a different valuation method for our Bookstore Inventory and, as a result, significantly impacted certain figures related to our Bookstore – namely, Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold.

This affects both Balance Sheet and Income Statement.

We are sorting out this accounting issue. We will provide September Balance Sheet and Income Statement at a future meeting once the appropriate inventory adjustments have been made.

Here is data unaffected by inventory valuation issue:

Group Contributions for September were $12,445, under budget by $4,530. Group contributions are $7,037 under budget year to date. Individual Contributions for September were $2,968, under budget by $34. Individual contributions are $2,866 under budget year to date.

Total Operating Expense for September was $23,183, under budget by $2,690, due to lower than expected employee expenses and timing of expenses. 

Total Unrestricted Cash for September 2019 was $80,987, a decrease of $3,908 from August 2019.  Unrestricted Cash is about 3.3x monthly operating expenses.

OVERALL RATING for September 2019: “Excellent”

INTERGROUP FINANCE RATING SYSTEM

Every month we rate our monthly finances as “Excellent”, “Good”, “Fair” or “Poor”.  Generally speaking, here are the definitions of those terms:

EXCELLENT:  We exceeded our budget.  Our income was greater than our expenses for the month and we have more than two months’ worth of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.  Operating expenses are roughly $24K/month, so we’d have over $48K in unrestricted cash balances for the month.  The Intergroup rating has been “excellent” since December 2016.

GOOD: We are meeting our budget.  Our income for the month, or for the YTD, was slightly greater than our expenses and we’d have approximately 1.5 – 2 months of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.

FAIR: We are not meeting our budget.  Our expenses were greater than our income for the month and for the YTD – and our unrestricted cash balance would be somewhere between 1 and 1.5x our operating expenses.

POOR: We are not meeting our budget and our unrestricted cash balances fell below one month of operating expenses. The last time we were “poor” was in October 2016.

This is an unofficial summary of the October 2019 Intergroup meeting provided for convenience; it is not intended to be the completed approved minutes. For a complete copy of the minutes and full committee reports see “Intergroup” on our website aasfmarin.org.

Our Intergroup exists to support the groups in their common purpose of carrying the A.A. message to the still suffering alcoholic by providing and coordinating services that are difficult for the individual groups to execute.

The Intercounty Fellowship has been organized by, and is responsible to, the member groups in San Francisco and Marin for the purpose of coordinating the services that individual groups cannot provide.

The meeting was held on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, at the First Unitarian Universalist Center, 1187 Franklin Street in San Francisco. The meeting was started with a call to order and the Serenity Prayer. Baskets for dinner were passed. The September 2019 minutes and the October 2019 agenda were approved.

Standing Reports

Board Chair, Alan G. We are working with other Intergroups to find a way to print schedules directly from our website (aasfmarin.org). The Governance committee is still working on revising the By-laws.

Treasurer, Renee T. Our rating for August is Excellent. We have received a bequest. Our Operating Expenses are currently under budget. See the Treasurer’s Report at the end of this summary. A reminder November is Gratitude Month. Question: What is the maximum amount an individual can donate? Answer: It is a maximum of $5,000 a year for an individual; a bequest can be $10,000. An idea has been presented to talk about raising the limit. Question: Can groups contribute through Venmo to the “GG Intergroup” user?  Answer: That is just for paying for dinner at the monthly Intergroup meeting. There is another way to accept online contributions via the website. Regarding the 2020 Budgeting: Committee chairs will need to fill out a spreadsheet for next year. The due date is November 4, 2019. Question: How does each committee figure out printing costs for their committee? Answer: That information will be sent to the committees in an upcoming email.

Executive Director, Maury P. (at the Central Office/Intergroup Conference), Patrick (sub) The upcoming Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, hosted by IFAA, will be in November in San Francisco. The Board will bring entrees and the IGRs will bring side dishes. It is a lovely event!

Intergroup Committee Reports

The Point, John B. Call for November articles on the topic of the 11th Step/Tradition/Concept. Contact

thepoint@aasfmarin.org. The October Issue is out on the website. Some issues will be printed for people who don’t have Internet access. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 12:30 pm at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.

Archives, Kim S. I attended the 23rd National Archives Workshop in September. Discussion revolved around “Collection Scope and Police,” “How to Archive in the Cloud, and “Archives, Anonymity and Ethics.” Our next History Talk will be on October 27, 2019, on the topic of “A.A. and Spanish Speakers.”

We meet on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2:30 pm at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.

Orientation, Trevor J. Tonight Chris, Doug and Kristi are our new IGRs. Reminder: Dr. Bob was a big supporter of Intergroup … you can be too!

Sunshine Club, Ann M. Four meetings were brought to the sick (a little slow). The next Sunshine Club orientation will be on Wednesday November 13, 2019, at 6:00 pm at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.

Technology, Taran R. We are working on some “cool stuff”! the Chair position is still open to be rotated into. We are also in need for a Graphic Designer. Taran attended the National A.A. Technology Workshop in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We meet on the 1st Monday of each month at 6:00 at Central Office, 1821 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.

Service Committee Liaison Reports

General Service, District 6, Steve This is a reminder that SF Unity Day will be at the Urban Life Center. We will be having discussions of “Remote Communities” and “Safety in A.A.” during the afternoon session plus a number of Service Committee orientations. CNCA now has a new treasurer in place. The Area Assembly will be on Saturday, November 2, 2019, at St. Mary’s in San Francisco. We will be discussing the 5th Edition of the Big Book. We will also talk about Area Inventory. We are in need of “shushers” to help control the crowd. The Pre-Assembly Dinner needs support.

Marin Teleservice, Carlos Everything with teleservice is going well. Sign up through the internet. We will have booth at Unity Day Marin, Saturday, October 19, 2019.

New Business

Email Communications Strategy, Michael P. We are seeking input about new email communications. We’ve talked about our existing newsletters such as The Buzz and The Point. It’s possible to create a few new newsletters in addition to the ones we have such as Intergroup News, which contains information about Intergroup business, the Secretary’s Monthly / Trusted Servants News. Could these increase engagement? Proposing Intergroup create a Newsletter Committee that would unify all these newsletters. Question: Can anyone subscribe to the existing newsletters? Answer: Yes, they are all public and currently on the website. Temperature was taken and there was interest in pursuing this further.

Old Business

Intergroup Committee Chairs – Elections, Term Length & Rotation, Voting Rights, Alan G. Do we want to have committees put forth chairs for Intergroup to vote on?  This is the current By-Laws temperature taken: Intergroup wants to follow the By-Laws and does not need a motion. Term Limits of Committee chairs? Not outlined in By-Laws. Temperature was taken about 2-year Term Limits.  Archivist’s do it a little differently: 2 years is not enough. There was a clarification that this does not mean they would leave the committee after the term limit. There was a suggestion to limit the scope of the motion to being “advisory” while changing the By-Laws. A question was posed to people who went to National Conventions about other Intergroup “best practices”: N.A.A.T.W. has its own steering committee which is elected via the 3rd Legacy, although instant-runoff was attempted this year (not done). The motion was tabled until next month. Should non-IGR Committee Chairs get a vote?Question: What is the rationale for not having voting power? Answer: They do not represent a group, so they shouldn’t have a vote. Question: Do Committee Chairs come to the Intergroup meeting? Answer: They usually do in order to make their report. The temperature was taken about how non-voting members feel about not being able to vote. A motion was made by Alex: Committee Chairs that are not IGRs have the right to vote at Intergroup meetings. Clarification: This is a vote to recommend change to the By-Laws that will be taken up by the Governance Committee. The motion passed, 32 yay, 2 nay and 1 abstention. Minority Opinion:  Chairs are not representing groups. If you want to vote, find a new meeting to represent at Intergroup in order to get your voting rights back.

What’s On Your Mind?

Drew will not be able to attend next month; Alix will fill in.  (Thank you, Alix!)

Targeted Message

• November is Gratitude Month!
• Remind your Group Treasurer to ask if your group wants to pass a 2nd basket for Gratitude
• Communicate what Intergroup is and does; each of us is part of the Outreach Committee

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting: Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 7:00 pm, at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 101 Donahue Street in Sausalito. Orientation is at 6:00 pm, dinner is served at 6:30 pm.

Treasurer’s Report

Month Ended August 2019

For August 2019, Total Revenue was $31,090, this was over budget by $7,266 due to a large Individual Contribution (bequest). Total Revenue is $4,552 under budget year to date.

Total Operating Expense for August was $21,301, under budget by $7,107, due to lower than expected committee costs, employee expenses, and timing of expenses.

The result is a Net Operating Surplus of $9,789 for the month. This leaves the fellowship with a $1,181 surplus year to date.   

Group Contributions for August were $16,024, under budget by $2,423. Group contributions are $3,377 under budget year to date. Individual Contributions for August were $12,646, over budget by $9,978. Individual contributions are $2,832 under budget year to date.

Total Unrestricted Cash for August 2019 was $84,895, an increase of $16,423 from July 2019.  Unrestricted Cash is about 3.5x monthly operating expenses.

The rating for August 2019 is “Excellent”.

OVERALL RATING: Excellent

INTERGROUP FINANCE RATING SYSTEM

Every month we rate our monthly finances as “Excellent”, “Good”, “Fair” or “Poor”.  Generally speaking, here are the definitions of those terms:

EXCELLENT:  We exceeded our budget.  Our income was greater than our expenses for the month and we have more than two months’ worth of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.  Operating expenses are roughly $24K/month, so we’d have over $48K in unrestricted cash balances for the month.  The Intergroup rating has been “excellent” since December 2016.

GOOD: We are meeting our budget.  Our income for the month, or for the YTD, was slightly greater than our expenses and we’d have approximately 1.5 – 2 months of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.

FAIR: We are not meeting our budget.  Our expenses were greater than our income for the month and for the YTD – and our unrestricted cash balance would be somewhere between 1 and 1.5x our operating expenses.

POOR: We are not meeting our budget and our unrestricted cash balances fell below one month of operating expenses. The last time we were “poor” was in October 2016.