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.

This is an unofficial summary of the September 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, September 4, 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 August 2019 minutes and the September 2019 agenda were approved.

Standing Reports

Board Chair, Alan G. Our recent Board Retreat included 5 new members. It was facilitated by Lou and we set Committees as well as set Goals. Regarding Outreach – IGRs are the outreach. We discussed an upcoming Safety Workshop in San Francisco and Unity Day 2019, which includes outreach to our Service Groups. Outlined in an email sent prior to this meeting, we offered a reminder of procedures for bringing matters to the board.

Vice Chair, Taran R. At our Intergroup Committee Chair bi-monthly meeting, we talked about rotation and voting, about Branding, and had a discussion about rearranging the IGR meeting agenda. Send opinions to vicechair@aasfmarin.org.

Treasurer, Renee T. See Treasurer’s Report. Our current rating is “Excellent.” As of this month, Individual Contributions are behind projection. We received a bequest in August. Good news is expenses are under budget. Question: Are we registered as a Non-Profit 501(c)3?  Answer: Yes, we are.

Executive Director, Maury P. Welcomed back new members from last month. The International Conference 2020 in Detroit is open for registration. Online registration begins September 9, 2019, a aa.org. There is a call for stories for the pamphlet “A.A. for the Older Alcoholic” and can be submitted to AA World Service. Go to aasfmarin.org Home page or check out the Secretary’s Monthly on the website for details. The popular Meeting Guide app is now being managed by aa.org and includes Daily Reflections quotes. See the insert for Mission Fellowship H&I BBQ and other events coming up this month at aasfmarin.org!

Intergroup Committee Reports

PI/CPC, Justin H. we spoke to ACT MFA students. We will be speaking at the Re-entry Fair on this month. PI continues to be engaged in Sunday Streets. Contact PI/CPC for more information.

Fellowship, Elena R. Thank you to those who volunteered for the Safety Workshop. Although it has been postponed, we still need volunteers. If you are interested, contact us at fellowship@aasfmarin.org.

The Buzz, Anne Marie C. Here are some Fun Facts about The Buzz: Question: How many “opens” in the first 5 minutes after the email has been sent? Answer:  110. Question: What is the number of new subscribers? Answer: 14. Question: What is the most clicked link in The Buzz? Answer: The “Recent Schedule Changes” page. We want everyone to know we are looking for new Editor.

The Point, John B. We have a call for articles for the coming month: 10th Step for October. Our regular Committee meetings are at 12:30 pm the 2nd Saturday of each month at Central Office. If you have anything to contribute for The Point, submit your piece, which should be approximately 500 words, to thepoint@aasfmarin.org. By the way: The Point can now be downloaded and printed.

Archives, Kim S. We conducted history talks at the Western Roundup Living Sober conference. We are hoping to have a new history talk in a few months regarding LGBTQ A.A. We will have a display at San Francisco Unity Day, coming up on Saturday, October 12, 2019.

Sunshine Club, Clayton B. We are trying to expand the Sunshine Club into Marin County. We signed up 10 new volunteers at last orientation held at the Marin Alano Club. Thank you for the support! We are looking to have more orientations in Marin in the coming months.

Orientation, Trevor J. Tonight we have 9 new IGRs. As a reminder to all IGRs, please remember to get someone from your meeting/group to sign up as the alternate. Question: Of the 9 new members tonight, how many were from Marin? Answer: 4 new IGRs.

Technology, Taran R. There is lots of interesting stuff going on with the Intergroup. The Chair position is open for rotation. We still would like a graphic-design volunteer. Contact us for details at tech@aasfmarin.org.

SF Teleservice, Lara A. SF Teleservice is proud to announce that we have filled all our committee positions! We still need regular volunteers though, so please remind folks at your meetings that our orientation is the 3rd Monday of the month at 6pm at Central Office.

Service Committee Liaison Reports

General Service, Steve There may be issues with contributions to CNCA. They are currently looking for a new Treasurer. But please, do not stop sending us your regular contributions. Send to the PO Box number listed. There will be a Safety Workshop at Marin Unity Day. The Area Assembly will be in San Francisco in November.

Marin Teleservice, Carlo You may sign up for service online at marinteleservice.com. Business cards for how to transfer the lines have been approved.

Marin PI/CPC, Evan Our committee addressed outreach to the African American community. Discussion will continue at the Marin Alano Club in San Rafael.

GGYPAA, Justin H. The “All California Conference” will be held in Sacramento this coming spring on Sunday, September 15, 2020. Our next gathering, “HIke and Meditation in Tennessee Valley” is coming up. All are welcome.

Marin H&I, Karen Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 10. The rolls have been purged and we need more active volunteers. We also need more speakers for Helen Vine.

Old Business

Election of Intergroup Committee Chairs, James – Governance Committee

Section 3.6 Intergroup Committees

The Intergroup may act by and through such committees as may be specified in resolutions adopted by a majority vote of the Intergroup Representatives. Each such committee shall have such duties and responsibilities as are granted to it from time to time by Intergroup. Each committee is composed of Representatives and any other individual A.A. member who is willing to contribute time to Intergroup activities in the furtherance of the principles, purposes, and objectives of Alcoholics Anonymous. Committee chairs must be approved by a majority vote of Intergroup Representatives and a majority vote of the Board.

Term length – Should Committee Members have a term length and be approved by IGRs?

Voting Rights – Should Committee Members have votes?

Question: What is the point of the discussion (to change the bylaws or to follow the bylaws)?

Answer: Much discussion followed. Committee Chairs do not necessarily represent Groups (because their commitment to their group rotates). Question: Should they get a vote? (if yes, we need to change the bylaws). Question: Should they first be elected (or ratified by the Intergroup)? In order to keep relevant skills in the committee, having the chair be an IGR may be problematic. James clarified the question: Should Committee Chairs be elected by the Group and have term limits?  Would they have voting rights? Renee suggested the board make a recommendation to the Intergroup body. Current Bylaws state that Intergroup elects Committee Chairs and that only Intergroup Reps have a vote.

What’s On Your Mind?

Justin H. – PI/CPC meets the 2nd Monday of each month at 7:00 pm at Central Office. Reminder: GGYPAA is a “.com” not a “.org” when emailing.

Jim – Registration for the International Conference opens at 10:00 am EST on September 9, 2019. So be ready at 7:00 am on that Monday.

Targeted Message

• Inform your group members about our Faithful Fiver program and Honorary Contributions
• Communicate what Intergroup is and does – each of us is part of the Outreach Committee

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting: Wednesday, September 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.

Intergroup, September 2019
Treasurer’s Report

Month Ended July 2019

For July 2019, Total Revenue was $27,568, this was under budget by $1,806 due to lower than expected contributions (Group & Individual) and book sales. Total Revenue is $11,818 under budget year to date. Total Operating Expense for July was $22,520, under budget by $1,371, due to lower than expected committee costs and credit card processing fees.

The result is a Net Operating Surplus of $5,048 for the month. This leaves the fellowship with a $8,607 deficit year to date.   

Group Contributions for July were $22,710, under budget by $437. Group contributions are $954 under budget year to date. Individual Contributions for July were $3,085, under budget by $809. Individual contributions are $12,810 under budget year to date.

Total Unrestricted Cash for July 2019 was $68,472, an increase of $3,043 from June 2019.  Unrestricted Cash is about 2.8x monthly operating expenses.

The rating for July 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 September 2016.

This is an unofficial summary of the August 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, August 7, 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 July 2019 minutes and the August 2019 agenda were approved.

Standing Reports

Board Chair, Alan G. $75 has been approved to The Point Committee for remainder of this year. A lot of excitement around the Marin County Sunshine Club. Orientations to be held in Marin soon. The CPA gave the yearly report on Form 990:

• Where do we get our contributions?
• How are the funds allocated?
• Who is overseeing the organization (conflicts of interest)

Another Safety workshop is moving forward in October. Teddy B-W, delegate, is suggesting outreach to African American alcoholics – Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Workshop.

Vice Chair, Taran R. Regarding the Job Fair: we got through 2/3 of our committee presentations / temperature. How do we feel about next month job fair pitch (mostly up twinkles)? Safety workshop in San Francisco and Inclusivity: how do we feel about Intergroup putting on a D&I workshop? Question from Allison: what would it include? Answer Taran: good approaches for how to include people, and techniques for inclusivity. What are barriers that keep people out of A.A.? We have had recent car break-ins. Don’t leave belongings visible in car.

The $8.06 Challenge (see Executive Director slide related to Self-Support): Question: is it per individual or group? Answer: the individual. Jim: Reminded the group of the fact that it’s a grassroots effort and NOT from GSO. Brian: Brought up issues with money going to Marin 2020.

Treasurer, Renee T. (See handout) Rating is “Excellent” based on current unrestricted cash position, but if revenue continues to decline, that rating will be downgraded. Question from Michael: Has there been a decline in the number of Faithful Fivers? Answer from Renee: know we lost a few when we converted payment systems, but doesn’t think we lost many. Explained that budget is based on last year’s contributions and we received a couple large one-time contributions.

Intergroup Committee Reports

Fellowship, Elena R. The next Safety Workshop will be in San Francisco. Looking at October 5, 2019, located at 777 Brotherhood Way. Sending around a volunteer signup sheet. Also, liaison for H&I Committee: on track financially. There is literature to be used! San Quentin project is going well.

Archives, Kim S. Gave an explanation of Archives: pitching oral histories and other things that archives need from groups/members. During the Western Roundup Living Sober gathering, there will be history talks during that weekend.

The Point, John B. The Point is receiving allocation of discretionary funds to print copies; thanks the Intergroup Board. Call for articles. They will prepare a budget for 2020 and track use of paper copies.

SF PI/CPC, Molly J. Gave a description of PI/CPC. The committee is always looking for speakers and plugged the committee meeting time, 2^nd Mondays, 6:00 pm, Central Office. Current focus: Now they get to focus on action! The committee is adequately staffed at this time. Sunday Streets in the Mission was successful. The upcoming Sunday Streets is in SOMA on August 19. Fact: Big Books are often stolen from libraries; committee is supplying Big Books to restock libraries.

Orientation, Trevor J. Made an introduction of new Intergroup members and alternates. Service keeps you sober! Passed around the buddy sheet for sign-ups.

Sunshine Club, Clayton B. The Sunshine Club brings meetings to people who cannot make it to regularly scheduled meetings. We are currently building the Marin County membership. A Marin County orientation will be on August 25, 10:45 am at the Marin Alano Club. Would your meeting like to sponsor an orientation?

SF Teleservice, Taran R. (filling in) Gave an update via the PowerPoint slides.

Technology, Taran R. The Chair position is open and we need a graphic designer. Also, a Web servant is needed for Northern California H&I. Almost 13,000 people found us on Google (and presented other stats).

Service Committee Liaison Reports

General Service District 6, Steve The 5^th edition Big Book has been tabled but still seeking group consciences. Would groups want a pamphlet addressing Transgender issues? The opening of online registration for the World Conference in Detroit will September 9, 2019. Also getting ready for the Summer Assembly on September 14, 2019.

Marin Teleservice, Carlo Our treasurer is currently dispersing funds. We have been discussing better ways of doing the phone transfer. We plan to have a booth at the General Service conference. Gave the business meeting plug.

Marin PI/CPC, Andrew Public Information this past month created an email newsletter. We had 12 new people at the last orientation. New developments: we are working on our relationship with Child Protective Services. We discussed the Inclusivity Report (African American community outreach).

Old Business

Discussion of Bylaws – Surfaced a reminder of the Consensus process. Taran R. read the actual Bylaw paragraph. Up Twinkle fingers regarding Election of Intergroup.

Election by Intergroup Assembly – Intergroup will vote to elect a chair. Michael P. provided background as to the history of committees going “rogue.” So, if a committee is not going well, then Intergroup needs to step in.

Off-topic break from Old Business and detour to Marin 2020 discussion – Jim stated he attended an H&I meeting at the Marin Alano Club and discovered Marin 2020 has a liaison to H&I. Taran R. paused to explain what Marin 2020 is and what they’ve been trying to do. Alan also added some context to the discussion. Scott has been attending Marin 2020 and reminded our group not to spread inaccurate info. He said their plan is to provide local activities and fellowship, and anything more they collect will go to Central Office. (There was additional discussion on Marin 2020.)

Return to Old Business Clarifying question: What is the actual ask? Renee explained that our current practice does not adhere to our bylaws. The ask is: would we like to change our practice to align with bylaws when electing committee chairs?

Back to Marin 2020 discussion Marin PI/CPC rep mentioned they will continue to work with and cooperate with whoever gets the “butts in the seats” and helps the still suffering alcoholic whether it is IFAA or Marin 2020.

What’s On Your Mind?

Patrick: Made clarifying point that Intergroup service committees and service liaisons are different, so the old business pertaining to electing committee chairs does not impact liaisons.

Targeted Message

• Tell your group members about our Faithful Fiver Program
• Sunshine Club needs Marin members
• Communicate Intergroup purpose

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting: Wednesday, September 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 Narrative

Month Ended June 2019

For June 2019, Total Revenue was $17,312, this was under budget by $4,473 due to lower than expected group contributions and individual contributions. Total Revenue is $10,012 under budget year to date. Total Operating Expense for June was $24,629, under budget by $1,002, due to lower than expected committee costs.

The result is a Net Operating Deficit of $7,317 for the month. This leaves the fellowship with a $13,391 deficit year to date.   

Group Contributions for June were $11,577, under budget by $1,353. Group contributions are $517 under budget year to date. Individual Contributions for June were $2,398, under budget by $1,733. Individual contributions are $12,000 under budget year to date.

Total Unrestricted Cash for June 2019 was $65,429, a decrease of $5,798 from May 2019.  Unrestricted Cash is about 2.7x monthly operating expenses.

The rating for June 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 September 2016.