Delegate’s Report to Area Assembly, August 2021

Everyone,

It has been one heck of a month and it just keeps moving forward and getting better.

First off Art & Billy Thank you and I miss seeing you Billy and I hope to get to know you.

Jim H, Sue and Bill A. Welcome!!!

Virginia I will be getting you the Work shop recording this week. I apologize for the delay but I ended having an unplanned surgery last week.

So enough about me let me get to what is new.

First a foremost is the new preamble!  In the July issue of the Grapevine the latest version of the Preamble was published and there are already agenda items being submitted to change it back.  It is so cool that we have all these options for us as AA’s to make changes.  This is actually quite exciting.

That is a perfect lead in to the 71^st General Service Conference passed an Advisory Action to implement “The Equitable Distribution of Workload and Scoring Tool Process.”  The annual Proposed Agenda Item submission deadline has changed from December 15 to September 15.

Since this is the first year that this process is being implemented, I suggest we give it a try.  If this new process works well, that’s fine.  If it does not, then we can always gather “feedback for improvement” and bring it to the 72^nd

While I realize that most nearly all of us are currently gainfully occupied with our work life, family life, and AA service, please find attached some “food for thought link.”

GSO Staff openings come up from time to time and perhaps you – or someone you know – may be interested in becoming a Tradition 8 worker at our General Service Office.

Please find attached the specific information associated with the Staff position.

If you click on the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page, you’ll see that there are other openings, as well (i.e., “View All Jobs”).  Specifically, an “Administrative Supervisor” position as well as an Executive Project Coordinator are currently open, as well.  As such, this link would be a good one to hang onto for the future.

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Details/620691/Alcoholics-Anonymous-World-ServicesInc/GSO-Staff-Member

A.A. Service Manual 2021 – 2023

The Publishing Department is proceeding with the production of the newly redesigned, revised and updated “A.A. Service Manual” in these quantities:

• English: 50,000 copies
• French: 3,000 copies
• Spanish: 8,000 copies
• Total copies 61,000 copies

The price will be $4.00 (US).   Current projections are for the online PDF to be available on Nov. 5, 2021 and the print version on Nov. 26, 2021.  This first printing will only be available in one size – 8½ x 11. It will not be printed in large print (, at least not at this time). This edition has color and graphics and it was determined that having this “medium” sized version would be the best fit for the Fellowship (at this time).

The Board of AA Grapevine, Inc. is fortunate to announce that Chris C. has accepted the role of Publisher at AA Grapevine, Inc. effective August 15th of 2021.

Francis G. our Trusty Trustee been asked to Chair the Corporate Committee on Compensation.  The Compensation Committee meets at least annually with compensation consultants to assure that the compensation practices of the affiliate corporations are appropriate.  Matters covered include overall compensation philosophies and policies, annual salary increase process, best compensation practices, and executive compensation.  Actual compensation decisions are made by the boards of the respective affiliates, AA Service Manual 2018-2020 edition, page S-73.

In some years, they review only the higher paid employees of AA World Services, Inc. and the AA Grapevine, Inc.  However, as I understand, every couple of years, they perform a review on all salaried positions.

Nominating:

• The AA Grapevine evaluated 37 Nontrustee Director (NTD) resumes and reduced those under consideration to 10. I’m unsure whether we’ll interview all 10 or if we’ll reconvene to reduce the number a little further.  I can disclose that we’ve got some very qualified candidates this year – but there can only be one nominee.  Last year, we had 23 NTD resumes to consider.  So, there’s been a marked increase in applicants.  More to follow.

• There were 20 Class A Candidates who made themselves available for the two openings anticipated following the 72^nd General Service Conference. At the end of Board weekend, 8 remained in such diverse fields as: Military-Chaplain, Superior Court Judge, Corrections, DWI Court Judge, Social Worker, Sheriff’s Department, Education and a Masters of Healthcare Administration.  While there’s no real rush, it feels good to know that we’re on course to identify some worthy additions to the Board.

• The committee discussed the resume current forms used when filling vacancies on the General Service

Board, its Corporate Board affiliates, and some executive positions at the General Service Office and AA Grapevine. The committee noted the challenges using the form for candidate selections, and the range of software versions utilized by the Fellowship. The committee requested that the General Service Office acquire user-friendly resume software as soon as possible to create online forms to aide filling Board vacancies.  More to follow.

A few unaudited financial updates:

• Literature Sales: Gross literature sales for the first six months of 2021 were $5,735,705 which is 65% of the 2021 budget of $8,865,000.  The increase was attributed primarily to safe reopening of Groups, Intergroups and Central Offices.

• Voluntary Contributions: For the first six months of the year, 7^th Tradition contributions were $4,976,316, which is 51% of the 2021 budget of $9,725,000.  Remarkably, the Fellowship rally continues.

• Operating Expenses: For the period ending June 30, 2021, operating expenses were $7,611,401 which is 53% of the budget amount of $14,479,506.

Things are going so consistently well, that we followed through on our reforecast budget, as the trustees’ Finance and Budgetary Committee recommended that the General Service Board approve the re-forecasted 2021 budget, which reflects:

• Gross sales of $11,400,000
• Contribution’s revenue of $10,000,000 and a Bottom-line surplus of $667,710.

But, the really big news is that the Finance and Budgetary Committee recommended that the General Service Board approved an immediate transfer of $250,000 to the Reserve Fund.

With the ongoing assistance of Chris W, our business analyst consultant, our financial reports are coming in clearer and cleaner directly from NetSuite:

• I am especially impressed with the presentation of inter-company accounts receivable and payable. That is, the quantification of AAWS and GSB obligations to/from one another.  It may not sound like much, but to accountant/auditor, it’s a big deal.  Specifically, we can now – on a monthly basis – reconcile which corporation paid what, who they paid on behalf of, and how to properly allocate the costs between corporations.

• At the current time, though, AA Grapevine is using QuickBooks ©. As such, this necessitates manual entries to incorporate AAGV financial results into the overall “big picture.” Perhaps, one day, we’ll entertain a conversation about transitioning AAGV to NetSuite and hiring our own accountings; but, for now, it’s QuickBooks and YPTC.

Tradition 7 Contributions:

• Contributions for the 6-month period are approximately $5.0 million which (since we are half-way through the year) is slightly ahead of the $9.725 million annual budgeted figure.
• This year’s “Challenge” is $7.34 – anticipated at the end of July – may propel us even further, see attached (71^st GSC Contributions, bottom of the page, right-hand side, for the calculation).
• While it’s still too soon to say where we’ll end up at the end of the year, we are considering amending our overall budget due to literature sales, see below.

Literature:

• Gross literature sales year to date are approximately $5.7 million which is approximately 65% of the 2021 budget. Since we are only at mid-year, this is awesome!
• June and July are expected to each exceed $1.0 million per month. This boost is somewhat attributed to the safe reopening of Groups, Intergroups and Central Offices.
• To this end, we are considering increasing our budgeted 2021 annual sales from $8,865,000 to $11,400,000 (but I won’t know until August 2, so stay tuned for more).

Select Expenses:

• Payroll and benefits are running at 49% (i.e., pretty much on track considering we’re half-way through the year).
• GSO’s operating expenses are still running slightly ahead of budget because:
  • The NYS unemployment insurance tax rate increased. o Depreciation expense was budgeted below the line but is being charged “above the line” (this is a reporting thing and not a real thing).
• Other increases, somewhat attributed to the 71^st General Service Conference Advisory Actions include:

audiobook production, plain language Big Book translation, introduction of podcasts, sundry document translation, Public Service Announcement development costs, etc.

• So, if we do re-forecast our budget, we’ll definitely take into account: NYS insurance, depreciation, and other known and anticipated expenses.

Surplus:

• As we all know, when everything is said and done, more is usually said than done.
• Notwithstanding, our surplus for the first half of the year is over $1.4 million and clearly ahead of budget.
• The surplus is driven by greater than budgeted contributions and sustained increases in literature sales.
• In all likelihood, a budget re-forecast will occur. Ideally, we’ll have a decision by the close of business August 2.

GSO Staff Rotation:

As previously reported, following our July 2021 General Service Board meeting, our GSO Staff will rotate their assignments.  As soon as I have the updated list, I’ll forward it to you.  A little birdie told me that, in 2023, Patrick Claymore (our immediate past Conference Coordinator) is scheduled to Staff the International Convention desk.  I am really looking forward to Vancouver in 2025!

Online Contributions vs. Mail:

Online contributions, for the first six months of 2021, reflect approximately 24% of all voluntary

contributions.  This is an increase from the 17% reported last year at this time.  The obvious benefits of online contributions are: the immediate availability of cash, the immediate acknowledgement to the contributor, and the decreased cost of processing snail-mail deposits and GSO responses.  Notwithstanding, it’s the sense of connection to the Fellowship that our voluntary contributions bring that really matters most.

Finally

I’m not sure if everyone has seen this announcement; however, the AA Grapevine book Prayer and Medication is on schedule for a Fall 2021 release).

I am unsure whether advance ordering will be available – I’ll try to keep track of this for you.

Filed in: AA General Service, From Our Delegate