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Where does the money in the Seventh Tradition basket go? Is there a limit on what one member can give?

In short:

  • The Long Form of Tradition Seven (1946) says the groups "ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members" (p. 564), and it warns against three things with that money: public fund-raising in A.A.'s name, large gifts or gifts carrying any obligation, and treasuries that pile up funds "for no stated A.A. purpose" (p. 564). The Long Form's Ninth Tradition says the trustees are "the receivers of voluntary A.A. contributions" that maintain the General Service Office in New York (p. 565).
  • Today's practice, as A.A. describes it: the basket usually covers the group's own expenses (rent, literature, meeting lists, refreshments) "with enough left over" for the group to support the local intergroup, the district and area, and the General Service Office (P-16, 2018). Each group decides, by group conscience, how much goes where (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition).
  • Yes, there is a limit, but it is set by the General Service Conference and it changes, and our own copies disagree on the figure: The A.A. Group says the maximum an individual may give the General Service Office is $5,000 a year (P-16, 2018), while the current Service Manual says the Conference limits an individual to $7,500 per year (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition). A bequest from a member's estate is capped at a one-time $10,000, and contributions are accepted only from A.A. members and A.A. entities, never from outsiders (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition).
  • The 1939 Big Book has no basket at all. The word doesn't appear in pp. 1–164; the book's money talk is about members sharing their own money and homes with newcomers (p. 97) and about the fellowship having "no fees or dues whatsoever" (p. xiv). The group treasury is a later thing.

1939: no treasury, no basket

The program text of the Big Book never mentions a collection, a basket, or a group fund. Outside the program text the word turns up only in two members' stories, and neither is about money: a schoolyard "basketball" (p. 233) and laundry "baskets" (p. 465). What the 1939 text says about money is personal: the Foreword says "There are no fees or dues whatsoever" (p. xiv), and Chapter 7 says Twelfth Step work "may mean sharing your money and your home" (p. 97) with a newcomer, with cautions about doing so (pp. 97–98). See: Does A.A. cost anything? and Should I give a newcomer money or a place to stay?

Bill W. described the same picture in 1946: in A.A.'s first years "We had no group funds, hence no group money troubles" (P-17, "Money," 1946). Members met in homes; if one member wanted to help another with money, "It was purely his own affair" (P-17, "Money," 1946).

1946: the Long Form and Bill's "Money" essay

Tradition Seven, Long Form (p. 564). The groups "ought to be fully supported by the voluntary contributions of their own members" (p. 564). The rest of the Tradition is a list of dangers:

  • "any public solicitation of funds using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous is highly dangerous" (p. 564);
  • "acceptance of large gifts from any source, or of contributions carrying any obligation whatever, is unwise" (p. 564);
  • A.A. treasuries "which continue, beyond prudent reserves, to accumulate funds for no stated A.A. purpose" are viewed "with much concern" (p. 564).

So the Long Form already has, in 1946, the three ideas behind today's practice: members only, no large or obligated gifts, and a prudent reserve rather than a pile.

Tradition Nine, Long Form (p. 565). This is where the Long Form says where contributions go beyond the group: the trustees of the General Service Board "are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary A.A. contributions by which we maintain our A.A. General Service Office at New York" (p. 565). It also describes the layer between: "the groups of a large metropolitan area their central or intergroup committee, which often employs a full-time secretary" (p. 565).

Bill's essay (P-17, "Money," 1946). Bill walks through what the money was for by then: "Each A.A. finds himself dropping money in 'the hat' to pay the rent of a meeting place, a club, or the maintenance of his local or national headquarters" (P-17, "Money," 1946). He adds that these contributions are "in no wise a condition of our A.A. membership" (P-17, "Money," 1946). On who should pay for what, he suggested that a paid area secretary is "a proper function of a cluster of groups, or their central committee" to support, but "it is not a group or central committee function to support clubs financially" (P-17, "Money," 1946). His summary: "the voluntary contributions or pledges of A.A. members should be our principal and eventually our sole support" (P-17, "Money," 1946).

On the limit question, Bill in 1946 had no dollar figure, but he raised exactly the cases today's limit answers. A nonalcoholic friend dropping "a dollar in the hat" he did not count as an exception to self-support (P-17, "Money," 1946). What gave him pause was the large gift: wealthy people "setting aside sums for A.A. in their wills" (P-17, "Money," 1946), grateful parents wishing "to donate heavily" (P-17, "Money," 1946), and a wealthy member making a large gift, where the member "might he not, especially if a newcomer, begin to think he had bought a ticket to a happy destination, sobriety?" (P-17, "Money," 1946). His conclusion: "acceptance of large donations from any source whatever is very questionable and almost always a hazardous policy" (P-17, "Money," 1946). He reported that the trustees had just resolved to "decline all gifts carrying the slightest obligation, expressed or implied" (P-17, "Money," 1946).

In 1957 Bill recorded that the trustees had later turned away bequests even when the office was short of money, "thereby consolidating and cementing the A.A. Tradition of self-support for all time to come" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). See: Tradition Seven: does A.A. take outside money? and Why did early A.A. turn down Rockefeller money?

Today: where the basket goes (2018 and 2024–2026 descriptions)

What follows describes A.A.'s practice as its service literature describes it now, not 1939 or 1946. The dollar figures in particular are Conference decisions and change.

The group's own expenses. The A.A. Group says: "There are no dues or fees for membership in A.A., but we do have expenses such as rent, refreshments, A.A. Conference-approved literature, meeting lists and contributions to services" provided by the intergroup, district, area and General Service Office (P-16, 2018). A group "may 'pass the basket' for contributions, and members are encouraged to participate" (P-16, 2018). The treasurer section lists what group funds "ordinarily are earmarked for": rent, A.A. literature, local meeting lists, coffee and refreshments, and "Support of all A.A. service entities, usually on a monthly or quarterly basis" (P-16, 2018).

Beyond the group. Passing the basket "usually covers the group's monetary needs, with enough left over so the group can do its fair share of supporting the local intergroup (central office), the general service district and area offices, and the General Service Office" (P-16, 2018). The pamphlet points groups to "Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix" for suggestions on how to split that support (P-16, 2018); the split itself is the group's decision. The Service Manual says the same from the receiving end: money sent to the General Service Office is not passed on to areas, districts or intergroups, because each service entity is autonomous; "Groups will want to decide through group conscience how much and to what entities contributions are to be made individually" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition).

What the General Service Board does with it. Contributions that members call "contributing to GSO" are "actually made to the General Service Board, which is responsible for all Seventh Tradition contributions" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition). The Board uses them "to help pay for services to the Fellowship" carried out at the General Service Office (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition). The Manual adds that contributions have for many years covered "some, but not all, of the service expenses," with publishing income making up the rest (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition). P-16 prints a pie chart, "Your 2022 A.A. Dollar: the services it pays for," with the largest slice literature distribution and development and the rest spread across the Conference, group services, public information, cooperation with the professional community, treatment, corrections, archives, forums and communications (P-16, 2018; our copy is the 2023 printing).

The prudent reserve. P-16 repeats the Long Form's warning in today's words: "it is not a good idea for a group to accumulate large funds in excess of what is needed for rent and other expenses," while keeping "a prudent reserve in case an unforeseen need arises (an amount to be determined by the group conscience)" (P-16, 2018).

Today: the limit on what one member can give

Who may give at all. The Service Manual: "In keeping with the Seventh Tradition, contributions are only accepted from" A.A. members, A.A. groups, and other A.A. entities such as areas, districts, conventions and intergroups (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition).

The yearly cap on an individual. Our two current sources give two figures, and the page has to say so:

  • P-16: the maximum individual contribution to the General Service Office is $5,000 a year (P-16, 2018; the scan of that sentence is broken by a page footer, so it is given in our words). Its Birthday Plan paragraph repeats "not in excess of $5,000 per year" (P-16, 2018).
  • The Service Manual: "The General Service Conference limits contributions by an individual member to $7,500 per year, which cannot be earmarked for any specific purpose" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition). Two bullets later the same page still says memorial contributions from individuals "are subject to the $5,000 limit" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition), which reads like a line not updated when the figure changed.

The reading that fits both: the cap was $5,000 when P-16 was printed and the Conference has since raised it to $7,500. Our sources can't show the Conference action itself. Anyone needing the exact current figure should check aa.org or ask the General Service Office. The number isn't the point of the Tradition; the Long Form's concern, in 1946, was that A.A. not take "large gifts from any source" (p. 564), and today's cap is how that concern is given a figure.

Bequests. "Bequests of not more than $10,000 are acceptable on a one-time basis, but only from A.A. members" (P-16, 2018). The Service Manual agrees: a bequest must come from an A.A. member, "has to be a one-time bequest (not in perpetuity or recurring) and cannot exceed the $10,000 limit set by the General Service Conference" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition).

Groups. "There is no limit on the amount of contributions that may be made to GSB by an A.A. group" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition).

One member giving too much locally. P-16 also cautions the group itself: "Group troubles also may arise when extra-large contributions — in money, goods or services — are accepted from one member" (P-16, 2018). That is the group-level echo of Bill's 1946 worry about the wealthy member who might feel he had "bought a ticket" (P-17, "Money," 1946).

Other entities. Areas, districts and intergroups set their own: "Check with other A.A. service entities for the maximum yearly contributions they accept" (P-16, 2018). And the Grapevine is outside this system altogether: by its charter it "cannot accept group contributions and does not receive a share of any contributions made to the General Service Board" (The A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition); it lives on subscriptions. See: What is the A.A. Grapevine, and how did it start?

What the Tradition does and doesn't cover

Tradition Seven is about A.A. groups and A.A.'s service bodies: what they take and from whom. It says nothing about what a member does with his own money outside A.A., and the Long Form explicitly keeps membership separate from money: "Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity" (p. 563). Whether to put anything in the basket is each member's own decision; Bill's phrase for it in 1946 was that contributions are "in no wise a condition of our A.A. membership" (P-17, "Money," 1946).

Read it yourself

Sources

Source Pages Date
Alcoholics Anonymous, Foreword to the First Edition; Chapter 7 xiv, 97–98 1939
Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix I, Long Form Traditions Three, Seven and Nine 563–565 1946
Members' stories (the word "basket") 233, 465 fourth edition (2001)
P-17, "Money" — 1946
A.A. Comes of Age (bequests turned away) — 1957
P-16, The A.A. Group ("Self-support," "Treasurer," "How Are A.A. World Services Supported?") — 2018; our copy is the 2023 printing ("Your 2022 A.A. Dollar")
The A.A. Service Manual, Chapter 10 and its FAQs; Chapter 2 FAQ on the Grapevine — 2024–2026 edition

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). Dollar figures are the General Service Conference's and change; the two most recent sources in our sources already differ.

Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc. P-17's articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc.

These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.