# What is the only requirement for A.A. membership?

**In short:**
- A desire to stop drinking. The short form of Tradition Three says: "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking" (p. 562).
- The original Long Form doesn't use the word "requirement" at all. It says A.A. should include everyone who suffers from alcoholism, refuse no one who wants to recover, and never make membership depend on "money or conformity" (p. 563).
- The person decides. In 1946 Bill W. wrote that a newcomer joins "on his own say-so" and needn't even admit he's an alcoholic. There are no dues, no pledge, and no requirement to believe anything or do the Steps.

## The wording over time

The idea is older than the Traditions. The Foreword to the First Edition (1939) says: "The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking" (p. xiv). In the same breath it says there are "no fees or dues whatsoever" (p. xiv) and that A.A. isn't allied with any faith, sect or denomination.

When Bill W. wrote the essay Tradition Three grew out of, in 1946, he began by quoting that 1939 statement as how the members had felt the year the book came out (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946). The rest of the essay is about what happened next: groups piled up membership rules, the rules failed, and A.A. came back to the open door (see *Can anyone be thrown out of A.A.?*).

The Long Form of 1946 states Tradition Three this way: "Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover." (p. 563). It adds that membership should never depend "upon money or conformity" (p. 563), and that any two or three alcoholics gathered for sobriety may call themselves a group, if the group has no other affiliation (p. 563).

The short form, condensed from the Long Form by 1950, is the one-line version: a desire to stop drinking (p. 562). The 1939 "honest desire" had become plain "desire." (In 1957 Bill quoted it as "a sincere desire to stop drinking" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957), an in-between wording.)

The A.A. Preamble says the same: "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking" (P-16, 2018, the Preamble). The Preamble was first published in the Grapevine in June 1947, based on the 1939 foreword (A.A. Service Manual, 2024–2026 edition). We quote it as printed today; we haven't seen the 1947 wording.

## What "desire" means in practice

Bill's 1946 essay shows how low the bar is meant to be. "If alcohol is an uncontrollable problem to him and he wishes to do something about it, that is enough for us." (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946). It doesn't matter whether his case is severe or light, whether his morals are good or bad, or whether he has other complications. A newcomer who starts to do anything about his problem is a member. "He joins us on his own say-so." (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946). In most groups, Bill says, he doesn't even have to admit he's an alcoholic. He can join "on the mere suspicion that he may be one" (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946).

## What isn't required

Read together, these texts rule out the usual add-ons:
- **Money.** No fees or dues (p. xiv); membership never depends on money (p. 563). Contributions are "in no wise a condition of our A.A. membership" (P-17, "Money", 1946).
- **Conformity.** Membership never depends on conformity (p. 563). Among the people early groups feared and tried to shut out, Bill lists those who refused to accept all the Twelve Steps and those who called "the God business" bunk (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946). His conclusion was that such people "seldom harm an A.A. group for long" (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946).
- **A sponsor, or someone to vouch for you.** Among the old rules Bill says would have kept the pioneers out was a sponsor refusing "to vouch for us as a candidate" (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946).
- **Signing anything.** "He signs nothing, agrees to nothing, promises nothing." (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946).

## What the texts don't say

The Tradition doesn't say a person has to have stopped drinking to be a member, only that they want to. Nor does it say who judges the desire. The 1946 essay answers that: no one but the person. "He is a member as long as he says he is." (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946).

## Read it yourself
- Appendix I, "The A.A. Tradition" (pp. 561–566), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
- Foreword to the First Edition (pp. xiii–xiv): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_forewordfirstedition.pdf
- P-17, *A.A. Tradition — How It Developed*: https://www.aa.org/aa-tradition-how-it-developed
- P-16, *The A.A. Group* (the Preamble is on the inside cover): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/p-16_0723.pdf
- Related: *Can anyone be thrown out of A.A.?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Foreword to the First Edition | xiv | 1939 |
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Appendix I, Tradition Three (short and Long Form) | 562–563 | Long Form 1946; short form by 1950 |
| P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?" | — | 1946 |
| P-17, "Money" | — | 1946 |
| The A.A. Preamble (as printed in P-16) | inside cover | first in the Grapevine, June 1947; this printing 2018 |
| *A.A. Comes of Age* | — | 1957 |
| *The A.A. Service Manual* (date of the Preamble) | — | 2024–2026 edition |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). Our copy of *A.A. Comes of Age* has no printed page numbers, so it's cited by book and year.

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book,* A.A. Comes of Age, *P-16 and the Service Manual are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles and the Preamble are © AA Grapevine, Inc.*