Thank You to the Group

A group can break Tradition Six out of gratitude, in one vote, with nobody meaning harm. The group has eleven hundred dollars more than it needs for rent and literature. The detox across town, where half the members first dried out, is short of money. Someone moves to give it the surplus, and the motion passes to applause. Two months later the detox's fundraising letter goes out, with the group listed among its supporters under its A.A. name. Nobody asked for that; it was the detox saying thank you. The short form (Big Book, p. 562): "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise". In one vote the group did all three. It financed the detox, and the thank-you lent the group's name and turned it into an endorsement. Every drinker who reads that letter learns that A.A. backs that detox, and may decide A.A. is the detox. A group that pays for a facility has tied itself to it, and the drunk can no longer tell the two apart. Members can give what they like out of their own pockets. The basket was given to carry the message. Test it tonight: ask where your group's extra money goes, and whether anyone outside A.A. has ever thanked your group by name.