[Businessmtg] Beginner's Literature

[logmark at comcast.net]

Biz-Pals,

I gotta admit it - I really like the idea of reaching out to newcomers
with some sort of literature. As treasurer, I occasionally receive notes
with donations. Now ya'd think that after all these years in Al-Anon
simple personal contact wouldn't be all that big a deal, but It's really
quite nice. Necessary, no. Nice, yes.

As a group we have to consider the funds we have available and set
priorities for spending it. Reaching out to newcomers is high on my list.
The official Al-Anon Beginner's Packet, at $1.40 each plus postage, is
in my mind too expensive for the group. Though I don't know how many
legitimate newcomers sign up each month, my guess is we'd pretty much
eat up all our available funds (we currently generate roughly $40 per month
over expenses, though the average is growing.)

My best suggestion would be a token selection of inexpensive pieces made
available to newcomers should they request it. [My list would include M-12,
"Just for Today" book mark at $0.10; S-19 "Detachment" piece at $0.02;
and perhaps P-6, "Freedom from Despair" at $0.20 - total of 32 cents and
could be sent at base first class postage rate.]

As do many groups, we could pass a separate basket to support literature (and
postage.) Also, I believe anything we do should be on a trial basis with a set a budget.
If we were to do this for a three-month period we'd get a fair idea of how well it
would be received by newcomers and supported by the membership. Then there's
the matter of getting someone to actually do the work. I'd be glad to order,
package, stamp, and address whatever we would decide on, but someone
else may wish to do that service. Also, someone would have to collect the addresses
or have their email address given out as the contact for requesting the packet.
This would be normal stuff in F2F meetings, but online may be a bit different
for some folks.

Looking forward to more input.

Jerry in Michigan