[Businessmtg] Excess Funds discussion

[Steve Rankin]

Hi folks,

Jerry made a few interesting, albeit incorrect points.

1.  Jerry said that I've been at loggerheads with WSO for a long time.  This is definitely incorrect.  I've been working with WSO on the big picture of online Al-Anon meetings since before I started ASP.  I'd guess that I have roughly 10 hours of f2f meetings with Ric B. the Executive Director of WSO, as well as several discussions with assorted Trustees.  Yes, Ric & I have disagreed on some issues.  That's to be expected.  But at loggerheads?  Not hardly.  In fact, Ric sends me personal emails letting me know when he's going to be in my area so we can get together and spend some quality F2F time together.  Likewise, when I hear some rumor in my F2F meetings, I send a personal email to Ric and get a prompt & candid response from him.    

"A Serenity Place recognizes and accepts that the Al-Anon fellowship, as a whole, has not yet determined how and where electronic meetings fit into the structure of the fellowship. In the spirit of unity and the Fourth Tradition, A Serenity Place will participate in the search for a solution through explicit cooperation with the World Service Office, representing the United States and Canada, as we seek our place in this fellowship." ASP Founding Principles page.

I wrote that 18 years ago - we have cooperated with WSO ever since.  



2.  Jerry said that WSO applied the "Lone Member" rules to the online meetings.  Again, incorrect.  Lone Members are MEMBERS, not MEETINGS.  The Lone Member does not have a Meeting Contact, does not sign a contract to use CAL in their sharings, etc. etc.  WSO supports Lone Members by connecting them with regular members; sort of like a Pen Pal. 

"We consider ourselves an Al-Anon group in every sense of the word; we follow the Twelve Traditions of Al-Anon and conduct business like any other group."  ASP Home Page.



3.  Jerry said that OLAOC is supported by WSO and that WSO is the parent organization to OLAOC.  This is completely WRONG.  

OLAOC is just as independent of WSO as any Al-Anon Group.  OLAOC chose to change its name to OLAOC from OLA-IS in direct response to a "request" from the WSO Board of Directors in April 2006.  It was no secret to the folks at OLAOC that WSO had sued an AL-Anon because WSO didn't like the domain name he chose for his website.  FYI, the judge threw out WSO's first two suits, but WSO persisted and finally prevailed in the 3rd suit - using Al-Anon funds to prosecute an Al-Anon member.  OLAOC simply wasn't willing to risk being the same kind of target.  

As for the issue of who to make the check out to?  Administrative trivia.  All that tells me is that OLAOC didn't change the name on the bank account, and I can't blame them considering the hassles we've had as ASP with bank accounts.




The bottom line is that there is an Al-Anon service entity that is 100% legitimate.  It is called OLAOC and has been serving the online meetings since April 15, 1998.  

Additionally, ASP has members scattered around the world.  Many of those members live in countries with GSO's.  I believe that we should support those GSO's as well as WSO.  I can't imagine a reason why not.  How much and to which GSO?  That's an interesting question, however it's also an administrative question, not a policy question, and therefore best resolved in the Steering Committee.  Obviously, the actual donations would be posted to the web site so all could see where we sent those funds.  



I'll repeat my suggested compromise:



A.  ASP donate 50% of the funds in excess of the prudent reserve to WSO. 

B.  ASP donate 20% of the funds in excess of the prudent reserve to OLAOC (aka OLA-IS).

C.  ASP donate 20% of the funds in excess of the prudent reserve to GSO's of countries representing members of ASP - details to be determined by the Steering Committee.

D.  ASP hold in trust 10% of the funds in excess of the prudent reserve for donation to Al-Anon service arm(s) that specifically serve and represent online meetings. Said service arm must allow for participation by a representative from ASP to qualify.

E.  ASP repeat the process outlined by A thru D above on a quarterly basis.




In real numbers that works out to . . .

Current balance: 		$ 2,277.27
Less Prudent Reserve: 	$ 1,301.00
Excess Funds:		$   976.27

Suggested donation to WSO:	$ 488.14
Suggested donation to OLAOC:	$ 195.25
Suggested donation to GSO's:	$ 195.25
Held in Trust:			$  97.63

As I mentioned before, my suggestion sends the bulk of the excess funds to WSO - far more than any F2F meeting I've ever known.  Most of the remainder is split between OLAOC and GSO's, with a small amount held in trust for a future Al-Anon service arm that specifically represents online meetings.  

My suggestion also included automatic authority for the Treasurer to continue to make like donations quarterly.  



IMHO, my suggested solution is both fair and well balanced.  Isn't that our goal?

Hugs,
Steve