[Businessmtg] Treasury Facts

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Biz-Pals, 



I just reviewed our Financial Statements from 2008 

through the most recent Financial Statement posting. 

As ASP Treasurer for most of those years the figures stated 

in previous postings to this meeting regarding Beginner 

Packet expense didn't jibe with my experience. 

  

Whatever our good intentions were when we passed that 

resolution to provide Beginner's Packets in 2008, the 

facts are these: 

  

As Treasurer I paid for 70 Packets in 2008 and postage 

to deliver them. A total of 105.84 for packets and two 

outlays totaling $75.26 for postage. Total expenditure 

to date: $181.10. Since that one-time purchase we have not 

bought any more. Since the effort is defunct - even though it 

stands as a resolution - that works out to 14 Packets given out 

per year on average at an annual cost of $36.22 . It would be 

inaccurate to say that ASP requires $300.00 per year to provide 

this service since we are not now, nor never have provided it at this 

expenditure level. It would be more accurate to say that 14 packets 

a year (approximately one a month) to newcomers is perhaps not the 

most wise use of our time and resources. 



[Does anybody have any current information on how many newcomers 

 are requesting Packets, but are not getting them because we don't 

 have them? Do we still have any Beginner's Packets in our stock?] 

  

Were a new resolution agreed to which automatically mailed 

a Packet to every newcomer and those figures calculated out 

in practice to the higher numbers given - then great. But the 

facts are that newcomers cannot be forced to give us their 

addresses and very few actually make the request for reasons 

of their own - I'd suspect some of the anonymity fears I, too, 

had when I first joined plus they no doubt have bigger things 

raging through their minds as we all did when we were new. 

  

$36.22 per year is the correct number. Using the inflated number 

calculated from requests for membership only results in the impression 

that we should increase our Prudent Reserve when the practical result 

of doing so would only be to keep the remaining $264 per year from going 

to other legitimate Al-Anon destinations. 

  

If renewed effort on our part increases packet demand , then, yes! It's 

a great idea with the potential for good results. We all thought so at 

the time. But as it stands our history is that we've only spent a smidge 

and we should therefore only account for a smidge in our current planning. 

  

Jerry 

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