Table of Contents
Nature of the Job Where the Money Goes
Nature of the Job
An AFG Treasurer is a perfect example of an Al-Anon trusted servant! The group trusts the treasurer with it’s money. In the typical case, the group meets at some location, passes a basket for donations, and after the meeting the treasurer walks out with all the cash. It is the law that U.S. currency is the property of whoever has possession of it. At the end of the group meeting the cash become the legal property of whomever walks out with it, and the group trusts that person to keep it safe on behalf of the group. AFGs are not required to have bank accounts so in many cases the treasurer is trusted to personally own the cash on behalf of the group at all times. When this is the case, a backup plan must be in place to provide group access to funds in case the treasurer is unavailable.
Where the Money Goes
Concept 1 says the ultimate authority for where the money goes, lies with groups. “The money” of course, comes from the pockets of the members, and it goes to the treasurer of the group. The treasurer makes it available to do whatever the group wants to do with it. The group pays their expenses, and does whatever they can think of to “carry the message” in the community they serve. Some of the money sits in “reserve”, a buffer against possible ups and downs in income and expenses. When the reserve is adequate, any excess is passed along to Al-Anon’s service arms that have less access to members for donations. It is the treasurer who makes these donations, according to the wishes of the group, expressed as percentages to donate to say, DISTRICT, AIS, CAN, and WSO. The group has authority to apportion their donations among these service arms. The group should consider in each case, the value of the services they receive from these arms, and their expressed needs for funds. One thing the treasurer can do here is ask the GR to find out at the district business meeting whether the district is donating excess funds to other arms. If they are, it means that they have more donations coming in than they need. The same is true for all service arms except WSO.