Guidelines for Intergroup Council Service Committees

Guidelines for Intergroup Council Service Committees

As adopted by the board on May 1, 2019

As provided for in Article VII of the Bylaws of the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council, Inc., the Board of Directors is charged with advising and providing “counsel and support to IC and IC Committees to ensure that IC assists the Alcoholics Anonymous (“AA”) groups of the Greater Cincinnati area in carrying the Alcoholics Anonymous message to those who suffer from alcoholism.”

Further, under 11.3 of Article XI of The Bylaws of the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council, Inc., the Board of Directors is to make available guidelines for each service committee.  In fulfilling that function, the Board makes the following general guidelines for all committees and guidelines for each of the service committees.

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL COMMITTEE CHAIRS’ SERVICE TO INTERGROUP COUNCIL  

IC has the responsibility of setting the manner in which persons are selected to IC leadership positions, including, chairs, vice chairs, etc. The Board, in discharging that counsel and support function, is providing the following suggested guidelines to the IC in discharging its duties as related to its committee work.

  1. Expanding the number of persons involved in intergroup activities is in the best interest of the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council and the AA groups of Greater Cincinnati.
  2. In the spirit of rotation, whenever possible, persons serving as chairs or other leadership positions should serve no more than 2 years.
  3. When filling chairs or other leadership positions, consideration should be given to having those positions filled by persons who have previously not so served.
  4. New intergroup council members should be encouraged, and sought out, to take leadership positions.
  1. Committee chairs are responsible for setting the priorities of the committee, recruiting committee members as needed, as well as scheduling and facilitating regular committee meetings.
    1. In setting committee meetings, the chair should strive to make both the location and time convenient to all committee members. Use of the Intergroup Council Office for meetings should be coordinated with office staff.
    2. Where appropriate to committee work, subcommittees are encouraged as well to maximize participation and give all who want to be involved an opportunity.

The chair shall be an ex officio member of all subcommittees.

  1. The chairs shall represent their respective committees at meetings of member groups, related area committee meetings, other AA gatherings and any other meeting in which the committee has an interest or should be represented. The chair, or the chair’s delegate, shall attend all committee head meetings.
  2. In selecting committee members for that committee, the chair and vice chair will be cognizant of the need and benefits of diversity in committee membership and future leadership needs of the committee.
    1. Committee chairs should be proactive in seeking committee members from new intergroup members as well as other AA members not already active in Intergroup Council matters.
    2. Service on committees, including service as chair or co-chair, are growth opportunities for those relatively new to the fellowship of AA.
  • AA members, who have recently relocated to Cincinnati, can provide valuable insights and a fresh perspective to committee work. They should be sought out for committee service work.
  1. Having YPAA members involved in IC committee work as members, chairs or co-chairs is beneficial to getting younger persons involved in IC service and in developing future leadership for the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council.
  1. Committee chairs (and vice chairs) are encouraged to attend the monthly IC meetings to provide updates on the status of their group.
    1. Each committee shall report any activity of note at the monthly Intergroup Council meeting. To aid in the efficient running of these meetings, all reports should be concise.  Reports can be made in written form.  If the committee has nothing to report, notice should be given to the Intergroup Council Office or the Intergroup Meeting Facilitator, prior to the start of the meeting, so that the request for a report can be dispensed with.
    2. If unable to attend meetings, a committee chair is encouraged to report the prior month’s activities through any committee vice chair or by sending a brief report by email to the intergroup office.
    3. If a chair is not seen at an intergroup meeting for 3 months, and does not communicate a report to the office, IC will assume that chair has resigned their position.
  2. As provided in the Bylaws, each committee shall make a record of all actions taken, lessons learned, expenditures made and other information useful to future members of the committee.
  3. Committee chairs should consider using the Cincinnati AA website and other forms of social media to further committee work, keeping in mind the paramount importance of anonymity and the principles of other AA traditions.
  4. All documents prepared for distribution outside of AA (or that likely could become available to the public) shall be first sent to the Office Manager for review as to compliance with AA traditions and principles.
  5. Prior to making any expenditure in furtherance of committee work, the committee chair will ensure that the approved IC budget has provided for such expenditure. If the budget does not provide for the expenditure, the committee chair will contact the Office Manager for authorization to incur such expense. (Depending on the nature and size of the expenditure, Board approval may be needed.)
  6. For any expenditures made, the committee chair is responsible for submitting requests for payment or reimbursement to the Office Manager as soon as practicable. Any request for payment/reimbursement received more than 60 days from the date it is incurred will be denied.  Requests for payment/reimbursement must be accompanied by a proper receipt, such as an invoice, cash register receipt, etc., including a description of the specific nature of the goods or services for which the expenditure was made.

GUIDELINES FOR INDIVIDUAL SERVICE COMMITTEES

GUIDELINES FOR THE SPECIAL EVENTS COMMITTEE

At present, special events undertaken by IC are the Gratitude Breakfast, the Thanksgiving Banquet, the Spring Fling, the Alcathon and the Traditions Workshop.  Suggested guidelines in connection with such events are:

  1. In selecting the sites for holding such events, consideration should be given to:
    1. The overall cost of holding the event at the site, (i.e., room charges, per plate charges for the breakfast and banquet, any other catering costs, any security costs or parking charges, speaker gift, etc.).
    2. Keeping the ticket price for the breakfast, banquet and Spring Fling as reasonable as possible, recognizing that higher ticket prices may preclude attendance for those with limited means.
    3. For the breakfast, banquet and Spring Fling, setting ticket prices as low as possible but enough so that the events operate on a break-even or small profit basis.
    4. The accessibility of the site for AA members. A location geographically in the center of our service area may allow more members to attend.  Particularly with the Alcathon, consideration should be given to how close bus service is to the chosen site.
    5. Parking should be adequate for the event, considering, where applicable, any other events in the area that could result in limited parking.
  2. Investigation into alternative sites should be made on an ongoing basis. Where sites are considered and rejected, records of that consideration should be kept, including the reasons the site was rejected.  Chairs of future events will be able to use such information in evaluating potential sites.
  3. For each specific event, there should be a chair and vice chair.
  4. Prepare an anticipated budget for each event no later than 60 days before the date of the event.
  5. Diversity should be taken into account in selecting speakers for the events. In that regard, to the extent possible, male and female speakers should be selected on a rotating basis. Traditionally, speakers for the breakfast and banquet are from out of the Greater Cincinnati area.
  6. All contracts with sites must be signed by the Office Manager or someone else with authority to enter into such contracts on behalf of the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council.
  7. Every effort should be made to timely post event information on the local website and have available flyers for distribution. For the Gratitude Breakfast and Thanksgiving banquet, such information should be available no less than 60 days before the event.  For all other events, the information should be available no later than 45 days before the event.
  8. After each event, the special events chair (or the actual event chair) will provide a written report on the event, including a report on attendance, and records of income and costs for the event. All in-kind or other costs, for which no reimbursement claim is made, shall also be reported. Also to be reported are any issues connected with the event, such as site location, site operation, ticket distribution, etc., along with any recommendations for future events. Such reports should be maintained in the committee records and a copy provided to the office manager for filing in the Intergroup Council office records.

GUIDELINES FOR THE 12 STEP COMMITTEE

  1. On an intermittent but regular basis, the chair (or other committee members) should reach out to AA member groups for new volunteers for 12 step work.
  2. Every 6 months, the contact information for the listed 12 step volunteers should be reviewed for accuracy. Persons no longer interested in serving should be removed and phone numbers should be confirmed and/or updated.  Updated information should be sent to the Office so that Night Owl materials can be updated.

GUIDELINES FOR THE PUBLIC INFORMATION/ PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY OUTREACH COMMITTEE

  1. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with the “AA Guidelines – Public Information” (MG-7) and “AA Guidelines – Cooperation with the Professional Community” (MG-11) documents published by the GSO of AA. Together these documents provide guidelines for basic committee operations, as well as working with the professional community, media, etc.  Ideally, a copy of both guidelines should be kept in the committee records.
  2. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with the “Public Information Workbook” (M-271) published by the GSO of AA. Ideally, a copy of the workbook should be kept in the committee records.
  3. The committee chair should promptly respond to any request made to the Intergroup Council Office for service.
  4. The committee chair should solicit volunteers to respond to requests for speakers, literature or other information.
  5. The committee members should pay attention to any incorrect information that appears in local media and bring any such instance to the attention of the Intergroup Council office.
  6. The chair, and other committee members, should be on the lookout for local events where outreach services would be appropriate. The AA guideline on “Public Information” provides useful information on this point.
  7. In December of each year, the chair should provide a written list of all events attended by the committee members or on behalf of the committee. This list will be kept in the records of the Intergroup Council office.

GUIDELINES FOR THE RADIO SHOW COMMITTEE

  1. This committee’s responsibility is to staff the “Easy Does It” radio show each Monday from 3-5 p.m. on WAIF-FM (88.3).
  2. The chair, or other committee members, is responsible for putting together material people and topics for each show, with topics chosen from AA approved literature.
  3. The chair shall work with radio station personnel to train AA members on the proper use of the equipment at the station.
  4. The chair, or other committee members will:
    1. Ask groups to donate financial support to cover costs of the radio show;
    2. Keep AA members aware that volunteers always welcome to participate in the radio show; and
    3. Keep the fellowship aware that the goal of the radio show is to reach the still suffering alcoholic.

GUIDELINES FOR THE TREATMENT, LITERATURE, CORRECTIONS COMMITTEE Formerly (CORRECTIONAL/TREATMENT FACILITIES)

  1. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with “AA Guidelines- Correction Facilities Committees” (MG-06) and “Correction Facilities Workbook” (M-45i) published by the GSO of AA. Ideally, a copy of both should be kept in the committee records.
  2. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with the “AA Guidelines – Treatment Facilities Committees” (MG-14) document, which provides guidelines for basic committee operations in working with treatment facilities. Ideally, a copy of the guideline should be kept in the committee records.
  3. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with the AA pamphlets “A Message to Correctional Professionals “ (P-20), “AA in Treatment Settings” (P-27), and “AA in Correctional Facilities” (P-26).
  4. The committee chair should promptly respond to any request made to the Intergroup Council Office by any institution or treatment facility for service.
  5. The chair, and committee members, should be familiar with the Intergroup Council Office policy on supplying books and other literature for use in AA meetings brought into institutions and treatment facilities.
  6. The chair, and other committee members, should maintain up-to-date lists of those “cleared” to enter facilities that require such clearance.
  7. The chair, and other committee members, should use their best efforts to retain up-to-date records of AA meetings brought into institutions and treatment facilities, monitoring whether such meetings are adequately staffed.
  8. Where appropriate, the chair may rely on a specifically identified AA member to monitor the staffing of AA meetings into a particular facility, provided the identified AA member keeps the chair regularly informed about meetings at that facility.
  9. When needed, the chair, and other committee members, should advise the AA membership of needs to chair meetings taken into institutions and treatment facilities.
  10. The chair should maintain a list of the contact person(s) at each facility or institution, including the phone, address and email (where available) of such persons. The chair should insure that such information is kept up to date.
  11. The chair, and other committee members, should be on the lookout for facilities (hospitals, treatment centers, etc.) that are not being served and reach out to such facilities to determine interest in having AA meetings brought in.

GUIDELINES FOR THE BRIDGE THE GAP COMMITTEE

  1. The committee chair should promptly respond to any request made to the Intergroup Council Office for service.
  2. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with “AA Guidelines- Correction Facilities Committees” and “Correction Facilities Workbook” published by the GSO of AA. While both documents address issues outside the scope of this committee’s work, there is information relevant to this committee’s work.  Ideally, a copy of both should be kept in the committee records.
  3. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with the AA flyer “Corrections Correspondence Service” (F-26).
  4. The chair or other committee member should maintain a list of treatment and correction facilities that wish to participate in Bridge the Gap.
  5. The chair or other committee member should maintain a list of AA members willing to be a contact in the Bridge the Gap program.

GUIDELINES FOR THE ACCESSIBILITIES COMMITTEE

  1. All committee members shall have access to and become familiar with any and all literature relating to the Accessibilities committee, including but not limited to the “Accessibilities Workbook” (M-241) and the “Accessibilities Kit” (M-48) published by the CSO of AA. Committee members can also reach out to G.S.O staff who work on Accessibilities matters to answer questions and as a resource of experience.
  2. The chair, and other committee members, should work proactively to address accessibility issues rather than waiting for requests to come into the Intergroup Council Office.
  3. The committee chair should promptly respond to any request made to the Intergroup Council Office for service.
  4. The committee should work closely with the Public Information/Professional & Community Outreach committee in terms of keeping the public and appropriate agencies informed about the various ways that AA is accessible to alcoholics with diverse needs. It should also coordinate efforts with the 12 Step, Meeting on Wheels, and IC Website committees as is appropriate.
  5. The committee chair should monitor the balance in the Special Needs Fund (a separate account), seeking group or other contributions as needed.

GUIDELINES FOR THE MEETING ON WHEELS COMMITTEE

  1. The committee chair should promptly respond to any request made to the Intergroup Council Office or made by any AA member.
  2. The committee chair will maintain the Meeting on Wheels request form.
  3. Using the Meeting on Wheels request form, the chair or committee member will contact the requesting person to determine how the request for a meeting is best served. (day, time, location access, accessibility, space constraints, participation by home group, etc.)  Then, contact should be made with an AA member in or near the applicable zip code to find someone who can respond to the request.
  4. The committee chair will maintain an up-to-date list of available volunteers, by zip code, from submitted volunteer sign up forms.
  5. On a regular basis, the committee should take affirmative steps to make its services known to the local AA membership. These steps include asking Intergroup representatives to take volunteer request forms back to their home group to solicit volunteers for Meeting on Wheels service.

GUIDELINES FOR THE FOOTSTEPS COMMITTEE

  1. This committee’s main responsibility is to publish a monthly newsletter on behalf of the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council and to encourage the AA membership to submit articles for publication.
  2. The chair of the committee, or the chair’s delegate, will act as editor for the monthly Footsteps publication. It is suggested that the chair have 2 years of sobriety.
  3. The chair, and other committee members, will regularly ask the AA membership to submit articles for publication. Any member of AA can submit articles for publication. The committee will also look at other AA resources for articles for possible publication.
  4. The committee will bring past publications to Intergroup Council Functions. They will offer subscriptions and will maintain a portable board for viewing.
  5. Persons should have a suggested one-year of sobriety to be members of the committee.
  6. The chair should undertake efforts to insure that a copy of each Footsteps newsletter is kept in the records of the Intergroup Council office.

GUIDELINES FOR THE NIGHT OWL COMMITTEE

  1. All night owl volunteers are to have at least one year of sobriety.
  2. The committee chair is responsible for insuring that all Night Owl volunteers are properly trained and provided with written materials to properly respond to after-hours phone calls for information and/or help.
  3. Once trained, all volunteers will be contacted to confirm the day and time of their monthly shift.
  4. If there is no open shift for the times the trained volunteer is available, the volunteer will be so notified. The committee and office staff will make every effort to use the services of all trained volunteers.
  5. With the assistance of office staff, the committee chair and other committee members are responsible for insuring that the materials provided to volunteers is kept up-to-date. The volunteers should have current 12 step lists, current phone numbers for related service organizations (NA, Al-Anon, etc.), etc.

GUIDELINES FOR THE GRAPEVINE COMMITTEE

  1. The committee chair is responsible for promoting the member purchase and reading of AA’s meeting-in-print, i.e., the Grapevine.
  2. The committee chair will maintain the Grapevine subscription for Intergroup.
  3. The committee chair will bring grapevine literature to Intergroup Council meetings and functions.

GUIDELINES FOR THE ARCHIVES COMMITTEE

  1. The chair, and other committee members, should be familiar with the “Archives Workbook” (M-44i) published by the GSO of AA.
  2. The chair, and other committee members, should collect, catalogue and maintain items of historical interest to the Intergroup Council.

GUIDELINES FOR THE INTERGROUP COUNCIL WEBSITE COMMITTEE

  1. The committee is responsible for maintenance of the Greater Cincinnati Intergroup Council website.
  2. The committee is responsible for maintaining a reasonably up-to-date calendar of AA-sanctioned activities in the Cincinnati area.
  3. The council website is a primary method for communication between:
    1. AA and the public;
    2. The AA Board of Directors and Intergroup Council Committees and membership;
    3. The Intergroup Council Office and the AA membership;
    4. AA committees and the AA membership; and
    5. AA groups and AA membership.
  4. The committee should be pro-active in developing features for the website that will enable the public to learn about AA in general, learn about AA operations here in Cincinnati (such as meeting locations, the radio show), as well as provide links to associated recovery services in the Cincinnati area.
  5. The committee should be pro-active in developing features for the website that will enable the public and the AA membership to understand the operations of the Board of Directors. Examples might include posting the AA Intergroup Council Board Bylaws, and board guidance or other announcements affecting local AA operations.
  6. The committee should be pro-active in developing features for the website that will enhance the operations of the Intergroup council office, such as electronic processing of purchases and/or donations, resources available from the office, etc.
  7. The committee should be pro-active in developing features for the website that will assist committees in their operations. Examples might include a central location for posting open service opportunities, assisting committees in communicating electronically, etc.
  8. The committee should be pro-active in developing features for the website that will assist the AA membership in general.
  9. While it is anticipated that Intergroup Council Office personnel will timely post events and other information on the website, the committee shall regularly check the website to ensure that it remains up-to-date.

GUIDELINES FOR MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

  1. The chair, or the chair’s delegate, is responsible for distributing new representative packages for persons new to Cincinnati Intergroup. The packages will include by laws, the AA pamphlet “Self Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix , change of group meeting form and other pertinent material.  Intergroup Council Office staff will compile the materials for these packages.
  2. The chair, or the chair’s delegate, is responsible for providing forms for representatives to register their group with Cincinnati Intergroup Council.
  3. The chair, or the chair’s delegate, is responsible for sign-in sheets for members to sign in at Intergroup Council meetings.
  4. The chair, or the chair’s delegate, is responsible for insuring that only persons eligible to vote do in fact vote. Only those persons who are the intergroup representative for a group are eligible to vote.  One method of carrying out this task would be to ask the ICM facilitator to announce who is, and who is not, eligible to vote.
  5. The chair, or the chair’s delegate, is responsible to keep records of attendance for quorum purposes and also for a member’s eligibility to be elected to an intergroup office. Such records, including sign-in sheets, must be provided to the Office Manager to be kept in the office.

5/1/19