Brief History

In the midst of the COVID 19 shutdowns in 2020, we moved our daily 7AM meetings online via ZOOM. Because we were unable to pass a basket for contributions, we began to use PayPal & Venmo. A survey of members indicated that a great many would prefer to use credit cards. In October 2020, the Steering Committee of our meeting created a study group to explore how we could take contributions via credit cards. We discovered that in order to do that, we would have to be a formally organized business.

Laws & Compliance

We also looked into the laws relating to how charities operate in California.  Our work revealed the existence of some very specific legal requirements regarding mandatory reports to both Federal and State governments, as well as the requirement to file tax returns, even though we're not for profit. 

For years, our group had a bank account held in the personal name of our treasurer. This is not an ideal arrangement. Some years ago, The State of California actually seized our meeting's bank account because of a tax dispute involving a former meeting treasurer.  Putting that incident aside, we realized that having our account in someone's personal name is not good because it could appear as if that person, our treasurer, has unreported personal income on which they failed to pay tax. But in order to open an account in the name of our organization, we needed to create a legally recognized business entity under  the laws of California. This has led us to conclude that, for several reasons, we should pursue a more formal kind of organization.

As  we considered the various options, we reviewed a variety of AA documents, including the pamphlet MG-15 A.A. Guidelines on Finance,  AA's 12 Concepts of Global Service, and AA's 12 Traditions. We paid particular attention to the long version of Tradition 6. It says: "Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual." (AA Big Book pp 563-564) Because the amount of money we raise annually falls within the legal definition of "substantial," the Steering Committee recommended that we create a non-profit, tax-exempt, charitable corporation. 

Group Conscience

As with all AA meeting decisions, such a step requires a majority-vote group conscience. At each meeting from April 19-23, 2021, we conducted a Zoom poll on the question: Should we form the Third Tradition Fellowship - a non-profit, tax-exempt charity to manage the finances of our meetings?

336 members were present at the time of the voting. They cast a total of 230 votes via Zoom poll.

220 votes YES (95%)

10 votes NO (5%)

65% of those who could have voted actually did. 106 members (31.5%)  expressed no opinion. The numbers do not add to 100% because some members apparently left the meeting during the voting.

Into Existence

The Steering Committee completed drafting bylaws and articles of incorporation. We then posted the draft bylaws so our members could review and comment. After incorporating comments, we submitted these documents for both legal and accounting review performed by experts in each field. They recommended only minor changes.

Next, we filed our application with the State of California and it was approved. We then applied to the IRS for tax-exempt status. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recognized TTF as a non-profit charity under section 501 (c) (3) of the IRS code. This means that all contributions to TTF are now tax-deductible.

The corporation is managed by a board of directors elected from the membership of our meetings. Those individuals who serve as directors are volunteers who receive no compensation. Acting as directors, they have elected officers, including a President, Vice-president, and Secretary. In addition, the elected Treasurer and Alternate Treasurer of the meetings are also ex-officio members of the board with voting privileges.  The board also opened a new bank account in the name of TTF.

The treasurer makes a monthly report to the meetings, explaining how much we have raised, and how much we have distributed. The board's compliance committee monitors all financial transactions. At least annually, the board holds a public meeting which all may attend.  Each year, we ask the meetings represented by TTF to review and approve the "pie chart" that governs the distribution of the funds we collect. 

This board was created and empowered by meetings and exists to serve the meetings. If you are interested in serving as a director of TTF, please email the board using the link below.

The Board of Directors welcome your questions, comments, & suggestions. Please use the link below to email us.

ThirdTraditionMeeting@gmail.com