NJ Regional Service Conference

Report from WSC 2002

Day four

Budget

You have every reason to hope that the budget report will be informative. Any failure to meet your expectation is mine.

The budget- recall I distributed the up-to-date report of the budget at the last RSC—is long and fairly complex. On a general level, the budget allocates over $6 million a year, or $13 million in a two year cycle.

Donations account for about $500,000 a year or $1 million of that amount. While we might wish that this figure was higher, in fact, that amount drifted downward this year. The failure of donations is a matter of concern.

Literature & merchandise sales account for approximately $12 million during a 2 year period. It costs about $6.3 million to produce this sales based income.

Events (Think Conventions) cost about $2.7 million while they produce slightly more than that; we make about $125,000 overall from them.

There are fixed operating expenses involved with these events that are not part of the figures specifically associated with these events. These fixed expenses total over $1 million for the 2 year period.

Other fixed operating expenses which include items the cost of NAWS NEWS, Conference Reports etc, the cost of facilitating the World Board, the HRP, the WSC funding, operating the office, etc., run about $3.3 million over 2 years. Fellowship Development cost about $2.4 million during this period. Some of fellowship development money is used to attend professional conferences, some is used to develop literature (translation aid, sponsorship book etc), some is used on an item labeled publications (I think that is NAWAY), some is used on an item labeled fellowship support. International fellowship support is included in the $165,000 figure for this line item. Variable operating expenses such as World Service Meetings, WWW, Sponsorship project, Basic Text evaluation, Service Material generation, Historic Data project add up to approximately $500,000 over that same 2 year period.

Project Report & Planning

WWW came close to the amount budgeted. The Literature Projects were also costly.

What we have learned is how to better attribute costs to projects.

§ WWW—World Wide Workshops—The local Area & Regional reps worked hard to get these events to happen. Most people involved found them successful. Becky suggests that reading the NA WAY article from the New Zealand event is a moving and informative way to learn about the WWW process.

§ HRP expenses went over budget because they had to hire a special worker when resignations decimated the panel (see day 3 report)

§ Basic Text Eval is scheduled to cost $85,000 over the next 2 years.

§ Historical Data Collection project (collect the living history of our founders before they die) cost $68,000

§ Info management (I think this refers to data base development)$72,000.

§ Lit Distribution/Convention training (This refers to Conferences held in CA each year to assist people in the fellowship with these matters)$38,000.

§ Public Relations Roundtables (Learning to work with and actually working with the drug court/parole officers/drug treatment professions in our community so that people who need us are directed to us) $82,000

§ Sponsorship Book $220,000

§ Service Material Development (While we would like to have a project for every handbook, our staff has been inadequate. We now have the people, but we need to orient them and get them up to speed. As soon as this is complete, we will have a better service material production system..) $90,000.

§ Communications Project (Communications is one of our most important issues. This project follows up on the work done in the past cycle)$90,000

§ World Service Meeting (If we need one during this cycle. The idea is that we might be able to hold it in association with the San Diego 50th Anniversary Convention)$80,000

§ WWW (World Wide Workshops; 5 are scheduled. UK will be first. There will be a workshop scheduled for Latin America, another for Asia Pacific and 2 for Northern America) $80,000

Open Forum Regarding Projects

We are expecting a temporary continuing downturn in Regional donations. We expect that to turn around after a year or so. We aren’t especially worried now, but we will have to revisit this issue if it doesn’t work out as anticipated. We still expect that, after a period of adjustment, Regions will be able to send more because they don’t have RD WSC participation expenses.

The Basic Text Survey will be available in July NA WAY. We filled in the survey at the Conference. We may get copies to bring back to you. In addition, it will be available on line. It will be sent to you if you request it. It will be distributed to people at WWWs and Conventions. We are encouraged to fill out the survey in order to better inform the committee working on this project about what we actually want, hope for and need.

The Service Material project working on PI handbook is planning to produce material suitable for fellowship interaction with treatment/government people. This issue—the issue of reaching out to professional treatment personnel, government officials, penal authorities, public health specialists—is a big issue at NA World Services. This seems to be relatively new direction for our fellowship. We will soon begin to develop material that speaks to these ‘professional’ people rather than speaking to us as addicts. As far as I can tell, our fellowship has never done very much of this work in the past. We are deciding to do it now because we must do the work to facilitate interaction with non-USA governments and our ongoing contacts with the professionals we have been working with for some time inform us that we seem close to invisible to them despite the desperate need in all our communities for successful strategies for dealing with addiction.

International Fellowship Development: Our vision is that every addict will have a chance to recover in his/her own language & culture. So don’t we have to have a project plan that allocates resources to international fellowship development? Maybe this is adequately addressed by the $165,000 allocated to fellowship support. That is, what we hope.

Every time I come to the Conference I am deeply impressed with how capable, Anthony, our Executive Director, is at his work. We are truly blessed to have him as the CEO of our cooperation.

Sponsorship Project

We were supplied with a comprehensive handout describing the sponsorship book that we will have copied for you for distribution at the May RSC. For now know that: 1. A workgroup to complete the project will be finalized; Starting soon, World Services will be compiling the list for voluntary review; Interviews will be conducted to gather additional information; The first chapter will be developed; IP will be developed; Chapter 1 & IP will be sent to Board while workgroup drafts chapters 2&3; By December, the Review committees will receive chapter 1 & IP; Drafting continues on 2&3 and also on 4&5; Revisions to chapter 1 and IP will be completed, along with finalizing drafts to all other material, by May 2003; By late May, World Board will receive this material; By September of 2003, all revisions will be complete.

Recovery Literature

Notes taken during session from presentation

§ NA lit, the most tangible product for carrying our message and impacting on how public views NA.

OBJECTIVE: Streamline the processes of lit development to meet needs of fellowship

§ We have specific diversity needs. Cultural barriers need to be addresses and fellowship must become willing to meet the needs of all our participating communities.

OBJECTIVE: Develop processes that meet the needs of our growing diversity

Other fellowships, we were told, use their literature to outreach toward specialized subcommunities(think of it as ‘a specific audience’)—check out AA pamphlets and website

The next step in lit development is to find ways to reach out to diversified communities. Think literature in comic book form. Think literature for youth, for aging, for ghetto kids, for gay/lesbian addicts, for non Western culture audiences, for people suffering from associated physical conditions.

While there are those who think that creating lit for special audiences runs contrary to our primary purpose, lets not think of it as a violation of 1st tradition to carry out spirit of 5th tradition. Recovery needs to be made available to everyone, as Vision statement says, lets deliver literature to people in their own language & culture. We no longer have the privilege of creating literature for middle/lower middle class caucasian males in USA. We should do better.

And, how do we do it best in NA? We best create literature by letting those with the experience (not those without it) write about the experience.

Open Forum

We must be careful not to spin away from the core association with our spiritual needs. As long as we draw upon facial identification to draw us together in our deeper common bonding, we will serve our purposes. Lets hope we can avoid drawing people into a stronger identification with the surface categories & associations that make us sick.

Let’s think of this as a new idea, a good idea, that is worth trying. It won’t tear us apart. It will bring us together in a way we haven’t yet experienced.

The idea discussed yesterday, of having Non English speaking communities write literature in their own language that could be translated into English, was repeated.

Pamphlets that appeal to specific audiences will help those to whom it applies, they won’t hurt those to whom they do not apply.

Two things that bind us together: addiction & recovery.

This was one of the most moving discussions of the Conference. Many times I was moved deeply. The literature we need is the literature that touches our hearts, moves us toward this new way of life. It will work to our individual and mutual benefit to admit that our narrow ways of doing things is not the only way. Opening our hearts to one another will serve us best.

Issue Discussion

General ideas

§ 1.Self-support---embracing the principle of self-support in the 7th tradition; can we decrease reliance on monies from conventions, fundraisers & lit sales. How do we practice what in my spiritual tradition is called generosity, and what, here in the fellowship, we call giving.

§ 2.Effective Service Delivery—delivering services, cultivating leadership, generating enthusiasm in service, making service attractive.

§ 3.Phonelines, treatment centers, drug courts—can we comprehend these referral services as 12 step ‘calls’? How do we handle the growth on group level?

§ 4.Communications—sharing info with local levels—is anyone listening? What is important to our groups & members.

§ 5.Atmosphere of Recovery—treating relapsers, oldtimers, trusted servants. What is an atmosphere of Recovery. How to help those who cannot cooperate?

We are going to try a new process for 2 cycles. The Board will suggest a topic. Other topics can come from office, Rds, groups, members, etc. Anyone with an idea can send it in to NAWS. We will discuss the topics locally through News Flash questions. We have yet to design a process for feeding back to everyone what is said at these guided discussion brainstorming sessions/workshops.

For this cycle:

World Board wants the fellowship to discuss SELF-SUPPORT and the SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE OF GIVING.

We, WSC, identified the 2nd topic for this cycle from the list above. We (Fred & I) picked 5 because it most closely matched the 8&9 choices that dominated the selection process in NJ Region.

The topic chosen was: # 5 Atmosphere of Recovery was selected.

A new bulletin on Meeting Attendance Cards was distributed,

along with the bulletins on Direct Contributions, Theft of Funds, & Generation of Funds.

Back to NJR Page.

Back to Service Page.