About A.A.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

Reprinted with permission of The AA Grapevine, Inc.

Service Material from the General Service Office 

THE TWELVE CONCEPTS FOR WORLD SERVICE  

(SHORT FORM) 

The Twelve Concepts for World Service were written by A.A.’s co-founder Bill W., and  were adopted by the General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1962.  The Concepts are an interpretation of A.A.’s world service structure as it emerged  through A.A.’s early history and experience. The short form of the Concepts reads: 

1. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world  services should always reside in the collective conscience of  

our whole Fellowship. 

2. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for  nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the  

effective conscience of our whole society in its world affairs. 

3. To insure effective leadership, we should endow each  element of A.A.—the Conference, the General Service  

Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and  

executives—with a traditional “Right of Decision.” 

4. At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional  “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting representation in  

reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must  

discharge. 

5. Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal”  ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and  

personal grievances receive careful consideration. 

6. The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and  active responsibility in most world service matters should be  

exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting  

as the General Service Board. 

7. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are  legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and  

conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not  

a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse  

for final effectiveness. 

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8. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of  over-all policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of  

the separately incorporated and constantly active services, 

exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of  

these entities. 

9. Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our  future functioning and safety. Primary world service  

leadership, once exercised by the founders, must  

necessarily be assumed by the trustees. 

10. Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal  service authority, with the scope of such authority well  

defined. 

11. The trustees should always have the best possible  committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs,  

and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction  

procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of  

serious concern. 

12. The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition,  taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth  

or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its  

prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members  

in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach  

all important decisions by discussion, vote, and whenever  

possible, substantial unanimity; that its actions never be  

personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy;  

that it never perform acts of government; that, like the  

Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought  

and action. 

Copyright © 1962 

Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. 

All rights reserved 

The text of the complete Concepts is printed in The A.A. Service Manual/Twelve  Concepts for World Service (BM-31).  

Rev. 6/14 SM F-114