A Fundraiser With the A.A. Name

Key takeaway

If a fundraiser flyer has the A.A. name on it, you do not have to promote it. Tradition Six says a group ought never endorse, finance, or lend that name to a related facility or outside enterprise. Public solicitation using the name is dangerous. Large gifts and gifts with strings are unwise. No dollar amount is set.

Last updated: Tue Oct 06 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The flyer is in your coat pocket, folded once, already soft at the crease. You can feel it when you reach for your keys. Somebody pressed it into your hand between the coffee urn and the door. The letters A.A. are on it, next to a dinner or a raffle or a cause you did not ask to join. You are already wondering if a refusal makes you selfish.

You do not have to promote it. Tradition Six says a group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise. A fundraiser that borrows the name is asking for exactly that loan. You can leave the paper on the table. You can hand it back. You can get home and put it in the trash without announcing a verdict.

If the shame of the flyer is sitting on top of a body that is in danger, call 911. If you are in a mental health crisis, call or text 988. NIAAA says alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening when a person who drinks heavily over time stops suddenly. A meeting cannot manage that. A ticket sale cannot either.

The name is not a banner for the dinner

Lending the name is the part to watch. The long form of Tradition Six says clubs, and hospitals, that need property should be separately incorporated and set apart from the group. They ought not use the A.A. name. For clubs, A.A. managers are usually preferred, and a group may cooperate. Cooperation ought never become affiliation or endorsement. So a room the group rents is not the same thing as the group becoming the fundraising arm of the building.

You might meet in a church, a clubhouse, a community center, or a treatment center that lets groups use space. The building is the building. The meeting is the meeting. People there talk about what drinking did and what they did next. That purpose does not include selling the public a plate of food under the fellowship's name. If a person you like is excited about the dinner, you can like them and still not carry the stack of flyers to work.

No dollar amount belongs in this. The tradition does not name a safe price for a ticket or a safe size for a gift. Anyone who gives you a figure is speaking for themselves.

Public asks and gifts with a string

Tradition Seven says every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. The long form says groups are supported by voluntary contributions of their own members. Then it says the part the flyer trips over: public solicitation using the A.A. name is dangerous. Large gifts, or contributions with strings, are unwise.

A basket passed among members is voluntary giving inside the group. You can pass it empty. That is a different night from a stranger asking the town for money because the letters A.A. are printed on the card. If the gift comes with a string, a seat on a board, a mention in a program, a favor later, the long form already calls that unwise. You do not have to be the person who collects it.

You also do not have to police the whole area. You are allowed to decline your part and let the group conscience, if the group even has this in front of it, do what groups do. Leaders are trusted servants. They do not govern. A loud organizer is not a government. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Flyers are not the requirement. Money is not the requirement. The long form of Tradition Three says membership ought never depend upon money or conformity.

You came to sit in a meeting

There are no dues or fees. You can sit and listen. NIDA says mutual-help groups such as A.A. are peer-led, not led by healthcare professionals, and not a substitute for treatment. The hour is peer support. It is not detox, and it is not a charity campaign. If you need help finding treatment, call (800) 653-9376. Calling is free to you. Treatment providers pay for the referral service. The line is not A.A., and it is not SMART Recovery. Care options are on FindTreatment.gov. SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), is a free, confidential line in English and Spanish.

Tonight

Take the flyer out of your coat. You do not have to post it, forward it, or stack it by the door. Go to a meeting for the sharing, not for the dinner. Start with the meetings search. The listings are not verified, so confirm the time before you drive. If the basket shows up, that is members helping the group stay self-supporting, and the basket itself is not this flyer. Pass it or do not. Your chair was never for sale.

Additional Resources

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Common Questions

Do I have to hand out a fundraiser flyer that says A.A.?

No. You can give it back, leave it on the table, or throw it away when you get home. Tradition Six says a group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise. A dinner, a raffle, or a cause with those letters on the paper is asking the name to do work the tradition will not give it. You are not a bad member for refusing to promote it.

What is wrong with raising money under the A.A. name?

The long form of Tradition Seven says public solicitation using the A.A. name is dangerous. It also says large gifts, or contributions with strings, are unwise. Groups are meant to be supported by voluntary contributions of their own members, and to decline outside contributions. No amount is set for a gift that is too large. If the flyer is asking the public for money in that name, you do not have to help it travel.

What if the flyer is for a clubhouse the group uses?

A club or a hospital that needs property is supposed to be set apart. The long form of Tradition Six says such places should be separately incorporated and ought not use the A.A. name. A group may cooperate with a place that rents rooms. Cooperation is not the same as endorsement, and it is not affiliation. The building is not the group. You can attend a meeting in a rented room and still decline to sell tickets for that building under the fellowship's name.

Is the basket at a meeting the same as this flyer?

No. The basket is members giving when they can, inside the group. There are no dues or fees, and you can pass it when your pockets are empty. A public fundraiser with the name on it is a different ask. It reaches outside the members and uses the name to do it. You can skip both the basket and the flyer. Neither one is the price of the chair. If someone glares, that glare is one person's manners.

What if I already promised to sell tickets and I feel sick?

You can take the promise back. Send a plain no. You do not have to attend the dinner to make up for the flyer. If you are medically in danger, call 911. If the shame has turned into a mental health crisis, call or text 988. A fundraiser is not treatment. NIDA says mutual-help groups are peer-led and not a substitute for care. NIAAA says sudden withdrawal after heavy drinking can be life-threatening. Handle your body before the tickets.