Does it make dollars and sense?

This 12th and final thinking is what  I call  the "dollars and sense" question. It can also be  called "bottom-line thinking."  But using the term "dollars and sense" reminds me that sometimes my choices involve (money) "dollar" considerations while other times choices mean making "sense" in terms of  how I spend energy and time.

Alanon has a longer history and may not be struggling financially in these troubled times.  But frequently I wonder why we don't have the "dollars" in Emotions Anonymous that we might like, so that we would grow and find our word spreading and reaching more people who need us!  

Thankfully,  12-step organizations are not just about dollars.  In program we understand that only by giving away what we have received do we get to keep it. The not-so-common sense of the recovery process is spiritual; we grow by giving our richness away.  

I think our way of using money follows the same principles.  I will speak for our EA groups, and local communities.   We demonstrate "dollars and sense thinking"  by taking whatever is not necessary to our local operations and circulating back to our parent organizations.  When we receive donations, we don't hoard it or stockpile it for  a rainy day. We maintain faith by only keep enough on hand to pay rent and re-invest in our literature and brochures, and occasionally in information outreach.  The rest we give away. That means a good bit of our collection plate income is shared with our Intergroup, and EA International. "Giving back" in this way helps us to "support our own support systems."