Hi everyone! I just finished reading Gkaff's post  from the grapevine regarding survey's. 

I always used to put one dollar in the basket that was sent around.
One day an oldtimer was commenting and he said "Just like taking up a collection, why do you folks and I include myself, only place one dollar in this basket? For crying out loud folks in the olden days that was the same amount. Beginning today I am gonna put in the cost of a beer. Anyone here know how much it is at the bar?"" someone shouted out  "depends on the bar, but usually it's about 3.00."  Then the oldtimer reached into his back pocket and pulled out 2.00 and placed it in the basket.  "Surely we can afford 3.00, we had no problem affording our bottle, did we?"  The room went silent.  I sat there and processed what he said, yep, makes sense to me.

Now having said all this, I am not asking anyone to divulge how much they give,  it's not my business (ok i'd like to know lol but it really aint my business and ppl get real funny when u speak of money rofl) but what I'd like to know is : How do YOU feel about the giving? I know there are folks who truly don't have it to give, lets just exclude those for now, if we can and let me hear from you how you feel about what the man had to say, please?

(trying to figure out if'n I should duck)

Good question Carrie!

I notice the same thing here in AZ. $1 is all anyone seems to put in. I know at home (quite an affluent area) people put in whatever they can afford, $5,$10,$20...we have a $2 Coin and that is the usual minimum ...but a quarter is fine too for those without. When I was broke, I found that as long as I kept contibuting to the AA basket, I stayed sober and all my needs were met!  

At most meetings the $2 coin is the usual. At our non-profit Womens Center, If we can afford it, we will quite often sponsor the Center to keep it open for a day on our anniversary, or some people will make an extra contribution to AA on their AA Birthday if they can afford it. 

I usually contribute $2.00 at each face-to-face meeting I attend.  I make an extra contribution to my home group on my sobriety birthday, and I will contribute extra when needed if a group appears to be struggling (I also make sure I tell more people about the group that is struggling, so that more people can attend).

Back in the early days of AA (and even in my home group in Miami), the saying was "give a dollar if you can, take a dollar if you need it".  I have yet to see anyone take a dollar out of the basket (though I have seen treasurers take off with LOTS of a group's money).

A lot depends on the group -- does the group have service committees who are active in reaching out to other alcoholics, or are they simply trying to cover their own expenses?  Does the group buy Big Books and other literature for newcomers?  Outside of coffee, rent and other necessities, the group's money is intended to be used for service work -- how much service work is the group providing and how much does it cost?

It's still the cheapest therapy around!