Oct 2019 – Ad Hoc Committee Report
Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Sponsor Listkeeper & Temporary Mentor Coordination
The Ad Hoc Committee met from May through September to discuss several issues related to the way GROW handles sponsors, particularly the jobs of the Sponsor Listkeeper and Temporary Mentor. While we considered including the 12th Step Listkeeper in our discussions, we decided that the position is not really involved in questions about GROW sponsors and dropped it from our deliberations.
Our decisions were informed by a survey of GROW members about their experiences in finding online sponsors. We learned that, while there have been some issues with potential sponsors not responding timely, most of the members who responded were happy with their experiences in finding and working with GROW sponsors.
For the Sponsor Listkeeper and Temporary Mentor positions, the Ad Hoc Committee discussed several issues. The outcome of our discussions is presented in a set of proposals that include:
Sponsor Listkeeper Job Description
Sponsor Listkeeper Form Letters
Temporary Mentor Job Description
Temporary Mentor Form Letter #1
Newcomer Committee
Addition of introductory paragraph on Sponsor Webpage
Generally, after discussion, we concluded that the Sponsor Listkeeper and Temporary Mentor should coordinate, particularly in helping newcomers find temporary sponsors.
Sponsor Listkeeper
We are proposing several changes to the Sponsor Listkeeper Job Description that reflect major changes to the existing Sponsor List Announcement form letter and the addition of two new form letters: Sponsor List Invitation and Sponsor List Confirmation. The three form letters are more focused for specific purposes: distributing the list of available sponsors to our membership, soliciting volunteers for the sponsor list, and confirming each month that the women on the list want to continue on the list. The new Sponsor List Invitation form letter also asks volunteers to indicate if they will be a temporary sponsor for newcomers to GROW. Other deletions to the job description reference duties that are no longer necessary given the other changes described.
Temporary Mentor
We are proposing changes to the Temporary Mentor Job Description that reflect elimination of the Newcomer Committee and working with the Sponsor Listkeeper to provide new members with the list of available GROW sponsors and assign Temporary Sponsors when requested. Changes to the Temporary Mentor Letter #1 that reflect the elimination of the Available Online Sponsors webpage in April 2019 and offer guidance on how to identify potential sponsors in GROW.
Newcomer Commitee
Related to the Temporary Mentor position, we discussed the Newcomer Committee that was created in October 2018. When the committee was formed, we expected that the Newcomer Committee would be composed of GROW members in early sobriety. However, no one in early sobriety volunteered. Several members with long-term sobriety did volunteer; however, because the workload was manageable, they were inactive. When polled on whether they would be willing to be temporary sponsors, few were able to make that commitment. Therefore, we are proposing to eliminate the Newcomer Committee as a good idea that unfortunately didn’t work as expected.
Introductory Paragraphs for GROW’s Online Sponsors Webpage
The webpage currently contains information from the AA pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship.” We are proposing introductory language (g-r-o-w.com/member-welcome/trusted-servants/online-sponsors/) to discuss online sponsorship in GROW specifically. The recommended language duplicates language proposed in the Sponsor Listkeeper and Temporary Mentor form letters and assures that members are aware of the sponsor list, how to contact the Sponsor Listkeeper, and that members can ask anyone in GROW to sponsor them.