Twelfth Step Within Format for Information Gathering: “Ideas that Work”

Type of Project

Membership Retention

Project Name

At Meetings and Between Meetings: What Can We Do?

Project Goal

To support members within the Fellowship

Implementation Process (including length of time for planning and implementation)

Ongoing

Results

Members are more likely to stay in the Fellowship if they see and hear recovery, and if they feel welcome and connected to the group. Some ideas to help with this are:

At meetings

  • Be abstinent and, when sharing, say that you are abstinent
  • Take abstinence seriously—it’s life or death
  • Celebrate your abstinence and recovery by sharing important milestones with the group
  • Smile and greet all members
  • Ask someone if they would like a hug
  • Read OA-approved literature (see the OA-Approved Literature List in the Document Library on oa.org)
  • Share about the solution, not the problem
  • Listen when others are sharing
  • Identify yourself as a sponsor
  • Warmly welcome newcomers and offer them To the Newcomer pamphlet; have group members write their contact information on the pamphlet
  • Talk to newcomers after the meeting and ask if they have any questions; offer your phone number to call in case they think of something they want to ask or if they want support
  • Offer yourself as a temporary sponsor for a newcomer to help them start working the program (see Temporary Sponsors: Newcomers’ First Twelve Days in the Document Library at oa.org for inspiration)
  • Ask the newcomer whether they would like to receive a call during the week and, if so, get their phone number and make that call
  • Offer to give someone a ride to the next meeting
  • Warmly welcome returning members who are struggling and offer them a Welcome Back pamphlet; have group members write their contact information on the pamphlet
  • Before or after the meeting, introduce yourself to someone you don’t know and ask them how they are doing
  • Offer to do service at the group level, as treasurer, secretary, group representative, or greeter
  • Offer to be responsible for the meeting room key, setting up chairs, and/or putting out OA literature at the meeting
  • Volunteer to lead a meeting
  • Stay for the business meeting and contribute your thoughts and ideas
  • Be inclusive
  • Invite all of the members for fellowship after the meeting
  • Offer to put together a contact list for the group
  • Conduct an OA Group Inventory to get input from all members: What is going well? What could be better in the meeting? Follow through with suggested changes.
  • Review the Strong Meeting Checklist to see if any further changes are needed

Between meetings

  • Be abstinent
  • Make a phone call
  • Send an encouraging note or email
  • Offer support and an encouraging word
  • Sponsor
  • Visit a meeting you wouldn’t normally attend
  • Call or email your sponsor
  • Call someone you haven’t seen in a while and ask how they are doing
  • Use the Tools!
  • Work the Steps!
  • Practice the Principles!
  • Organize social events for members and their families
  • Invite another member to join you for a walk
  • Attend marathons, retreats, and conventions
  • Attend intergroup meetings and report back to the group
  • Start a new meeting with a focus on relapse
  • Offer to share your story at a meeting that is struggling

OA Board-approved. © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. 3/24.