REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS / FAQ

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS ON FILLING OUT THE FORM:

  • Please note that any field that has a red asterisk * is required: the form will not submit without this information.
  • Make sure to check the correct box to indicate whether this is Registration for a New Group, or Re-Registration for an Existing Group.
  • Choose your type of meeting: DA, BDA, Intergroup or GSR group. If your meeting covers more than one type (e.g. a DA meeting that once a month focuses on BDA), choose the type that applies most and add more information in the ‘Additional Meeting Information’ box further down the form.

Group #: If your group has previously been registered it will have a Group Number. PLEASE do everything you can to find that number (your meeting is probably listed on our website and that listing will include your Group Number). If this is a new meeting, you can leave the word NEW in the Group Number box, or leave the box blank.

Group Name: Enter the name of your group. Please note that the General Service Office (GSO) may review group names to make sure they are in accordance with our Traditions, and welcoming to anyone wishing to recover from incurring unsecured debt.

  • “Double Winners” Meetings and outside affiliation:

“In D.A., our purpose is threefold: to stop incurring unsecured debt, to share our experience with the newcomer, and to reach out to other debtors.”

Statement of Purpose, DAMS, p21

We cannot list meetings that have an affiliation outside of Debtors Anonymous. If your meeting invites members of other fellowships, you can indicate that in the Additional Information section below.

Country and Language: We are a worldwide fellowship. Although we use mainly English in our world service structure, we do not give preference in the drop down menus to any country or language.

Meeting Venue: Does your group meet face to face (in person), on a video or audio conferencing platform such as Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc.*, or on a phone conference, or as an email or text based chat (listserv) or in some other way? Check the appropriate box.

If your meeting uses only one of these methods then check the “Single Venue meeting (not Hybrid or Dual Venue)” box.

If your meeting uses more than one of these methods, then choose either Hybrid or Dual Venue.

Hybrid Meetings: A hybrid meeting generally takes place in person (face to face) and also allows participants to connect remotely, usually via video conferencing or phone.

Dual Venue Meetings: A dual venue meeting may have an in person and a virtual meeting, but the participants in the room cannot see or hear the remote participants and vice versa. They may seem to be separate meetings, however in the case of a dual venue meeting, they may share a GSR, or a Treasury. Dual venue meetings appear to be a relatively new type of meeting that has arisen since the pandemic, when some group members decided to return to meeting in person, while others preferred to stay virtual.

Open Meetings: An open D.A. meeting is open not only to D.A. members, but also to guests such as helping professionals or family and friends of debtors.

Closed Meetings: A Closed D.A. meeting can only be attended by members of Debtors Anonymous and others with a debting problem who have a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.

Meeting Focus: Many meetings focus on a particular subject such as BDA. Some may change their focus from week to week. Here you can check all the boxes that may apply to your meeting. If your meeting’s focus is not listed, you can check the ‘Other’ box and fill in your topic in the ’Specify Other’ text box.

Primary Language: Please select the main language that is used in your meeting. If your language is not listed, you may select ‘Other’ and enter the name of the language in the ‘Specify Other’ text box that appears.

Face-to-Face (F2F) Meetings: If your group meets in person (‘face-to-face’), or is a Hybrid or Dual Venue meeting that includes a face-to-face component, please fill out this section.

If you have arrangements to help make the meeting more accessible to people with particular needs, please indicate those in the ‘Accessibility’ section.

Video/Audio Meetings: If your group meets via a video conferencing platform, such as Zoom, Skype, Teams, Google Meet, etc.*, or is a Hybrid or Dual Venue meeting that includes a video conferencing platform component, please fill out this section.

Please note that meetings which use one of these platforms for an ‘audio only’ meeting (i.e. they do not use the video component) should still fill out this section. However, meetings that take place over the phone should use the next section.

We require that all video platform meetings include the name of the platform used and the Meeting ID. You can also choose to include a clickable link which will be displayed on the website, however this is not required. We ask that you provide EITHER a password OR an email address, which will be displayed on the website. Displaying a link to your meeting, or the password, will make your meeting easy for members and newcomers to access. However, if your meeting has safety concerns, you may prefer to give out an email address that members can use to request the password. We suggest this email address should be ‘anonymous’, rather than an address that reveals your identity. An example of an anonymous email might be: DArecovery@emailprovider.com.

Some meetings choose to enable a ‘waiting room’ or other features to help keep their meeting secure.

If you have arrangements to help make the meeting more accessible to people with particular needs, please indicate those in the ‘Accessibility’ section.

*  D.A. has no affiliation with, and does not endorse, any service provider

Phone Meetings: If your group meets via telephone, or is a Hybrid or Dual Venue meeting that includes a phone component, please fill out this section.

We require that all phone meetings include the dial-in phone number. We ask that you provide EITHER an access code OR an email address, which will be displayed on the website. Displaying the access code will make your meeting easy for members and newcomers to access. However, if your meeting has safety concerns, you may prefer to give out an email address that members can use to request the access code. We suggest this email address should be ‘anonymous’, rather than an address that reveals your identity. An example of an anonymous email might be: DArecovery@emailprovider.com.

Email/Text Meetings: If your meeting takes place via email or a text chat service (e.g. a ‘Listserv’), please fill out this section.

If your meeting does not meet on a specific day or at a specific time, please check the box to indicate this.

If your meeting does meet on a specific day or at a specific time, please fill out that information.

Additional Meeting Information: This section is available to add extra information about your meeting, such as how to find the meeting location, what happens each week of the month if your meeting has a ‘variable focus’, or any other details you think would be helpful.

Primary Contact/GSR: You must include at least the name and email address of your primary contact person, who may be your GSR or, if you do not have a GSR, may be a long-standing member of the group. You are also welcome to provide a mailing address and phone number, but these are not required. This information is not published anywhere, but is used by the GSO for communication. This person will also receive a ballot for your group for the upcoming fellowship-wide votes mentioned above.

Alternate Contact: We also need information for a second (alternate) contact for your group. We need at least a name and email address. You are also welcome to provide a mailing address and phone number, but these are not required. This information is not published anywhere, but is used by the GSO for communication. This person will also receive a ballot for your group for the upcoming fellowship-wide votes mentioned above, but please note that only one of the 2 contacts will be able to vote on behalf of each group. More information will be provided via D.A. e-news.

Public Information (PI) Representative: If your group has a PI Representative, please provide their contact information. Again, we need at least their name and email address. You are also welcome to provide a mailing address and phone number, but these are not required.

WHY DO I NEED TO AGREE TO TRADITION 3 AND TRADITION 7?

Tradition 3 asks us to be open to everyone who has a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt. This may mean being kind and welcoming sometimes to a person you may not think ‘belongs’ in your meeting, especially if your meeting is intended mainly for members of a certain demographic. This may include: a plan to temporarily change the focus of the meeting to accommodate them; a plan to hold a separate meeting for them; or a plan to kindly guide them to a different meeting

However, we are aware that some meetings receive harassment and threats, and the organizers of these meetings may need to take measures to protect their safety and the safety of the meetings.

Sometimes there is a delicate balance to find between the openness that Tradition 3 suggests, and the safety of our members. D.A.’s Safety Guidelines and AA’s Safety and AA Pamphlet may give more guidance.

Please also see p17 in the DAMS: ‘Register Your Meeting’

Tradition 7 reminds us that there is never a charge for a D.A. meeting. All contributions are voluntary.

We encourage your group to discuss these issues and to decide whether you accept these Traditions. Groups that do not agree with these Traditions may send an email to: Registration@debtorsanonymous.org if they would like to discuss them further.

Please note that the General Service Board reserves the right not to list meetings that do not follow the Traditions of D.A

WHAT IS THE D.A. PRIVACY POLICY?

The Privacy Policy is a legal document, required by many governments around the world, to help safeguard your privacy when you use our website. For D.A. to be legally compliant, you must agree to the Privacy Policy in order to register your group.

WHAT IS THE ‘I AM NOT A ROBOT’ reCAPTCHA?

This is a simple web tool used by many websites to help reduce spam.

Thank you for registering your group! You are helping to spread the message of D.A. to debtors everywhere who are still suffering.