Guidelines for OA Newsletters

  1. Have an OA group, intergroup, service board, or region sponsor the newsletter.
  2. Keep it positive. Don’t allow editorial opinions on controversial issues or policies to dominate the newsletter.
  3. Before printing, review the issue for observance of Traditions (for example, non–OA event advertising or other endorsements).
  4. Traditions Six and Ten guide us to select only material from within the OA Fellowship. This may include OA publications and/or OA program-related submissions from members. Include a disclaimer that personal stories express the experience, strength, and hope of the individual member and not of OA as a whole.
  5. Intergroup/service board newsletters can include a brief summary of minutes and financial statements, information about upcoming OA events, reports from loners or groups in outlying areas, and articles about personal recovery.
  6. Do not print copyrighted material or the OA logo without permission. Check the Copy Requests page at staging-frontendrebuild.oa.org or contact the World Service Office for information regarding OA’s copyright procedures and guidelines. The Copy Requests page also lists OA materials that registered OA groups and services bodies may reprint without written permission. For permission to use the OA logo, submit the Permission to Use the OA Logo form (PDF or DOCX), available on the Copy Requests page and in the Document Library, to the WSO.
  7. Registered groups and service bodies may reprint individual articles from Lifeline, A Step Ahead, and the WSO News Bulletin for limited personal and group use, crediting the appropriate publication and Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Material from these sources may not be revised. An example of “credit” would be to place “[source, date] Copyright Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.” at the end of the article used.
  8. OA newsletters often contain a statement that other OA groups and service bodies are welcome to reprint articles from them without permission. When reprinting from other OA newsletters, be sure to credit the source.
  9. Review both the Newsletter page under Guidelines: Events & Outreach and the News & Events page at staging-frontendrebuild.oa.org to find information about new OA policies and available resources.
  10. Original sketches, cartoons, pictures, etc. add visual interest.
  11. Determine through the group conscience whether to charge for the newsletter to, for example, offset costs or raise funds.
  12. Investigate the most cost-effective way to distribute your newsletter. Many newsletters are published primarily online, for example, on the group’s or service body’s website.

Congratulations! Your newsletter will enhance the growth of Overeaters Anonymous in your area.

OA Responsibility Pledge

Always to extend the hand and heart of OA
to all who share my compulsion;
for this I am responsible.

OA Board-Approved
©1991, 2008, 2017, 2019 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Rev. 6/2022. All rights reserved.
#570

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664

Literature Titles
Automatically translated literature titles appearing on this page are for reference only and may not exactly match the official titles approved by OA, Inc. and A.A. World Services, Inc.

Translation Permission
All registered OA groups and service bodies have permission to translate and reprint any OA document or text currently on the OA website. Permission includes the right to distribute automatically translated material and the right to correct errors in automatic translations. Translation corrections should be as close as possible to the meaning of the original English text, with nothing added or omitted. Translated materials must include this statement in the language of the translation: This is a translation of OA-approved literature. © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.

To translate OA documents with significant graphic design, see Free Licensed Images, Translation, and Graphic Design Platform for Intergroups and Service Boards Registered as Nonprofits/Charities.

To obtain OA-approved literature in your language, contact your service body or see the Digital Files in Translation list and Guidelines for Translation of OA literature.

Volunteer to improve translations on staging-frontendrebuild.oa.org. Apply here!