Sponsorship Resources
Resources for AA members seeking a sponsor, serving as a sponsor, or supporting sponsorship in their home group.
AAWS Resources — Sponsorship
Questions & Answers on Sponsorship — aa.org
SMF-110: Sponsorship — A Vital Stepping Stone to Service & Sobriety
A New Member Asks... — frequently asked questions for newcomers and those new to sponsorship
A.A. Literature to Support Sponsorship
Alcoholics Anonymous(Big Book) — First 164 pages are the basic text for sponsorship, plus stories. See especially Chapter 7: Working With Others. Also available in multiple formats and languagesfrom the AAWS store.
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions — Step Twelve, Step One, Step Four, Tradition One, Tradition Three, Tradition Five, Tradition Twelve
SMF-110: Sponsorship — A Vital Stepping Stone to Service & Sobriety
A.A. Grapevine Literature to Support Sponsorship
The following Grapevine books draw on member experience with sponsorship and the Steps. Available at Central Office or at aagrapevine.org/store:
About Sponsorship in A.A.
Sponsorship is one of the most important tools of A.A. recovery. A sponsor is an AA member who guides a newcomer through the Twelve Steps, shares their own experience, and helps the newcomer build a foundation in sobriety. Sponsorship is not a requirement of AA membership, but it has proven invaluable to countless members over the decades.
The basic approach to sponsorship is described in Chapter 7 of the Big Book, Working With Others, which outlines how one AA member helps another. The sponsor's role is not to advise on personal, family, or professional matters — but to share their own experience with the AA program and guide the sponsee through the Steps.
A sponsor need not have all the answers. The most important qualifications are a desire to stay sober and a willingness to share what has worked. As the program says: we can only keep what we have by giving it away.