As the founder and administrator of the United Atheist Front, I am VERY proud to announce that we have become a partner with the Foundation Beyond Belief. The UAF is not just another Internet Activist group. Our membership stands at over sixty-thousand (60,000) and we are very active with other groups such as Americans United for the separation of Church and State, American Atheists, Rock Beyond Belief, The Center for Inquiry, the Brights, several local Freethought Societies, the National Secular Society, the ACLU and the Richard Dawkins Foundation, and our numbers give us voice when we have to get involved with the various Federal, State and Local legal and law enforcement agencies to insure that our rights as atheists are protected. But I felt that the UAF could be doing more. I felt that the UAF needed to also be involved with charity, and after investigating several different options, I have decided to partner with the FBB.
WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION BEYOND BELIEF?
Foundation Beyond Belief is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation created to focus, encourage and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of atheists and humanists. We select and feature ten charitable organizations per quarter, one in each of the following cause areas:
- Health
- Education
- Poverty
- Environment
- Child Welfare
- Human Rights
- Animal Protection
- Peace
- The “Big Bang” Fund (small charity, big impact)
- Foundation Beyond Belief itself
Members join the Foundation by signing up for a monthly automatic donation in the amount of their choice, then set up personal profiles to indicate how they would like their contribution distributed among the ten categories.
Their mission is to demonstrate humanism at its best by supporting efforts to improve this world and this life and to challenge humanists to embody the highest principles of humanism, including mutual care and responsibility.
WHO RUNS THE FOUNDATION?
The Foundation Beyond Belief is run by a board of directors which includes some names I know you are familiar with.
 | Trish Hotze Cowan (Board Secretary)Trish Cowan is a humanist and Sunday School Director for the Ethical Society of St. Louis, the largest Ethical Society in the United States.While a student at Webster University, Trish traveled to Germany with the International Business Exchange program, an experience she calls “one of the most enriching and rewarding accomplishments of my life.” After graduating from Webster with a B.S. in Religious Studies and a minor in German, Trish worked as support staff in a group home for St. Louis Arc, assisting adults with developmental disabilities with daily living skills and community integration.In addition to her current position with the Ethical Society of St. Louis, Trish serves on the Religious Education Committee for the American Ethical Union, the umbrella organization for Ethical Societies nationwide. Trish lives in St. Louis with her husband and son. | |
 | Dale McGowan, Ph.D. (Exec. Director), ex officioDale is editor and co-author of Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, the first comprehensive resources for nonreligious parents. He writes the secular parenting blog The Meming of Life and presents seminars for nontheistic parents across the United States. In 2008 he was named Harvard Humanist of the Year by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University.Dale’s past non-profit work includes service as U.S. Communications Coordinator for Nonviolent Peaceforce, a global civilian peacekeeping organization based in Brussels. He holds degrees in physical anthropology and music theory from UC Berkeley and the University of Minnesota. He and his wife Becca, a second grade teacher, live in Atlanta with their three children. | |
 | Hemant Mehta (Board President)Hemant Mehta is the author of I Sold My Soul on eBay and creator of the popular FriendlyAtheist.com blog. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he graduated with honors in both Mathematics and Biology and helped establish the school’s first secular student group, Students WithOut Religious Dogma (SWORD). He is currently earning his Masters in Math Education at DePaul University while teaching high school math in suburban Chicago.Hemant also serves as Chair of the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) Board of Directors and works closely with the Secular Coalition for America. | |
 | Kate Miller, Ph.D. (Board Treasurer)After graduating magna cum laude in Linguistics and Russian Language & Literature from Brown University in 1990, Kate Miller’s career took a sharp turn to the scientific. She worked for two years as a field coordinator for Planned Parenthood, then earned a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University with an emphasis in Population and Family Health. During her MPH program, she carried out geographic information systems analyses of urban reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa.After several years working in demographic research and reproductive health, Kate completed a Ph.D. in Demography at the University of Pennsylvania and continued her work related to fertility, contraception, STI prevention, and reproductive choice.In 2008 Kate founded Charlie’s Playhouse, an award-winning company that produces games and toys to introduce kids to biological evolution. She lives with her family in Providence, Rhode Island. She is a secular humanist. |
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
Here is a FAQ directly from their website:
Q: What is the purpose of Foundation Beyond Belief?A: Our purpose is to focus, encourage, and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of atheists and humanists in the interest of a better world. Of these, our primary purpose is to encourage each other to embody the highest principles of humanism, including mutual care and responsibility.
THE CHARITABLE GIVING PROGRAM
Q: How does the charitable giving program work?
A: The Foundation highlights ten charities per quarter–one in each of ten areas (health, poverty, environment, education, human rights, peace, animal protection, child welfare, small charities, and the Foundation itself). Members join the Foundation by signing up for an automatic monthly donation in the amount of their choice, then indicate how they would like it distributed among the ten categories. At the end of each quarter, 100 percent of donations goes to the beneficiaries and a new slate is featured.
Q: What are the criteria for selecting a beneficiary?
A: Among other considerations, beneficiaries are chosen for efficiency, effectiveness, moderate size (annual budget under $10 million), compatibility with humanist focus on mutual care in this world and this life, and geographic diversity. In addition to direct research, FBB makes use of Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau, GiveWell, GuideStar, and other third-party sources of information and charity review. Beginning in January 2011, beneficiaries in nine of our ten categories will be strictly secular, while a tenth category called CHALLENGE THE GAP will give our humanist members the option to support a non-dogmatic, non-proselytizing, progressive religious charity.
Q: If you include a category for religious charities, how is this a “Foundation BEYOND BELIEF”?
A: “Beyond Belief” refers to our humanist and atheist members. Some of those members choose to support only secular charities, while others like to occasionally demonstrate humanistic generosity across lines of belief. So long as a large portion of our membership wants the latter option, we will keep it alive. And thanks to our donation distribution system, each member can tailor his or her donations precisely. Most important of all, no member is bound by someone else’s definition of humanist giving. It’s freethought in action, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Q: What is the process for selecting beneficiaries?
A: During the last month of each quarter, the Board of Directors selects the final slate for the next quarter from the list of nominations. The slate is then given a final review by Foundation members on our Charity Research Teams. In addition to the criteria above, member input through the discussion forums is among the most important considerations in this process.
Q: What if I don’t like one of the beneficiaries you select?
A: That will certainly happen from time to time, which is why members can change their donation distribution at any time. Suppose you have 50 percent of your distribution in Child Welfare, then one quarter we choose an organization you do not wish to support. Simply go into your Account, move your 50 percent to another category, and you’re all set.
Q: How can I submit an organization for consideration?
A: Click on Nominate a Charity. We will add a thread in the Forums within three days to begin member discussions of your nominee.
Q: Why is the Foundation necessary? Can’t I just donate directly to these charities?
A: Of course! But if you are a humanist, and the idea of working together with other humanists to make the world a better place as a direct expression of what you believe is appealing and inspiring to you, and you’d like to be a part of articulating the collective humanist voice in the world of philanthropy…well, that’s what we’re here for. Pull up a membership and let’s get started.
In short, I look forward to driving the UAF toward a more inclusive involvement in the Secular Community with our new partnership with Foundation Beyond Belief. Look for alerts, fund raising efforts, personal testimonies and other items of interest that are related to the work that the Foundation Beyond Belief is doing. If you donate through the United Atheist Front, your donations are tax deductible and every month I will be posting a full financial disclosure, which will be reflected by the amount that the FBB website shows that the UAF has contributed.Thank you, again, everyone, for your continued support of the United Atheist Front. My entire goal in founding the coalition was to make an impact, and we sure as hell are doing that!
Visit the United Atheist Front on the Web, Facebook, Twitter, Podbean and YouTube. Read more by Al Stefanelli at the Examiner and Yahoo!
