never been there

I'll score points with my sweetiedarling by plugging a group that is not only a secular and worthy charity, but is on the fundies' shitlist for being (i) internationalist and (ii) associated with Hallowe'en:

UNICEF

One of the most effective aid organizations, and involved in both crisis relief and long-term development.

admice

Thanks for your input so far. I'd like to get more replies and I'll research some of the existing recommended (Thanks Beekay!)and post a poll. Please pass the word about this thread, if you would.

The criteria I think are important tho is not just being secular, as some of the suggestions so far are (and good suggestions), but being KNOWN as supported by atheists (tho accepting donations from others). The idea is to both help the world AND improve non-believer PR. And the idea was to support portions of society really in need, not just to support other non-believers. Yes, I agree non-discriminatory.

Digital chicken, I didn't know you had also made the suggestion, Dominus was the one in my other post, but I'm not surprised, I like the way you think. Please do let us know more about yours when you can. Definitely want to include it in the possibilites.

Buddrow-there are several groups who do offer grants and scholarchips, btw. Check out the Institiute for Humanist Studies, The Humanist Institute (2 diff groups, I'm most familiar with), I'm sure I've seen more, when I come across them, I'll let you know.

thanks all,
admice

beekay

I would be willing to maybe lend a hand. I'm a writer (www.haughtbk.com) and I have graphic design and public relations experience too. Only problem (as I am sure most people have this problem) is time. However, for a worthy cause such as this idea, I would be willing to make a bit of time.

Tell us more and I'll see what nitch I can possibly fill.

Paine

Wow i think this is a great idea.

never been there mentioned UNICEF. Im sure they do good work but when you think of UNICEF you dont think of atheist.

The point of this charity is to assosiate atheism with a good cause. Feeding the kids or building schools is a SIDE benifit. There has to be no doubt this charity is associated with atheism. Having Atheism in the name is the surest way of doing this.

Remember this is the reason for the charity.

Never

This is not well thought out, just my first thought to reading the post. If there was a way to target aid to people who are victims of crime/war/violence, etc. resulting from religion and/or fundamentalism. I know it's probably too broad of a category.

d'naturalist

Just to expand the realm of possibilities here a bit...

How about instead of starting a charity, start a "Fund" (probably not the right term, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment). Basically, here's what I mean:

* First, collect a list of various non-profit aid & charity groups that are not affiliated with any religious or political organizations. I'd personally also add a requirement that a high percentage of donated funds go to aiding people, not to administration (low overhead).

* Second, (assuming this is legal) collect donations and, after a 2-3 month delay, divide up the money and send it out to the supported groups. For example, all donations for the month of January would be deposited in an interest bearing account and then distributed to the various supported charities on the first Monday in April. This way, 100% of donated money can be redistributed to charity while the interest is used to cover expenses (I'm certain there is some limitation on how long money can be held like that if it's even legal).

* And third, for those who have more free time than spare change, you can allow them to join this organization. For yearly dues, every couple months they would receive a newsletter that, along with reporting the good deeds of the various supported charities, would list local groups and events that they could volunteer their time to.

This has many advatages over running our own charity:

1. Saves alot of the trouble of establishing a charity (cost of setting it up, earning people's trust, etc).

2. Allows us to help in many areas instead of just one or a few.

3. Gives us the cool advertizing edge of saying: "100% of your donations go to the charities supported".

4. Lets us show the world that we're a caring bunch without making it look like we're exploiting people in need for our own self-promotion.

5. Eliminates any accusations of "hypocracy" -- after all, we're not exactly fans of charities that are religiously affiliated.

6. And in the spirit (so to speak) of making non-belief more acceptable, if we explain that we support certain groups because they don't discriminate in their caring, they don't preach or shame people, they're not political, and they provide aid without strings attached -- along with the fact that we're not directly involved with them -- then the greater society (religious or not) may support these charities as well. What better way to overcome prejudice and show the world that we are, in fact, good people than by supporting common causes?

Of course, that's just one thought. Never's idea of a charity that lends aid to victims of religious persecution & oppression sounds good, too. (Is that what you meant, Never?) And I've long thought it would be cool to have humanist anti-missionaries -- people who go to under-developed places around the world and instead of converting them to our way of life, provide them with aid while learning their way of life (language, cultures, history, etc) so that that information can be recorded and not lost. Anti-missionaries could possibly get associate funding from National Geographic or Universities or museums.

Okay, that's enough for this post. My brain hurts from too much thinkin'.

= Natch =

elanah

Hey, I think that's a great idea. Though I might be a little bit biased...

(hint: check my age and occupation)

Seriously though, I think a charity or fund would be a great idea to gain positive PR and, of course, to help others.

Insert agreement with everything d'naturalist said here.

Philosoft

This is sarcasm, yes?

Dominus Paradoxum

Anti-missionaries, eh? I'll sign up for that. Though I think we should also teach them some critical reasoning skills. Not ALL western values are bad, after all.

Rusting Car Bumper

Your ideas are heading in the right direction.

Simply stay tuned as I will announce our effort at some point.

None of these are disadvantages really. I think the situation and possibilities are alot more complex and nuanced than you believe.

In any case, stay tuned and we will announce of effort in the near future.

DC