Secular Charities

[King Rat]

Help me find some good secular charities.

I'm pretty sure United Way is secular.

[The Other Michael]

Local foodbanks are generally secular, and the one here in San Francisco also has very low administrative costs (about 1-1.5% IIRC).

Something like that directly benefits your neighbors, and addresses a basic need.

cheers,
Michael

[Writer@Large]

Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org/) has an exstensive listing of charities of all kinds.

Giving to local libraries is always a good, charitable work. I prefer to donate books, but libraries can always use operational $$, as well. Local museums are another good general donation option.

They're seasonal, but Toys For Tots (http://www.toysfortots.org/home/) is secular (it's run by the USMC). I always make an effort to donate to them around the holidays.

--W@L

[brighid]

How about the Council for Secular Humanism
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/6790.htm

Brighid

[King Rat]

Good ideas so far, thanks folks.

[Face]

The very best non-religious charities are, in my mind, local hospitals and national medical research centres. Helping cure disease and improve people's lives is an excellent non-godly way of supporting society.

[Viti]

The Red Cross

[Rhea]

Nature Conservancy
Rails to Trails
Population Connection
Public Radio
Doctors without borders
Girl Scouts
4H
Planned Parenthood




mentioned above the united way funds a LOT of religious charities.

[sakrilege]

Folding@Home (http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=34395) is a way to donate CPU time to a worthwhile cause. What does Folding@Home do? Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. We use novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved. This has allowed us to simulate folding for the first time, and to now direct our approach to examine folding related disease.

[Arctic]

Add Oxfam (http://www.oxfam.org/eng/) to that list, as far as I know they're completely secular.

[never been there]

UNICEF are not only secular, but as part of the UN a lot of fundies actually hate them!

Our experience has been good. They ask you what kind of donor you are, whether annual, or monthly withdrawal, or when the crisis hits, and they respect that. We get a thank-you letter, a summary of activities mail-out, and the form for the annual re-authorisation of the withdrawal. And nothing else. No grovels for an extra donation during the year or begging letters from other groups who share the mailing list.

Our political party is just pissing us off. At least once a month they're after us for more. Give the forests a break!

[Bill]

Earthward (http://www.earthward.org/) (Earth's Atheist Resistance To Holy Wars And Religious Devastation) is one of a very small number of actual atheist charities (a qualified 501(c)(3) charitible corporation).

As for the broader category of "non-profit" group, I'd like to mention the Secular Coalition for America (http://www.secular.org/) a 501(c)(4) lobbying group.

Finally, The Internet Infidels (http://www.infidels.org/infidels/support.shtml) are a qualified 501(c)(3) educational charity corporation.

== Bill

[Malagasy Rain]

Help me find some good secular charities.

I'm pretty sure United Way is secular.
That's weird. I thought United Way was an anti-gay organization. Is that true?

[sakrilege]

Many United Ways have incorporated sexual orientation into their nondiscrimination statement and have stopped providing money to the Boy Scouts.

For example (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/6440129.htm?1c)

[Kuu]

A very good Australian-based atheist charity is the Fred Hollows Foundation.

http://www.hollows.org/

This Foundation has worked in 29 countries and has restored sight to more than a million people :) Even after he was diagnosed with cancer Fred continued with his work. He died 11 years ago.

Fred was very outspoken on his atheist beliefs. His widow, Gabi Hollows took over the Foundation after his death.

[brighid]

Many United Ways have incorporated sexual orientation into their nondiscrimination statement and have stopped providing money to the Boy Scouts.

And many a Boy Scout are pissed off at United Way because of the addition of the sexual non-discrimination clause. Perhaps you are thinking of the Salvation Army, and in that case you would correct that they are anti-gay.

Brighid

[Malagasy Rain]

All those friggin dimes I dropped in that Salvation Army bucket during X-mas. :mad:

Well I guess United Way will be one of my secular charities then.

[Ramen]

All those friggin dimes I dropped in that Salvation Army bucket during X-mas. :mad:

Well I guess United Way will be one of my secular charities then.


Arrgghhh, those Slavation Army recruiters proselytized my mom; which lead to my indoctrination. :banghead:

[brighid]

All those friggin dimes I dropped in that Salvation Army bucket during X-mas. :mad:

Well I guess United Way will be one of my secular charities then.

I have stopped giving to the Salvation Army after I found out about their practices, and those red buckets definitely saw a fair share of my money. I would drop several dollars in at most locations.

I also support Women for Women International. I guess I would have to look, but I don't think it's a "charity" per say. I sponsor a woman (in Afghanistan) with a monthly contribution of $25 and this provides money for her education, job training and hopefully she will be able to get a micro-loan in the future to open her own business. (I also believe it helps her feed her family and she has 8 children!) I also write a letter every 4-6 weeks in support of her, telling her about my life and inquiring about hers. I haven't gotten a response yet, but they say mail from Afghanistan is pretty darn slow. I send my letters mostly via email.

You can visit the site at http://www.womenforwomen.org

They have recently opened a division in Iraq to help the women there. I highly recommend this group for those looking to make a more one-on-one sort of impact outside of our borders.

Brighid

[cheetah]

I find that most charities relating to environmentalism, conservation and animals are fully secular. Some of my favorite are:

The Zoological Society of San Diego (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/), which has done great things such as help to reintroduce the extinct-in-the-wild Arabian Oryx and is in progress on a successful-looking program to reintroduce California Condors.

The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/) (or their Foundation)which has a long history of advocacy in what I would call a moderate format (as opposed to Greenpeace, which some find too radical), and does great things like sponsoring trips into the wilderness for underprivileged youth so that they, too, may enjoy our natural wonders.

The World Wildlife Fund (www.wroldwildlife.org) which seems to me to be a model of a valuable and successful worldwide charity. Only 5% of funds go to Admin costs.

and Heifer Project International (www.heifer.org) which provides income-producing animals to promote self-reliance for families and communities in poverty-stricken areas. Families that receive gifts of animals are required to pass on one or more of their animal's offspring to other needy families. Only 6% goes to admin costs, although fund raising costs are a healthy chunk at nearly 20%. Nevertheless, this is a great charity and I have had friends that have worked for them in Nepal.

Check out www.give.org for reports and details on hundreds of charities you may wish to give to.

[Plognark]

Perhaps this thread could be made a sticky?

Seems like pretty useful information to me... :D

[cheetah]

I find that most charities relating to environmentalism, conservation and animals are fully secular. Some of my favorite are:

The Zoological Society of San Diego (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/), which has done great things such as help to reintroduce the extinct-in-the-wild Arabian Oryx and is in progress on a successful-looking program to reintroduce California Condors.

The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/) (or their Foundation)which has a long history of advocacy in what I would call a moderate format (as opposed to Greenpeace, which some find too radical), and does great things like sponsoring trips into the wilderness for underprivileged youth so that they, too, may enjoy our natural wonders.

The World Wildlife Fund (www.wroldwildlife.org) which seems to me to be a model of a valuable and successful worldwide charity. Only 5% of funds go to Admin costs.

and Heifer Project International (www.heifer.org) which provides income-producing animals to promote self-reliance for families and communities in poverty-stricken areas. Families that receive gifts of animals are required to pass on one or more of their animal's offspring to other needy families. Only 6% goes to admin costs, although fund raising costs are a healthy chunk at nearly 20%. Nevertheless, this is a great charity and I have had friends that have worked for them in Nepal.

Check out www.give.org for reports and details on hundreds of charities you may wish to give to.

I forgot that I also meant to include the Nature Conservancy (tnc.org). They have a method even conservatives and libertarians can't argue with. They buy land, making it private, and then they do whatever the hell they want with it. In practice, they try to purchase strategic land in order to protect it.

That charity navigator website that W@L linked to is really cool, too. That + give.org should really help anyone with all the information they need to make an informed decision on charity.

[Reynard]

Help me find some good secular charities.

I just came across this thread. I'm really surprised that no one has mentioned Americans United for the Separation of Church & State [AU].

AU (Barry Lynn's organization) is the prime secular bulwark against the fundies and the Eternal Happiness Boys, Falwell & Robertson (as well as others). It's the AU that's fighting our legal battles against those who want to turn the US into a theocracy. Many of their court cases are not reported in the main stream media. In the name of Darwin (or Ingersol, if you prefer), join AU and contribute all you can to the cause. This oranization is our last hope, IMHO.

[clark]

I find that most charities relating to environmentalism, conservation and animals are fully secular. Some of my favorite are:
...

The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/) (or their Foundation)which has a long history of advocacy in what I would call a moderate format (as opposed to Greenpeace, which some find too radical), and does great things like sponsoring trips into the wilderness for underprivileged youth so that they, too, may enjoy our natural wonders.....

Here in Las Vegas, the Sierra Club appears to be moving toward the more radical Greenpeace. Las Vegas is by far the fastest growing city in the US, with most new residents coming from the Land of the Gropenfuhrer to the west :). Roads are being widened and added, and Las Vegas' monorail is about to open as soon as a couple of final kinks are worked out. Anyway, the highway department planned to widen US Highway 95 just west of downtown, by far the busiest freeway in the area as it leads to two rapidly growing parts of town and effectively splits into two freeways. This part of the freeway is six lanes, and was planned to be widened to ten and twelve, with full soundwalls and Vegas' first HOV lanes. The Sierra Club sued to stop it claiming that the widening would cause increased cancer risks to residents living along the freeway - as if the thousands of cars idling in stop-and-go traffic currently on the freeway are harmless. Fortunately, a judge through out the case a few weeks ago, but the desparately needed construction had to be put on hold.

To get this back on topic, there are two kinds of charities, IMO, those for a cause and those for purely altruistic motives. Charities I've supported include:

Cause:
The Internet Infidels, FFRF, ACLU, Americans United for State/Church Separation, Atheist Alliance, Secular Coalition for America, American Humanist Assoc, Council for Secular Humanism, James Randi Foundation

Charity:
V (Jim Valvano) Foundation for Cancer Research, American Cancer Society, Red Cross, Humane Society

THOUGHTfully Yours,
Clark

[Demosthenes]

As per to popular request, I've made this thread sticky and placed a redirection in the Activism Links and Information sticky thread too.

[Mathew Goldstein]

And many a Boy Scout are pissed off at United Way because of the addition of the sexual non-discrimination clause. Perhaps you are thinking of the Salvation Army, and in that case you would correct that they are anti-gay.

He is probably correct that his local UW is anti-gay and you are correct also. There is no consistent national UW policy. Each local UW has its own board that sets that local UW's policy. Some fund anti-atheist discrimination (BSA) and others don't. Those that don't fund anti-atheist discrimination as a matter of policy are pobably in the minority, but then many UW have not been forced to confront the issue because no one has made an issue of it.

[ThoughtFox]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the majority of mainstream charities secular? I think it'd be easier to avoid the ones that have a religious agenda than to try to list all secular ones!

But anyway, my pet cause is Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/ They do great work against torture and human rights abuses - they do work to help people who are persecuted because of their religious beliefs (along with any other type of persecution) but they're entirely secular in outlook.

There are many great animal charities which are secular. Why not donate to your local humane society - they can usually use donations of food, newspapers and old clothing as well as money.

I also support mental health charities such as MIND and SANE - I think these are UK based charities but you just need to search. Most charities tend to mention the fact that they're non-religious in FAQ sections on their websites.

[Kevin]

Mama's Kitchen (http://www.mamaskitchen.org/)
The American Foundation for AIDS Research (http://www.amfar.org/)

[WhyBeNormal]

<edited: nonsecular charity shown>

PS- Check out www.activistcash.com They tell you what charities and foundations actually do with the money they get. They recently updated the sections on M.A.D.D. and the Sierra Club.

[WhyBeNormal]

oops! :eek: Sorry, I didn't relise that charity was nonsecular. But, Everlastinggodstopper did have a good suggestion. The Military Assosiation Of Atheists and Freethinkers www.maaf.info I didn't think of them before my original post. Thanks for reminding me of them, everlastinggodstopper :)
PS-that ActivistCash group talks about groups whose actions hurt the public. I just thought I should clarify that.

[starling]

Many United Ways

Many United Ways... now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one. :D

[Malagasy Rain]

Hey do you all know of any gay-supportive charities that mainly support gay rights? I'd love them.

[EverLastingGodStopper]

Hey do you all know of any gay-supportive charities that mainly support gay rights? I'd love them.
One hit from Google led me to the Gay Charities list on JustGive.org (http://www.justgive.org/guide/showCharities.jsp?catId=117&page=community&sponsId=&offset=0) ... and the charities I was thinking about are shown on this list. I would guess that all listed charities are secular, unless shown otherwise.

This (http://www.clovermoon.com/vannicola/charities.asp) link also has a list of gay charities.

And I also recommend GMHC (http://www.gmhc.org/) based on personal experience with the group.

[I_pity_the_fool]

I also support mental health charities such as MIND and SANE - I think these are UK based charities but you just need to search.

Bah! You left out rethink (http://www.rethink.org). Several people I know work there. They can always use good money - employment and accomodation projects for those with severe mental illness can only be a sound investment in your community.

[Ynot]

Wife and I are trying to clear out a lot of stuff from our house, and we don't want someone in need to have to be subjected to a religious message just to receive of our donation. So we're looking to donate ITEMS, not cash. It seems most charities, secular and religious both, are least willing to accept things other than money. Any good ideas for charities who accept clothing and small household appliances?

Thanks!

(I was about to start a thread about this, but this sticky was right at the top! Thanks, you admin-slash-mod type people!)

Ynot

[azazel]

There's Project Gutenberg, can't remember the URL, but they distribute free books online(according to them any book whose author has been dead for a century or so becomes public property). The more donations theyget in terms of money, servers, or staff time means more books. A little free knowledge goes a long way right?

[starling]

All those friggin dimes I dropped in that Salvation Army bucket during X-mas. :mad:

Well I guess United Way will be one of my secular charities then.

:D It's funny when you think about it. The Salvation Army? Not a religiously biased organization? Would it be clearer if they instead labeled themselves, "The Holy Warriors of the Apocalypse Led By Jesus?"

It's amazing how extremist religion is considered normal, once we have enough time to get used to it, and the name gets spoken enough we forget its true meaning. ?Any old women heathen foreigners ever go to the YMCA ~/o :Cheeky:

[La ilaha]

Hey do you all know of any gay-supportive charities that mainly support gay rights? I'd love them.

Freedom to Marry (www.freedomtomarry.org) is a group working to win civil marriage rights for gays.

I'm getting married soon and we are asking for charitable donations to this group as part of our wedding resigistry.

[Ronin]

I have found the following charities at the Healing Iraq (http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/) blog:


Help Iraqi Schools (http://www.iraqischools.com/)

Operation Give (http://www.operationgive.org/about.html)

Spirit of America (http://www.spiritofamerica.net/)

The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (http://www.equalityiniraq.com/english.htm)

They all seem to be very worthwhile non-religious humanitarian causes and the original blog even has some very familiar and noteworthy secular fave links.

:thumbs: