About Freedom From Religion Foundation
A national nonprofit dedicated to promoting and defending the constitutional principle of separation between church and state and educating the public on matters of nontheism.
Focus Areas
Separation of church and stateConstitutional and First Amendment litigationPublic education on nontheism and secularismStudent scholarships and contestsDisaster and humanitarian aid via Nonbelief Relief
Who They Fund
nonprofit organizations (operating grant recipients)higher education faculty / institutions (endowed professorship)students/scholars (scholarships)individuals needing financial assistance (direct assistance)conference attendees / professional groups (convention sponsorship)
About Freedom From Religion Foundation
Freedom From Religion Foundation Inc’s largest recent commitments have been two $500,000 grants, one in 2024 and one in 2025, both to FFRF Action Fund for operating and lobbying support. That scale points to a funder that uses major grants to sustain its own advocacy infrastructure as well as allied work around church-state separation. The foundation also backed an endowed professorship at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with another $500,000 grant in 2024, showing that its giving reaches beyond direct advocacy into higher education. Smaller awards in the recent grant list extend the pattern: it supports secular, humanist, and legal advocacy organizations, student-focused scholarships, and direct assistance through Nonbelief Relief and other aligned programs. The leadership is associated with Annie Laurie Gaylor, and the foundation’s grantmaking sits within a nonprofit mission centered on constitutional separation between church and state and public education about nontheism. Recent grants also show support for groups working on clergy abuse, abortion funds, and humanitarian relief, indicating a mix of policy, education, and aid-oriented funding within a secular framework.
What Freedom From Religion Foundation Funds
In legal and policy advocacy, Freedom From Religion Foundation Inc gave $500,000 to FFRF Action Fund for operating and lobbying support, and $20,000 to American Humanist Association for operating support. It also made a $10,000 convention sponsorship to American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, linking its grantmaking to public-facing legal and civic gatherings. The foundation’s education-related funding includes a $500,000 endowed professorship at Uw Whitewater, which places a large share of its support into higher education infrastructure rather than only short-term programming. On the student side, it awarded $10,000 to Secular Student Alliance CA for scholarships, reinforcing a pattern of support for student engagement and secular identity. Humanitarian and direct-aid work also appears in the recent grants list, including $20,000 to Women's Medical Fund for direct assistance and $10,000 to International Rescue Committee for operating support.
How Freedom From Religion Foundation Gives
Typical grant size centers on larger awards, with a p25 of $42,500, a median of $275,000, and a p75 of $500,000. The recent grant list shows both repeated support and one-off awards: FFRF Action Fund appears in consecutive years with identical $500,000 operating and lobbying grants. The foundation is a regular funder rather than a donor-advised fund, and it does not fund individuals directly. Its mix of operating support, lobbying support, endowed professorship funding, scholarships, direct assistance, and event sponsorship suggests a multi-track grantmaking structure rather than a single grant type. Application procedures are not described in the data, except for FFRF Student Activist Scholarships, which accept nominations or self-nominations through an online form.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$600K
Total Assets
$26.1M
Total Revenue
$11.1M
Total Expenses
$9.9M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $43K and $500K, with a median of $275K.
25th Percentile
$43K
Median
$275K
75th Percentile
$500K
Geographic Reach
National7 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
ANNIE LAURIE GAYLOR
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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