Donations by the Stiefel Freethought
Foundation and Todd Stiefel

Donations in 2024:

  • SFF gave $225,000 to The Public Concern Foundation to utilize the film BAD FAITH for educational and outreach purposes regarding the threat of Christian nationalism.
  • SFF gifted $100,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State to utilize the film BAD FAITH for educational and outreach purposes regarding the threat of Christian nationalism.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to The Film Collaborative for utilizing the film SHOT IN THE ARM for educational and outreach purposes regarding vaccine hesitancy.
  • SFF gifted $100,000 to Religion Newswriters Association for reporting on white Christian nationalism.
  • SFF gave $75,000 to the American Values Coalition to fund travel and board for pastors attending their J29 Coalition retreat. J29 is a group of pro-democracy conservative evangelicals who stand against political radicalization.
  • SFF gave $50,000 to People For the American Way to produce videos highlighting the threat of Christian nationalism.
  • SFF sponsored $15,000 in college scholarships (including $10,000 for first place) in the ScienceSaves video contest.
  • SFF gave $5,000 to the School for Conversion for a Raleigh event standing against Christian nationalism.
  • We gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $25,000 from SFF and $36,000 from Todd.
  • More to be announced soon.

Donations in 2023:

  • Todd gave $500,000 to SFF.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to the Thomas Paine Memorial Association for hiring experts to help with the creation, approval, and placement of the memorial in D.C.
  • SFF gifted $100,000 to Religion Newswriters Association for reporting on white Christian nationalism.
  • SFF gifted $30,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State to sponsor their Summit for Religious Freedom.
  • SFF gave $20,000 to Disarming Leviathan Ministries for a clergy training program to turn American Evangelicals from Christian Nationalism towards a healthy view of civic engagement.
  • SFF sponsored $15,000 in college scholarships (including $10,000 for first place) in the ScienceSaves video contest.
  • We gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $19,000 from SFF and $31,200 from Todd.

Donations in 2022:

  • Todd gave $2,000,000 to SFF.
  • SFF pledged to pay the rest of the costs for the Thomas Paine Memorial in Washington, D.C. if the bill for the monument is signed into law.
  • SFF is running a $100,000 dollar-for-dollar matching challenge on gifts less than $5k to Common Cause NC Education Fund to oppose “Independent State Legislature Theory” and the dangers it poses to rights in state constitutions.
  • SFF gifted $100,000 to Religion Newswriters Association for reporting on white Christian nationalism.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) to support the increased public impact of interdisciplinary scholarship on white Christian nationalism.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State for marketing to build awareness around federally funded religious discrimination against Jews and Catholics.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to the American Values Coalition to fund the creation of their Mending Division Academy for churches.
  • Todd gave $100,000 to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences which included an in-kind gift of an ammolite and money to build a display case for the fossil.
  • SFF gave $70,000 to provide additional funding for the ScienceSaves campaign with Center For Inquiry.
  • SFF gave $25,000 to Secular Student Alliance to support outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
  • SFF sponsored $15,000 in college scholarships (including $10,000 for first place) in the ScienceSaves video contest. Check out the winners.
  • Todd gave $10,000 to Duke University’s POLIS (The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service) to address major issues facing American democracy, including gerrymandering.
  • SFF gave $8,000 to fund the creation of a booklet highlighting the works of Thomas Paine.  The booklets will be given to every member of Congress to support the creation of a Paine memorial in Washington DC.
  • We gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $20,000 from SFF and $31,200 from Todd.

Donations in 2021:

  • SFF gave $250,000 to provide additional funding for the ScienceSaves campaign with Center For Inquiry.
  • SFF completed a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge for $100,000 to Common Cause NC Education Fund to educate, engage and empower North Carolinians to make their voices heard in this year’s redistricting and to ensure we have fair maps for all.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State for education on the problems with public school vouchers and how they drain money from public schools.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to the World Mental Health Coalition to support its mission of providing education regarding mental health fitness for government leadership.  SFF hopes they will help warn us in advance of future freethought-suppressing tyrants.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to the Emergency Medicine Foundation for getting emergency room physicians on TV and other media to promote vaccines as the best way to prevent hospitalization with COVID.
  • SFF gave $10,000 to the American Values Coalition to teach American conservatives how to detect misinformation.
  • Todd gave $10,000 to Duke University’s POLIS (The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service) to address major issues facing the American democracy, including gerrymandering.
  • We gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $23,000 from SFF and $31,440 from Todd.

Donations in 2020:

  • Todd gave $1,000,000 to SFF.
  • SFF gave $1,000,000 to found the ScienceSaves campaign with Center For Inquiry.
  • SFF gave $25,000 to Black Nonbelievers to support their outreach.
  • Todd gave $10,000 to Duke University’s POLIS (The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service) to address major issues facing the American democracy, including gerrymandering.
  • Todd paid $3,500 to fly a banner over a ReOpen NC protest that said, “Fewer graves if we reopen in waves”.  The banner received national media attention.
  • SFF gave $5,000 to Harry Bridges Project for the creation of online educational resources to teach students about Thomas Paine
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $32,000 from SFF and $31,440 from Todd.

Donations in 2019:

  • Todd Stiefel and the Stiefel Freethought Foundation gave a total of $250,000 in matching funds to Common Cause and Common Cause Education Fund to expand the End Gerrymandering Pledge from North Carolina to a national audience ($125k was given to each). Gerrymandering is a direct threat to secular government because it causes more radical candidates from the right and left to be elected to office.
  • SFF donated $150,000 to Center For Inquiry to continue supporting using legal strategies to counter misleading labeling and marketing of homeopathic products. Also used for market research into customer understanding of homeopathy.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to Secular Coalition for America Education Fund.
  • The foundation gave $25,000 to AHA.  SFF pledged a $1,000 matching gift to the American Humanist Association, up to $25,000, for every new elected official who identifies as a humanist, atheist, or nontheist at the federal and state levels.
  • SFF gave $10,000 to The Freethought Society to help fund a Thomas Paine statue.
  • Todd gave $10,000 to Duke University’s POLIS (The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service) to address major issues facing the American democracy, including gerrymandering.
  • SFF gave $5,000 to Camp Quest to expand and update their Famous Freethinkers educational program.
  • SFF gave $5,000 to Military Religious Freedom Foundation for security.
  • SFF donated $5,000 to Center For Inquiry to support event promotion.
  • SFF gave a matching challenge gift of $5,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State to help them reach their fiscal year fundraising goals.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $63,000 from SFF and $41,640 from Todd.

Donations in 2018:

  • Todd gave $130,000 to Duke University’s POLIS (The Center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service) to address major issues facing the American democracy, including gerrymandering.
  • SFF gave $25,000 to the American Humanist Association to fund a research project regarding the public opinion of nontheists.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts in support of SFF’s mission. These donations come to a total of around $29,000 from SFF and $33,940 from Todd.

Donations in 2017:

  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the secular movement. These donations come to a total of around $63,000 from SFF and $14,340 from Todd.

Donations in 2016:

  • SFF gave an additional $250,000 to Reason Rally 2 in 2016 which brought total giving from SFF for the event to $350,000.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to the Secular Coalition for America Education Fund in the form of a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge.
  • SFF donated $100,000 to Center For Inquiry to support their work using legal strategies to counter misleading labeling and marketing of homeopathic products.
  • SFF gave 10,000 to Religion Newswriters Association to sponsor research by Public Religion Research Institute about the beliefs and demographics of religiously unaffiliated Americans.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations come to a total of around $85,000 from SFF and $21,170 from Todd.  Todd gave an additional $25,000 to North Carolina progressive causes.

Donations in 2015:

  • Todd gave $350,000 to Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science for the Openly Secular campaign. The mission of Openly Secular is to eliminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting secular people to be open about their beliefs.  Todd’s work with Openly Secular was featured on a segment of CBS Sunday Morning.
  • SFF gave $100,000 to Reason Rally 2.
  • SFF gave $80,000 to Secular Student Alliance for Openly Secular to support the critical work they have done to accelerate the campaign. Openly Secular envisions a world where there are no social costs for being secular, where families and communities remain whole when some members have moved away from religion or supernaturalism.
  • SFF funded a $50,000 matching challenge to Camp Quest to help them double in size by 2020.
  • SFF gave $50,000 as a matching challenge to Secular Coalition for America to help fund their Put Kids First pro-vaccination awareness campaign.
  • SFF donated $50,000 to Secular Student Alliance to support the secular living aspects of their strategic plan.
  • SFF donated an additional $50,000 to Secular Student Alliance as a matching challenge during the Dogma Debate 24-hour broadcast fundraiser.
  • SFF donated $30,000 to Center For Inquiry to support their rare books library.
  • SFF gave $25,000 to Tyler Clementi Foundation to be the primary sponsor of their Day 1 Campaign to stop bullying against all people, including specifically those who are religious or secular.
  • SFF donated $10,000 to Planned Parenthood South Atlantic to support voter education efforts regarding threats to women’s freedom.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations come to a total of around $69,500 from SFF and $16,425 from Todd.

Donations in 2014:

  • SFF and Todd each gave $125,000 for Openly Secular. The mission of Openly Secular is to eliminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting secular people to be open about their beliefs. We envision a world where there are no social costs for being secular, where families and communities remain whole when some members have moved away from religion or supernaturalism.
  • SFF has given $50,000 to the American Humanist Association for funding a grant writer. This is the first time the secular movement will be writing grant applications on a large scale to mainstream foundations and charities. Grant applications will be sent out on behalf of AHA, The Humanist Institute, and The Institute for Humanist Studies.
  • SFF made a special one time round of gifts to accelerate secular minority groups. $10,000 was given to each of the following organizations to support their excellent work: Black Nonbelievers, Hispanic American Freethinkers, and Ex-Muslims of North America.
  • Todd donated an additional $1,000,000 to SFF.
  • Todd gave $10,655 to Foundation Beyond Belief during the benefit broadcastathon put on by Dogma Debate.
  • SFF donated $10,000 to the People For the American Way to support their work with Right Wing Watch.
  • SFF gave $10,000 to Camp Quest to accelerate and expand the rollout of their new and improved Famous Freethinkers educational program.
  • SFF donated $10,000 to the Secular Community Project to build more and stronger communities for freethinkers across the nation.
  • SFF gifted $6,000 to Religion Newswriters Association to sponsor a breakfast at their 2014 annual conference. This time was used to announce the results of the building of the Openly Secular multimedia campaign.
  • SFF gave $5,000 to Recovering From Religion to purchase RR group start kits for student groups.
  • SFF gifted $5,000 to American Atheists to sponsor their outreach to journalists of color at the National Association of Black Journalists 2014 Convention.
  • SFF donated $2,500 to partner with the American Humanist Association in funding a survey regarding the public’s attitude toward shifting to the original Pledge of Allegiance and other subjects regarding church/state separation.
  • SFF succeeded in getting Wake County Public Schools (Raleigh, NC) to bring Sports Mission Outreach within legal compliance. SMO, and its leader, Pat Teague, had been flaunting Constitutional restrictions on non-students proselytizing within public schools. He has been evangelizing sports teams, with the help of their coaches, on the sidelines and locker rooms. He had also been bringing teams to pre-game ministry meals at local churches.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations come to a total of around $78,500 from SFF and $17,225 from Todd.

Donations in 2013:

  • Todd worked with Foundation Beyond Belief to support their work in the effort to unite the freethought movement behind raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Todd served as International Team Captain for the FBB Light The Night team. In two years, the team raised $930,000. Further, SFF gave $20,000 to FBB to provide incentive award grants to top fundraising local teams.  Ultimately, the effort raised over $1,000,000 for LLS.
  • SFF gave a $100,000 grant to The Clergy Project to provide outplacement services to formerly-religious clergy. The program will provide each individual with 6 months of assistance including skills assessment, resume prep and connection with a recruiter in their area to help them to find sustainable employment. We hope this program will make it so that these clergy-men and women will no longer have to put the priority of feeding their family above their desire to stop preaching what they no longer believe.
  • SFF granted a dollar for dollar matching challenge with the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF). We doubled gifts, up to $50,000 in total donations, made to MAAF by veterans and current members of the military. $20,000 was given in 2013, $25,000 in 2012 and $5,000 in 2011.
  • SFF donated an additional $25,000 to Religion News Service to complete the support of the second year of its increased coverage of freethinkers.
  • SFF donated $20,000 to Secular Student Alliance to kickoff the funding for the new rapid response function within the organization. The concept was recommended by SFF as a way to fund staff that can arrive on the scene quickly to help resolve challenges secular students are facing, such as discrimination from school administrations. Regional Campus Organizers will show student activists that they are not alone; they are supported by a vast community of fellow freethinkers and a team of lawyers prepared to protect our civil liberties.
  • A total of $50,000 was given to charities in support of Penn Jillette ultimately finishing as runner-up on All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. This helped Penn in his efforts to highlight atheist generosity on the NBC show. $10,000 was given by Todd to the American Red Cross. $10,000 went from SFF to American Atheists for St Jude Hospital (a secular charity). Todd gave $30,000 for Opportunity Village.
  • SFF gave $10,000 to Freedom From Religion Foundation to support their legal department.
  • SFF donated $5,000 to Religion News Service to sponsor a freethought panel discussion breakfast for reporters at their annual conference.
  • SFF donated $6,000 to the American Humanist Association for the printing and distribution of the “Jefferson Bible” to the President and all members of Congress. This was done to educate them on how this key American Founding Father did not believe in the divinity of Jesus, and also to show that the Bible should not be taken as literally true.
  • SFF brought the idea to American Atheists to counter Ten Commandment displays on public land with atheist monuments that reveal the morally repugnant Biblical punishments for violating the Commandments. The first monument was christened (pun intended) in Starke, Florida in June 2013. SFF believes the government should not host religious or atheist monuments; but, we support calling their bluff whenever they promote one specific religion using an open public forum that they assume nobody will use, except their favored sect.
  • SFF gave $5,000 to Camp Quest after they met a matching challenge issued to help raise money after CQ Oklahoma was discriminated against by a restaurant that did not want to honor a verbal contract to provide 10% of proceeds from a fundraising dinner.
  • Todd was the guest for an “Ask an Atheist” session during a philosophy of apologetics class at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
  • Todd hosted the Called 2 Action Christian radio show for an “Ask a Christian” episode. This followed a previous episode where he fielded questions for “Ask an Atheist”.
  • Words Such As Burn, the band Todd was in, gave over $350 to Secular Student Alliance, 100% of the band’s iTunes profits.
  • Todd’s interview with Rebecca Hale (President of American Humanist Association) was featured in The Humanist magazine.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations come to a total of around $44,700 from SFF and $17,935 from Todd.

Donations in 2012:

  • SFF was the largest financial sponsor of both the Reason Rally and Rock Beyond Belief. A total of $250,000 was given to RR, $50,000 of that during 2012. A total of $70,000 was given to RBB, with $20,000 of that given during 2012 to announce and provide 1,000 free meals. The meals were given to soldiers, their families, and other attendees during RBB as a thank you for our freedom.
  • Todd’s speech at the Reason Rally can be seen here.
  • Todd’s speech at Rock Beyond Belief can be seen here.
  • SFF donated $10,000 to Foundation Beyond Belief to support their work in the effort to unite the freethought movement behind raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Todd brought this concept to FBB and is serving as the International Team Captain for the FBB Light The Night team. The project raised over $430,000 (including $215k in matching money from the Stiefel Family) in the fight against cancer. Further, SFF has given $20,000 to FBB to provide incentive award grants to top fundraising local teams.
  • SFF donated $100,000 to support the “We Are AAH” campaign from African Americans for Humanism. SFF brought the concept for this campaign to AAH, and provided strategic and creative guidance.
  • Todd donated $100,000 towards a matching challenge for Protect All NC Families to support the fight against a marriage inequality NC constitutional amendment.
  • Camp Quest was granted $50,000 for hitting SFF’s 2012 CQ matching challenge.
  • SFF donated $58,000 to the Secular Student Alliance to support the growth of the organization.
  • SFF gave a gift of $50,000 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State to support their Voices United for Separation of Church and State concert series.
  • SFF donated $25,000 to Religion News Service to support the second year of its increased coverage of freethinkers. Year one resulted in a total of 41 stories, most of which were picked up by outlets such as The Huffington Post, USA Today and The Washington Post
  • SFF donated $20,000 to American Atheists to support additional educational billboards, including the “Shame on Mormonism” billboard.
  • $10,000 was donated to Black Atheists of America to give science classroom supplies to ten underfunded schools as part of BAAm’s Science Cubed program.
  • SFF donated $10,000 to ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation to support their work against the North Carolina marriage inequality constitutional amendment.
  • Todd wrote a series of “Ask an Atheist” columns answering questions for readers of The Blaze.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations come to a total of around $63,200 from SFF and $14,690 from Todd.

Donations in 2011:

  • SFF has donated $200,000 toward the Reason Rally in Washington, DC. This will be an incredible event for freethinkers in the spring of 2012 and will feature top talent, great speakers and amazing music.
  • SFF donated $50,000 to Religion News Service to bolster its coverage of freethinkers with a series of news, investigations, feature stories and photos.
  • SFF donated $50,000 to support the Rock Beyond Belief secular festival at Ft. Bragg.
  • Todd donated an additional $500,000 to SFF.
  • SFF donated $12,000 to the American Humanist Association for their general fund and to invest in technology for the Humanist Hour podcast.
  • SFF donated $10,000 to the legal fund for Atheists of Florida to assist in their defense against religious-based persecution by their local government.
  • SFF gave $10,000 to Center for Inquiry to help them expand their Living Without Religion advertising campaign. Their campaign promotes the concept that “you don’t need God to hope, to care, to love, to live.”
  • SFF gave $10,000 to Equality NC Foundation to support marriage equality in NC and oppose the religious bigotry that fuels this debate.
  • SFF donated $3,508.73 to Camp Quest as part of a matching challenge gift to spur donations over the last few hours of a blogger fundraising contest.
  • Facilitated the creation of the Triangle Coalition of Reason, a part of the United Coalition of Reason.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations come to a total of around $74,000 from SFF and around $23,400 from Todd directly.

Donations in 2010:

  • SFF gave a total of $257,200 in 2010 including one-time gifts and annual gifts to freethought and church/state separation organizations.
  • SFF gave $150,000 to the American Humanist Association toward the Consider Humanism campaign. SFF brought the idea for the ads to the AHA and assisted in the development of the campaign.
  • Via a $20,000 donation to the American Humanist Association, Todd and his wife helped sponsor the Second Chance Prom for Constance McMillen after she was not allowed to attend her prom with her girlfriend.
  • SFF gave $15,000 to sponsor the ReligionLink source guide on the Freethought Movement. This provides the general public, and thousands of journalists in particular, with an extensive online guide to the Freethought Movement including trends, story ideas, sources, contact information, links to pertinent groups and reference articles.
  • Todd was a panelist on the “Dialogue of Reason: Science and Faith in the Black Community” event at Howard University.
  • Todd gave a $100,000 matching challenge gift to the American Atheists.
  • SFF donated $50,000 to the Secular Student Alliance to help organize and support high school groups for nonreligious teenagers.
  • Todd donated $29,000 to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, including $19,000 to create a matching challenge.
  • SFF gave $4,000 to Atheist Alliance International to help in the construction of the Kilembe Valley Humanist Nursery and Primary School in Uganda.
  • SFF gave $2,500 to fund a portion of the “Reason’s Greetings” Freedom From Religion Foundation billboard in Raleigh, NC. This was in support of the local FFRF chapter, the Triangle Freethought Society.
  • Todd was the liaison between the Triangle Freethought Society and Americans United for Separation of Church and State in an effort to stop un-Constitutional aspects of the Wake County Public School System’s faith-based Adopt-A-School Initiative. Positive outcomes included new provisions put in place by the school system to prohibit proselytizing by volunteers to students, regardless of location, and the removal of a fundamentalist church as the official county training provider for volunteer mentors in the program. The church’s mandatory volunteer training sessions had encouraged mentors to use students to get to their parents and then get the families off school grounds where, according the training, “when they’re in your area, you can do whatever you want in terms of giving them Christ and ministering to the whole family.”
  • Todd’s activism was featured in a front-page article in the Raleigh News & Observer.
  • Todd and SFF gave a number of smaller gifts to the freethought movement. These donations came to a total of around $25,000 from Todd directly and around $36,000 from SFF.

Donations in 2009:

Donations in 2008:

Significant donations outside freethought causes.  These are gifts from Todd, not the foundation: