Getting Acquainted
PO BOX 750
Madison WI 53701
(608) 256-5800
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Website: www.ffrf.org
Freethought Hall
FREETHOUGHT HALL in Madison, Wisconsin, which serves as the national offices of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, was purchased in 1990 with the generous gifts of hundreds of members. One of the oldest buildings in downtown Madison, it houses the elegant Blanche Fearn reception room and the handsome Elizabeth Elliott library of more than two thousand freethought books.
The sandstone structure was built as a family home in 1855. Its first known owner was an entrepreneur who had taken part in the California gold rush and later operated business in Wisconsin. Another early owner was a church! The building became a rectory for 20 years in the late 1880s.
In the 1940s the pioneer home was remodeled as a clinic with physicians placing an addition on the front of the building. A series of commercial ventures occupied the building in recent years until its cash purchase by the Foundation.
Organization
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national membership organization with a Board of Directors selected by members and a governing Executive Council selected by the Board of Directors. The Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Non-profit status under the Internal Revue Code, Section 501(c)3, was recognized originally in 1978, with a final tax-exempt determination in 1980. Contributions are deductible under Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code for federal income tax purposes. Bequests, legacies, devises, transfers and gifts to or for the use of the Freedom From Religion Foundation are deductible for federal estate and gift tax purposes under the provisions of Sections 2055, 2106 and 2522 of the Code. The Foundation, a membership group open to the public, has been classified as an organization which is not a private foundation.
The Foundation is funded by membership dues and specific gifts. It holds an annual convention and membership meeting, publishes a monthly newspaper and broadcasts a weekly radio show. Detailed annual financial statements are provided to all members, and the tax-exempt Foundation files an annual 990 Form accounting for its expenditures. (See 4-star Charity Navigator rating, below.) The Foundation engages in publishing books and pamphlets, in producing films and music, in awarding scholarships and in conducting court challenges of violations of the separation between church and state.
Who We Are
The governing Executive Council, elected by the large advisory Board, are volunteers who serve 3-year terms. They are: David Groethe, S.D. (Chair); Patricia Cleveland, Ala. (officer); Joseph and Norma Cunningham, Il. (co-officers); Edward Susterich, Wis. (officer); Phyllis Rose, Wis. (Secretary); James Zerwick, Wis. (Treasurer); and Ted Utchen, Ill. (officer). Only the president, if acting as executive director, may be salaried. Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Wis., (see bios of staff below) are the elected Co-Presidents.
DAN BARKER is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. A former minister and evangelist, Dan became a freethinker in 1983. His books, Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children and Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher To Atheist are published by the Foundation. His newest book, Godless: How An Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists, was published by Ulysses Press in 2008. A graduate of Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Religion, Dan now puts his knowledge of Christianity to effective freethought use. A professional pianist and composer, Dan performs freethought concerts and is featured in the Foundation's musical cassettes, "My Thoughts Are Free," "Reason's Greetings," "Dan Barker Salutes Freethought Then And Now," a 2-CD album "Friendly Neighborhood Atheist," and the CD "Beware of Dogma." He joined the Foundation staff in 1987 and served as public relations director. He was first elected co-president in November 2004. |
ANNIE LAURIE GAYLOR, co-president, was also editor of Freethought Today from 1984 to 2009, when she became executive editor. The paper is published 10 times a year. Her book, Woe To The Women: The Bible Tells Me So, first published in 1981, is now in its 4th printing. In 1988, the Foundation published her book, Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children, the first book documenting widespread sexual abuse by clergy. Her 1997 book, Women Without Superstition: 'No Gods, No Masters'is the first collection of the writings of historic and contemporary women freethinkers. A 1980 graduate of the UW-Madison Journalism School, she was an award-winning student reporter and recipient of the Ken Purdy scholarship. After graduation, she founded, edited and published the Feminist Connection,a monthly advocacy newspaper, from 1980-1985. She joined the Foundation staff in 1985. She has been co-president since 2004. She co-founded the original FFRF with Anne Gaylor (see below) as a college student. |
ANNE NICOL GAYLOR is a founder and president emerita of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. She served as executive director from 1978 to 2005, and is now working as a consultant to the Foundation. Born in rural Wisconsin, she is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She owned and managed successful small businesses and was co-owner and editor of an award-winning suburban weekly newspaper. A feminist author, she has done substantial volunteer work for women's rights (including serving as volunteer director of the Women's Medical Fund). Under her leadership the Freedom From Religion Foundation has grown from its initial three Wisconsin members to a national group with representation in every state and Canada.
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Staff
REBECCA S. KRATZ attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison and received her B.A. in political science, international relations and German in 1998. After graduating from UW–Madison, Rebecca spent one year working as a legislative fellow at the German Parliament in Bonn, Germany. In the fall 1999, she returned to the United States and began working as a legislative correspondent and assistant to the chief of staff for United States Senator Russ Feingold in Washington, D.C. In 2002, she returned to Madison, Wisconsin, to work on Senator Feingold’s 2004 re-election campaign. After the campaign, Rebecca attended Roger Williams University School of Law and received her Juris Doctor in 2008. She joined the Foundation staff in October 2008. Rebecca is the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s first staff attorney and primarily works on Establishment Clause cases. She is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, Dane County Bar Association, and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. JACKIE DOUGLAS is the office manager at the Foundation. She graduated in 2002 from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Human Development and Family Services. Jackie is happily married, owns a home on the east side of Madison, and has a black cat named Lucky. 
BILL DUNN is the editor of Freethought Today. He has a degree in history and mass communications (journalism emphasis) from the University of South Dakota and has worked as a reporter, copy editor and editor in South Dakota and Wisconsin since 1980. Bill joined the Foundation staff in July 2009. He has two daughters, Kaitlin Marie and Jamie Lee. 
SCOTT COLSON, webmaster and assistant editor, is a 2007 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who majored in philosophy. Scott joined the Foundation staff in May 2008. 
KATIE DANIEL is the executive assistant at the Foundation. She was born in California and raised in Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Missouri. She moved to Madison in 2005 to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated in 2009 with a degree in Women's Studies and a certificate in LGBT Studies. Katie enjoys politics, food, and cats (separately of course). 
BONNIE GUTSCH is an executive assistant at the Foundation. In 2007, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a B.S. in Social Change and Development, with an emphasis in American Studies and a History minor. In 2008, she graduated with a master's degree in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science where she earned Distinction on her dissertation. Before joining FFRF, Bonnie interned in Wisconsin's Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Barbara Lawton, in Madison, WI. Bonnie enjoys writing, movies, politics, sociology, feminism, history and reading (in that order).
The Foundation’s small, efficient, busy staff (8 permanent full time employees) also includes clerical support and part-time students. Volunteers additionally provide substantial and much appreciated support, and the Foundation works with student interns. Year In Review
Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator, helps givers make intelligent decisions by providing in-depth ratings and analysis of the financial health of America's largest charities. Charity Navigator awarded the Freedom From Religion Foundation four out of a possible four stars: "FFRF has demonstrated exceptional financial health, outperforming most of its peers in managing its finances in the most fiscally responsible way possible." Read letter from Charity Navigator.
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