Foundation Beyond Belief is a new non-profit charitable and educational foundation created (1) to focus, encourage and demonstrate humanistic generosity, and (2) to provide a comprehensive education and support program for humanist parents.

The Foundation will highlight ten charitable organizations per quarter--one in each of ten categories. Members join the Foundation by signing up for a monthly automatic donation in the amount of their choice, then set up personal profiles to indicate how they would like their contribution distributed among the ten categories. Maybe you'd like to give 25 percent each to human rights, poverty, education, and the environment. We'll distribute it accordingly. By year's end, you will have helped support a dozen organizations in the areas you care most about.

The centerpiece of the Foundation will be a lively online community. Active members can join a social network and discussion forums centered on the ten categories of giving, upload videos, recruit new members, advocate for causes and help us choose the new beneficiaries each quarter. We'll also create and host a multi-author blog of world-class contributors focused on the cause areas, as well as humanism, philanthropy, and the intersection of the two. Carefully selected for impact and efficiency, the beneficiaries may be founded on any worldview so long as they do not engage in direct promotion or proselytizing of that worldview. At the end of each quarter, 100 percent of the donations will be forwarded and a new slate of beneficiaries selected.

On the educational side, the Foundation will build the next stage in nontheistic parent education: a nationwide training program for parenting community leaders. We plan to have 30-40 people facilitating communities of nontheistic parents in cities across the country within a year.

The Foundation will launch in two stages. On October 1 we unveiled the pre-launch website, where members can begin setting up basic profiles, making donations, following our blog, and learning about the Foundation and our beneficiaries. On January 1, 2010, we will launch the full site, including the ten featured causes, all profile options, social networking, and the means for members to select and change their preferred distributions.

We're making no little plans here, and there's the potential to do something pretty earthshaking. But this is a community thing, or it's nothing. We'll need your help.