Only one has a legal right to the name, though

Aug 02, 2024

Two organizations calling themselves Atheist Alliance International now have dueling websites with similar URLs, both implying they’re the rightful organization.

(Follow above article link to view original article with photos/PDFs.)

If the group’s name isn’t familiar to you, here’s what you should know: It formed in 1991 out of frustration with how Madalyn Murray O’Hair was running American Atheists. It soon became one of the larger atheist organizations in the world. They have nearly 200,000 fans on Facebook and “Special Consultative status” with the United Nations. They also support a “humanist school” in Uganda that promotes critical thinking and science, and they assist people accused of blasphemy. You can see their most recent year-in-review here.

A lot of the work they do tends to be under the radar and, because of that, they don’t usually make headlines… except for a period of months a few years ago when they hired an alleged sexual predator to run the organization… only to have him resign months later. That guy was replaced with another right-wing edgelord who was suspended after using slurs against his critics, myself included, and who soon resigned as well. Good times.

Still, the organization has a long history and they’ve done a lot of good work. Considering the very real threats against atheists in certain parts of the world, it’s important to have organizations that are less focused on politics/lawsuits in order to help atheists in a much broader way.

Anyway, the group’s website is AtheistAlliance.org. They’re based in Scotts Valley, California. Their non-profit Employer Identification Number number is 45-2944213. (I say that to help you keep the details straight because things soon got very weird.)

In 2023, because the group had failed to “submit required annual filings” with the state of California, its charitable status was revoked retroactive to the previous year. A month later, the group asked to be reinstated (and paid the penalties), and they were, albeit on a provisional basis through 2026.

Earlier this year, however, they were once again in danger of losing their status because they didn’t pay their registration fees. Just a whole bunch of rookie mistakes. California’s Franchise Tax Board now says the group is not in good standing and not tax-exempt. That’s a disaster for any non-profit.

If you’re suspended, the Secretary of State’s website says you can’t “legally do business,” retain your tax-exempt status, or “maintain the right to use your business name.”

That created an opening for another group to take it over—and use the name. It turned out they had even more justification than a failure to complete paperwork to go after them.

According to Atheist-Alliance.org (it has a dash!), the original group wasn’t following its by-laws and improperly gave power to a handful of directors while excluding some member organizations.

So in 2023, a group of people “who were not associated with the suspended organization” formed their own organization using the same name—or, as they might put it, took control over their own organization which was being led astray by bad actors.

This new organization adopted the last set of legitimate bylaws as the governing rules of the organization. In 2024, after completing all the required registrations, AAI was returned to the legitimate members. This was the second reconstitution of the organization, after which Atheist Alliance International was restored to the 2011 vision of an international democratic alliance, supporting atheist advocacy projects around the world. 

Incredibly, because the original organization had failed to fill out the proper paperwork, they could no longer call dibs on the name. So the new group took it back.

The new organization, which is a tax-exempt non-profit in good standing under California law, is now based in Sacramento. This one has a federal Employer Identification Number of 32-0771515. As of this writing, the California Registry of Charities and Fundraisers does not list the group as registered, but that’s only due to a delay in pending registration.

So here’s where we’re at: Both groups now use the same logo and have similar missions, but only one (the newer one) has a legal claim to the name.

Both groups currently direct visitors to the same Facebook page (@AtheistAllianceInternational) run by the older organization, but they send people to different X/Twitter accounts (@atheistalliance for the original, @atheistorg for the newer one).

Once the newer group’s registration is completed and a meeting is held, donations to AAI could only go to them. The newer group says it’ll start opening up membership after an upcoming meeting if that’s what the member groups want. If anyone has questions, they’re told to check out the “legitimate” by-laws. In response to a proposed online gathering to discuss the “Organized Atheist Movement,” the group posted that “We will be happy to participate as the only group legally permitted to use the name Atheist Alliance International.”

What does that mean for the “older” organization? Technically speaking, if they want to keep existing in a few months and take donations, they will have to change their name and begin from scratch… or find a way to make amends with the people who know how to fill out the paperwork.

The newer organization did not want to speak with me on the record. The older organization did not respond to my request for comment.

(Update: The newer group’s website was down when I checked late last night. There’s no public explanation yet for why that happened but the archived version is here.)