Secular Rescue provided assistance for 53 atheists.
TIES certified teachers in 46 states.
CSICon had a record-breaking 650 attendees.
Last year was another banner year for the Center for Inquiry. We worked our secular magic in a vast variety of ways: from saving lives of secular activists around the world who are threatened with violence and persecution to taking the nation’s largest drugstore chain, CVS, to court for marketing homeopathic snake oil as if it’s real medicine.
CFI stands up for reason and science in a way no other organization in the country does, because we promote secular and humanist values as well as scientific skepticism and critical thinking.
But you likely already know that if you are reading this report, as it is designed with our supporters in mind. We want you not only to be informed about where your investment is going; we want you to take pride in what we have achieved together.
When I meet people who are not familiar with CFI, they often ask what it is we do. Our name doesn’t give away a lot of clues. So, this is the 20-second elevator pitch I give, “Through education, litigation, and advocacy, the Center for Inquiry promotes the separation of church and state, the rights of the nonreligious here and abroad, and the end to pseudoscience wherever it arises.”
The longer version of what that means is laid out in this report. Here you will find a compendium of the organization’s incredible work. Take a look at this graphic representation of our work and you’ll see just how broad and varied we are.
CFI keeps the history of the freethought movement alive even as we are making history anew with strategic lawsuits and focused advocacy. We operate at the United Nations, on Capitol Hill, in state houses across the country, in the courts, in classrooms, and in the community, representing the interests of people who embrace reason, science, and humanism–the principles of the Enlightenment.
It is no secret that these powerful ideas like no others have advanced humankind by unlocking human potential, promoting goodness, and exposing the true nature of reality. If you are looking for humanity’s true salvation, look no further.
This past year we sought to export those ideas to places where they have yet to penetrate. The Translations Project has taken the influential evolutionary biology and atheism books of Richard Dawkins and translated them into four languages dominant in the Muslim world: Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian, and Farsi. They are available for free download on a special website. It is just one of many such projects aimed at educating people so they can break free of the stultifying effects of dogma and superstition.
But it is you who make all this work possible. Every CFI member, every supporter, every subscriber to one of our flagship magazines, Free Inquiry and Skeptical Inquirer, makes CFI what it is: a powerhouse for reason and science.
We literally could not do it without you. Thank you so very much.
With warm personal regards,
Robyn E. Blumner
CFI saved the lives of threatened nonbelievers abroad and advocated civil equality for atheists and the nonreligious at home.
CFI Websites 2018 Total Pageviews
325,000 Average Monthly Pageviews
RDFRS Website 2018 Total Pageviews
217,500 Average Monthly Pageviews
Total Organization Pageviews in 2018
CFI took on the purveyors of dangerous fake medicine, anti-vaxxers, witchcraft, and conspiracy theories.
CFI Youtube Subscribers
CFI & Skeptical Inquirer Twitter Followers
CFI & Skeptical Inquirer Facebook Likes
RDFRS Youtube Subscribers
RDFRS Twitter Followers
RDFRS Facebook Likes
Through lobbying, litigation, and education, CFI led the resistance against religious privilege in public policy.
People assisted by Secular Rescue
Secular Rescue Cases
Bills lobbied
Action Alerts Sent
Meetings with Lawmakers and Federal Officials
CFI promoted reason, science, and critical thinking with major events, face-to-face training, and a trove of free resources.
TIES workshops
TIES webinars
TIES states (all time)
CSICon attendees
Total Events held by CFI Branches
CFI tapped into the talents of the secular and skeptic movements like never before.
David Cowan: Venture capitalist
Richard Dawkins: Evolutionary biologist
Brian Engler: Operations research analyst, nonprofit executive
Kendrick Frazier: Editor, Skeptical Inquirer
Barry Kosmin: Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
Y. Sherry Sheng: Nonprofit executive, educator
Eddie Tabash (Chair, Board of Directors): Attorney, activist
Andy Thomson (Vice Chair, Board of Directors): Psychiatrist
Leonard Tramiel: Physicist, educator
When you give to the Center for Inquiry and its programs, you want your donation to be stewarded with care and attention to the mission. That’s why we report our revenue and expense ratios here. In addition, our Form 990 is available on our website.
In 2018, we generated $5,402,763 in revenues. Seventy-six percent came from individual donors, and the balance came from magazine sales, events, and similar earned income. CFI receives no government funding and very limited corporate support.
We are keenly aware of the responsibility we have to our donors when it comes to expenditures. This commitment is reflected in our expense breakdown:
These figures do not include bequests or support for the CFI Development Fund. Please note that these are not final, audited figures. We save costs by having our audit done later in the year. If you would like to see final, audited figures, please contact the Development Department at development@centerforinquiry.org in August.
* denotes member of CSI Executive Council
None of our work would be possible without the steadfast support of our donors and subscribers. We are very grateful for their generosity.
There has never been a greater need for an organization like the Center for Inquiry, championing facts, reason, truth, science, and secularism, all at a time that they are all under threat by the changing tides of national and global events. Everyone who shares these core values will be needed. CFI needs you to be part of the solution, to join the good guys.