Partner With AHA

Humanist Chapters are a Humanist community that functions as a third-space for Humanists. The work is local, ongoing and centered on people – relationship-building, educational programming, ritual and celebration, service projects and mutual support. A Chapter is where Humanists go to belong, learn and grow together. Chapters carry the deepest AHA integration, including membership commitments and direct staff support.

Humanist Chapter Requirements

Commitments

To be recognized as an AHA Chapter, a group commits to:

• Adopting and abiding by a code of conduct consistent with AHA’s standards.
• Subscribing to the Humanist Manifesto III as the philosophical foundation of the Chapter.
• Sharing membership rolls with AHA and encouraging AHA membership. 
• Maintaining a leadership structure with documented decision-making and all leadership contact information provided to AHA.
• Reporting annually on programming and membership.
• Committing to Humanist practice: relationship-building, educational programming and at least one form of community-facing service or celebration each year.
• Maintaining a minimum number of AHA national members as established by AHA policy.

What AHA provides to Chapters

• Full access to the Humanist Organizer Resource Center, Program Toolkits, and Tabling Supply Boxes. 
• Listing on the AHA chapter directory so prospective members can find them.
• Access to AHA’s network support meetings & chat channels with other organizers.
• A state-specific Discord for statewide secular collaboration.
• Use of the AHA name and Emerging Chapter mark for local promotion.
• Access to AHA Chapter grant programs & resources.
• 501(c)3 Group Exemption for tax-exempt status
• Access to premium event, email, and fundraising tools at no-cost.
• Leadership for Humanist Nonprofits trainings.
• AHA staff support across Organizing, Policy, and Legal asks. 

A Humanist Emerging Chapter is a community in formation – a group of Humanists working toward Chapter status but not yet meeting all Chapter requirements. The HEC tier is the AHA’s on-ramp for new and reactivating communities. It exists so a small group of organizers can be recognized, resourced and supported by the network from day one, without being held to the full documentation and programming bar.

Humanist Emerging Chapter Requirements

HEC status is granted on a lighter sent of entry commitments, with milestone markers that define the path to full Chapter recognition.

Entry Commitments

• A named organizer or organizing team of at least two people, with contact information on file with AHA.
• Affirmation of the Humanist Manifesto III as the philosophical foundation of the group.
• Agreement to operate under AHA’s code of conduct.
• A stated geographic or community focus (city, region, campus or defined affinity community).
• A brief intent statement describing what the group hopes to build and the kind of Humanist community it wants to be.

Milestones to Full Chapter Status

Emerging Chapters graduate when they have hit each of the following milestones. Milestones can be reached in any order and at any pace. AHA staff confirm progress and formally recognize the transition.

• Membership: a roster of at least 10 Humanists who have opted in to the group, shared with AHA.
• Cadence: at least six gatherings (in-person or hybrid) held within a 9-month window.
• Leadership: a documented leadership structure naming at least two roles (e.g., treasurer and secretary) with a clear decision-making process.
• Programming: at least one community-facing activity — a service project, public discussion, celebration, or partnership — completed and reported on.
• Reporting: submission of a short annual update on programming and membership in the AHA template.
• Code of conduct: adoption of a written code of conduct consistent with AHA’s standards.

What AHA Provides to Humanist Emerging Chapters

• A welcome packet with start-up tools: meeting templates, sample agendas, recruiting language, sample code of conduct.
• A Chapter Engagement Lead assigned to the group, with check-ins at least bi-monthly.
• Listing on the AHA chapter directory so prospective members can find them.
• Access to AHA’s network support meetings & chat channels with other organizers.
• A state-specific Discord for statewide secular collaboration.
• Use of the AHA name and HEC mark for local promotion.
• Access to AHA Chapter grant programs & resources.
• Access to premium event, email and fundraising tools at no-cost.
• Leadership for Humanist Nonprofits trainings.
• AHA staff support across Organizing, Policy and Legal asks. 

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Humanist Affiliates are a Humanist community group that does not meet – or does not wish to take on – the full commitments of a Chapter. This tier exists to honor the reality of organized Humanism: there are Humanist community groups across the country that look and feel like Chapters but are organized differently. Many are dual-chartered with peer national organizations (FFRF, AA, Sunday Assembly, Black Nonbelievers, others). Some are independent community groups that prefer a lighter relationship with AHA. All are doing real Humanist community work, and all deserve recognition.

Affiliates carry a lighter set of commitments than Chapters and a lighter set of benefits, but they are full members of the visible Humanist landscape. 

Humanist Affiliate Requirements:

Affiliates make a smaller set of commitments than Chapters, in exchange for a smaller set of resources. This tier is designed for Humanist community groups that are organized around a different primary affiliation, or that simply want a lighter relationship with AHA.

Commitments

• Identification as a Humanist community group — independently, or alongside another primary affiliation.
• A statement of alignment with the Humanist Manifesto III as a values reference.
• Adoption of a code of conduct consistent with AHA’s standards (the group’s own code of conduct is acceptable if it meets the floor).
• A designated single point of contact for AHA communication.
• A short annual touchpoint: completion of the annual census to update contact information and programming information. 

What AHA provides to Affiliates

• Directory listing on americanhumanist.org.
• Inclusion in AHA-wide Organizer communications and potential discounts (conference, store, resource library).
• Access to peer connection with other Affiliates and Chapters.
• A state-specific Discord for statewide secular collaboration.
• Recognition for the Humanist community work the group is already doing — including alongside a primary affiliation with a peer national organization.
• ActionNetwork & Mobilize event and email tools.

What Affiliates do not take on

• Sharing full membership rolls with AHA, though encouraging AHA membership is requested to support the work we do. 
• Meeting an AHA national membership minimum.
• The deeper programming, reporting, and staff-support relationship reserved for Chapters.

A Humanist Action Partner is an organization putting Humanism into action – doing the right thing because it needs to be done, not because a faith-based movement told them to. Partners may be mutual aid groups, secular homeless shelters, climate justice and harm-reduction collectives, advocacy groups, civic action coalitions and similar progressive cause-driven organizations. They are not primarily focused on building a Humanist community; they are focused on Humanist outcomes. They are made of secular people doing this work outside of a church but they’re not turning people away from serving based on identity or conflicting beliefs.

Partners commit to a public alignment with humanist values via the Partner Affirmation. The relationship is reciprocal: AHA amplifies and resources the Partner’s work; the Partner makes Humanism visible in the world.

Humanist Action Partner Requirements

Partners commit at three levels: a threshold for entry, annual affirmations and an ongoing engagement.

1. Threshold (without these, no partnership)
   • Operates secularly. No religious requirements for leadership, staff, volunteers or recipients of services. 
   • Non-discrimination policy covering at minimum race, gender, sexuality and disability.
   • Mission compatible with Humanist values — human dignity, evidence-based reasoning without supernaturalism, making a difference with this one life, in this world.
   • Identifiable accountability structure. 501(c)(3) status is the simplest version, but fiscally sponsored projects and unincorporated mutual aid networks with documented decision-making are also accepted. The principle: someone is identifiably responsible for the work.
   • Good standing. No active legal or ethical issues that would compromise the organization or AHA.
2. Annual affirmations
   • The Partner Affirmation (below).
   • Confirmation of an active non-discrimination policy.
   • Acknowledgment of AHA’s code of conduct as the floor for any AHA-organized joint activity.
3. Ongoing engagement
   • An annual short check-in: what the Partner did, who they served, how they used (or would like to use) AHA’s amplification.
   • A designated single point of contact / liaison.
   • Opt-in to listing AHA Partner status on the Partner’s own materials, so visibility is reciprocal.

The Partner Affirmation

We are a Humanist organization – whether we have used that word for years or are only just claiming it. We believe this life is the one we have, this world is the only one we’re getting, and human dignity is the standard by which everything else is measured. We do this work because being human together requires it. 

We provide care without conditions and service without judgment. Everyone is welcome to be served, and to serve. Our senior leadership commits to identifying publicly as Humanist in ways that make sense for ourselves and our community, to standing alongside the broader Humanist movement, and to helping build a society where compassion, reason and shared responsibility define public life, without supernaturalism. 

Individual staff, volunteers, and members may hold any beliefs they wish; identifying as a Humanist group does not mean that group dynamics must be restricted to Humanists alone.

What this means – and doesn’t mean

• Group leadership should review the principles of Humanism as expressed in Humanism and Its Aspirations, and agree that the group reflects and champions those values.
• Group leadership should commit to maintaining a safe and welcoming space for Humanists.
• Group leadership should be willing to publicly identify itself as a Humanist group on its website or when engaging with community partners, in a way that makes sense for them. This does not mean the group needs to identify itself as a Humanist group to service recipients.
• The group does not need to promote Humanist identity or practice; a focus on service and an active choice to identify as a Humanist group is sufficient.