FHQ Structure

The Foundation specializes in the collection and management of funds in order to finance non-profit organizations whose activities contribute directly or indirectly to the development of critical thinking and to the diffusion of Humanist values in Quebec.

The Foundation does not interfere in the operation of the organizations whose efforts it supports but it does take into account their performance when deciding on the distribution of the subsidies granted each year in order to ensure optimal utilization of available funds.

The structure and operating procedures described below, above all try to satisfy all the donor's preferences and particularly those who leave legacies on which the Foundation is counting to realize its "Humanist Centre" project.

Composition

1.0) MEMBERS

1.1) The Foundation includes active and anonymous members and it honours the memory of its deceased members.

1.2) Active members, gathered in the annual general meeting , elect the board of directors and authorize the budget as well as the action plan of the Foundation.

1.3) Members have the right to a number of votes proportional to the cumulative amount of their financial contributions.

2.0) BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2.1) The business of the Foundation is managed by a board of directors consisting of three members elected annually by the general assembly of active members.

2.2) The board of directors presently comprises:
Bernard Cloutier - president
Gerald Blanchard - secretary
Sarto Blouin - treasurer
Normand Baillargeon - director
Christian Blouin - director
Pierre Cloutier - director
Michel Virard - director

3.0) ADVISORY COMMITTEE

3.1) The Foundation also includes an advisory committee composed of experienced advisers recognized for their considerable contribution to critical thinking and Humanist values.

3.2) These eminent advisers are elected for life by the general assembly of active members on the recommendation of the Board of Directors.

3.3) Our eminent adcvisors are:
Cyrille Barrette
Mario Bunge
Jacques Hébert
Henry Morgentaler
André Payette et
Rodrigue Tremblay

4.0) SPECIAL COMMITTEES

4.1) The Board of Directors can from time to time create committees of volunteers who wish to contribute to the pursuit of the Foundation's goals without having to become members.

4.2) The Board of Directors may organize committees to advise and assist it in areas such as:
- the promotion of the Foundation in order to collect donations and legacies,
- the acquisition of expertise in the area of investments so as to ensure the efficient management of the Foundation's funds,
- the identification and evaluation of all Quebec organizations capable of sharing the Foundation's goals and of qualifying as Foundation recipients,
- the planning and realization of the building project to house a Humanist Centre of critical thinking in Montréal,
- the identification of existing educational projects or their creation in a context which would allow the Foundation to subsidize. (For example, a course on critical thinking at UQAM),
- the study of humanist ethics with respect to progress in human biotechnology.

Internal Operations

5.0) TRANSPARENCY AND CONTROL OF THE ORIENTATION BY MEMBERS

5.1) All donors of one hundred dollars and more, are members of the Foundation. Members have the right to attend and to vote at general assemblies and special assemblies. They have access at all times to the Foundation's books via the internet. This arrangement guarantees the greatest transparency and allows every member to view details of all the Foundation's operations.

5.2) The Foundation's strategic orientations and budgets are submitted for approval to the annual assembly of members that has the additional responsibility to elect the board of directors entrusted with carrying out these decisions. Voting rights at the annual general, and special assemblies are granted proportionally to the donor's respective contributions, each one hundred dollars giving the right to one vote. These arrangements guarantee the donors' power to intervene to ensure that their contributions are used for purposes that meet their approval. Prorating votes according to donations ensures that control remains in the hands of those who have contributed most and protects the organization from possible infiltration attempts by third parties wishing to modify its trajectory.

5.3) The Foundation has planned a category of anonymous donors for the benefit of those who wish to contribute to the development of critical thinking without their support of a humanist, secular organization being publicly known. Donors wishing to remain anonymous cannot exercise voting rights but the amount of their contributions will be registered in the Foundation's records under a code number, preserving their voting rights should they choose to abandon anonymity. An anonymous donor can also entrust a rescindable mandate of voting rights to an active member of his choice.

5.4) The Foundation particularly honours the donors who leave legacies with public recognition of the amounts donated. A donor by legacy may mandate one or more foundation members to exercise the voting rights resulting from his legacy. This arrangement allows the donor by legacy to vicariously express his wishes after their death, through survivors they trust.

5.5) At all times, members have Internet access to the list of all present and past donors, showing the cumulative value of their respective contributions. This list also indicates the number of voting rights each member can use, either due to his own contributions or to mandates received from anonymous members or from donors who left legacies

5.6) The adoption of governing principles which the administrators must respect gives the Foundation's orientation additional protection against any infiltration.

6.0) PERMANENCE AND VISIBLE STABILITY

The goals of promoting critical thinking and spreading Humanist values in our society are permanent long term goals, just like those of religious groups preaching their own beliefs and values. The Humanist Foundation can learn from the experience of religious organizations to establish stable and visible bases for a long-term action.

6.1) The Foundation should, as much as possible, ensure it's permanence by using only the revenues from its accumulated funds until such time that its bases are well established in our society. This will assure donors, and in particular donors of legacies, that their contribution to the development of critical thinking will have a worth while, lasting effect .

6.2) The goal of grouping together all those in favour of critical thought and humanist values in a single location, a "Humanist Centre for Critical Thinking", answers to the concern for long term stability and visibility.

7.0) SYNERGY

7.1) The concept of a common instrument for raising funds to support the action of several groups pursuing converging objectives offers considerable advantages compared to the individual financing of these beneficiary groups.

7.2) The general objective to promote critical thinking and to spread humanist values is likely to reach a larger number of donors than the various beneficiary groups would by soliciting independently, each according to their own method and specificity. (Centraide is a striking example of this synergetic phenomenon.).

7.3) The distribution of subsidies to several groups offers donors the assurance that the Foundation has the flexibility it needs to take into consideration the relative efficiency of the various beneficiaries including those which might be created in the future.

For donors of legacies, this flexibility , the permanence of the Foundation and the arrangements relative to the control its orientation can be determinants in the decision to grant an important part of their heritage for the promotion of critical thinking and humanist values.