In 2023 "AAI" spent ONE THIRD of donor's money on ... what?


by Martin Boers

It is now widely known that the organisation formerly known as Atheist Alliance International (AAI) has been operating illegally since 2021. This week the California Attorney General published a summary of AAI's accounts for 2023. These accounts provide almost no detail of how money was spent by AAIs illegitimate directors, but one thing they do show is that, of $36,779 in total expenses, only $25,191 was spent on "Program Expenses". This means that one third of AAIs expenses in 2023 - over ten thousand dollars - was spent on things that do not advance their supposed charitable purpose.

Given that AAI boasts about their "financial accountability and low overhead costs" it will be interesting to see if AAI will ever tell their members and donors how this enormous amount of money was spent during 2023.

Here are some possibilities for how this money may have been spent:

  • it may have included the taxes, interest, and penalties associated with AAIs failure to submit financial returns to the California Franchise Tax Board since 2013.

  • it may have included payments to one or more external people or organisations, in an attempt to restore the organisation's good standing with the California Secretary of State and Franchise Tax Board, and thereby restore their ability to operate legally.
Apart from how this money was spent, here are some other questions that remain unanswered:
  • If this expenditure during 2023 was an attempt to restore AAI's good standing with the California Secretary of State and Franchise Tax Board, why is their status still "suspended", since 2021? What's taking so long?

  • Since AAI's non-profit status was revoked by the California Franchise Tax Board in 2016, AAI has been liable for (at least) the $800 annual Franchise tax. Why does this not appear as a Liability in AAIs 2023 summary accounts?

  • Since AAI have lost the legal right to use the name "Atheist Alliance International", what is the new name of the organisation?


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