"We are clearly doing something right," said August E. Brunsman IV, executive director of the Secular Student Alliance. "Only two years ago we were working out of coffee shops and computer labs. Now we've got office space and we're about to hire our sixth employee."

Students are increasingly rejecting the religion of their childhood. A 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that the number of Americans ages 18-25 who identify with no religion had doubled since the late 1980s: from one in ten to one in five. The Secular Student Alliance currently has over 100 affiliate groups, run by students at schools all over the world. The number of SSA affiliate groups has more than doubled since 2006.

"These campus groups help bring speakers like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins to their campuses," said director Brunsman. "In addition to these big speakers, these groups create a day-to-day community for students who do not find religion compelling. The groups run service projects, have social meetings, publish newsletters, run informational tables, and educate their campus communities about what atheists, agnostics, and humanists believe and value."

The Secular Student Alliance has three staff working out of its headquarters in Albany, NY and regional campus organizers in New York City and southern California. The alliance is currently hiring for a recently funded campus organizer position in northern California.

The staff of the Secular Student Alliance work with campus groups to help them run better events, create a sense of community, and provide opportunities for student leaders to connect with each other and the larger secular community. The alliance also helps students start groups on campuses that lack alternatives for nonreligious students. Students interested in starting a group on their campus should request a free group starting packet from the SSA's website: www.secularstudents.org.

Earlier this year, the Institute for Humanist Studies awarded a $40,000 grant to the Secular Student Alliance, bringing its total support to $227,000 in six years. The Institute has given out more than $1 million to humanist causes since it began the IHS Grant Fund in 2000.

In addition to support from the Institute and the Secular Student Alliance's growing base of members, the alliance has received gifts and pledges from other foundations totalling over $94,000 in the last eighteen months. Matt Cherry, executive director of the Institute, thinks the support for the alliance from the Institute for Humanist Studies has served as a catalyst for more support.

"It's wonderful to see other organizations stepping up to the plate and funding the Secular Student Alliance," said Cherry. "I hope more will follow. Based on our experience, you'll never get more bang for your buck."

While the Secular Student Alliance has grown rapidly in the last year years, it is still playing David to the likes of Goliath Campus Crusade for Christ which has an annual budget of over $400 million. "We're a minority for sure," said August E. Brunsman IV, "but I'm proud that we can help create communities where students are free to express their doubts."