User:Johnbod/Friends of organization

A "Friends of" organization exhibits in its name the formula "Friends of ...", conventionally denoting a membership organization, support group, or community group dedicated to the support, promotion or protection of a particular thing such as a site, building, organization, or to a more general but specialized concept. The organization may provide support through fund-raising, campaigning, improvement, maintenance or raising awareness. The official name may or may not include the words "Friends of...".

Often these groups protect civic institutions such as museums, orchestras, public theaters, libraries, government bodies such as a public bus system or a natural feature such as a park, forest, or other natural feature, or a have a wider scope. Political action committees in the United States frequently use this form of name.

"Friends of" organizations are often founded to support other charitable bodies that may not be founded in the same country and may have independent tax status as a charity under local tax law and thereby benefit from local tax exceptions.

The World Federation of Friends of Museums, founded in 1975, "is an international nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that unites and supports all Friends of museums around the world"; its member organizations come from 30 countries and include 18 national federations.

History
In the 17th century groups calling themselves the "Friends of Truth" or "Friends of the Truth" gave rise to what (eventually) became Quakerism. (Modern Quakers may use the term "Friends organization" to denote an organization affiliated with the Society of Friends. )

The era of liberalization and revolution in Europe in the late 18th century saw the formation of political fraternal "Friends of" organizations such as (for example):


 * the Society of the Friends of the Blacks (Société des amis des Noirs or Amis des noirs, 1788) - abolitionists in France
 * the Society of the Friends of the Constitution (Société des amis de la Constitution, 1789) in France; popularly known as the Jacobins
 * the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Société des Amis des droits de l'homme et du citoyen, 1790); popularly known as the Cordeliers
 * the Society of the Friends of the People (1792 )in Great Britain
 * the district of the Friends of the Motherland (Section des Amis-de-la-Patrie, September 1792), a political district in Paris

The Francophone tradition of political parties known as "Friends" (Amis) continued with Ferhat Abbas's movement, the Friends of the Manifesto and of Liberty (Amis du manifeste et de la liberté) in Algeria in 1944.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) highlights the use of "Friends" in the context of institutional support with a definition of "friend" as "[o]ne who wishes (another, a cause, etc.) well; a sympathizer, favorer, helper, patron, or supporter; spec. a supporter of an institution or the like, contributing help, money, etc. Const. of, to. Usu. in pl. The OED gives examples from the 1920s on: "Friends of the Bodleian" (1926), "The Friends of Canterbury Cathedral" (1927), "Friends of the Tate Gallery" (1963), "The Friends of Bristol cathedral" (1963), and "The Friends of the Lake District" (1971).

"Friends" organizations and libraries
An organization, ALTAFF (Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations) provides resources for those interested in starting a "Friends of the Library" group for their library, including bookmarks, posters, factsheets, and public service announcements. Statewide Friends of the Library groups exist in many parts of the US. ALTAFF was founded in 2009, when Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) joined with Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA) to form a single organization that would function as an expanded division of the American Library Association.

"Friends" organizations and museums
Museology recognizes the function of its own fraternal interest-groups, "the people interested in cultural and social programmes, known as the "Friends of the Museum".

Friends organizations as a way of donating to foreign charities
According to the American Council on Foundations, "The term "Friends of" derives from the fact that the names of so many organizations that support foreign charities begin with these two words." These organizations are almost always US nonprofits, either public charities or private foundations. The Council goes on to state that "A "Friends of" organization generally exists to provide federal tax deductibility for charitable contributions to support a foreign charity by breaking a "conduit" flow of funds to the foreign charity." These organizations may have very specific legal responsibilities.

Examples

 * Friends of the Earth, a multinational environmental group
 * The British Museum Friends support the British Museum, as do the American Friends of the British Museum
 * Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
 * Friends of Friendless Churches redundant historic churches in England and Wales
 * Friends of Five Creeks to promote the stewardship of creeks around the Berkeley and Richmond, California area.
 * Friends of Dard Hunter, dedicated to continuing the book arts tradition of Dard Hunter
 * Friends of Nature
 * Friends of Lulu, to promote female interests in the comic book industry
 * Amigos de las Américas (Friends of the Americas), a Texas-based volunteering and development organization operating in Latin America
 * Circle of Friends of the Economy - an example of what the German-language calls a Freundeskreis (literally a "circle of friends") organization
 * The Bruno Groening Circle of Friends, a faith-healing group