November 27, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Citing a decline in donations caused by the slowing economy, Focus on the Family, the Christian advocacy charity in Colorado Springs, has eliminated 202 staff positions — 149 of them filled, 53 that were already vacant.
“The pocketbooks of all types of donors, from small donors to larger donors, are being affected by the economic downturn,” says Gary Schneeberger, the charity’s vice president of media relations.
Mr. Schneeberger says that although the charity raised $146-million for the fiscal year that ended in September, the figure was $5-million below fund-raising projections. Donations for the month of October were down about $2-million over that same period last year.
Focus on the Family ranked number No. 158 on this year’s Philanthropy 400, The Chronicle’s ranking of the charities that raise the most money from private sources.
Avoiding Worse Trouble
Mr. Schneeberger says the cuts were made now, early in the fiscal year, to avoid “more drastic decisions in two or three months.” He anticipated very little change in the charity’s ability to deliver services, outside of a number of print publications that will now be available only online.
“We advise families on their marriages and raising children, and defend the family in the culture and government, and will continue to do those things as committed as ever,” Mr. Schneeberger says.
Focus on the Family has drawn criticism in the past over its perceived political activity. Last year, the Internal Revenue Service ruled that the charity could keep its tax-exempt status following an audit sparked by complaints from charity watchdog groups that its chairman, James Dobson, had endorsed political candidates during a charity radio broadcast.
This year, the charity gave nearly $600,000 in support of Proposition 8, a California ballot measure approved by voters that outlawed gay marriage in the state.
Some critics have said that spending is the reason for the staff cuts, but Mr. Schneeberger accuses those who might want to make that connection of “besmirching” his charity’s work.
