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Dobson Pleads For More Money! |
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| Focus makes
special appeal for cash Colorado Springs Gazette, 11/30/00 By Eric Gorski; The Gazette Faced with four months of lean donations, Focus on the Family has put a handful of "vital" programs on hold and asked supporters to step up donations to revive them. In an unusual move, Focus President James Dobson appealed for more
money in a November letter to 2.4 million supporters. The ministry says it
doesn't know The programs in limbo include a more interactive Web site, an abstinence education initiative, a video on parenting and an Arabic translation of publications, said Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy at Focus on the Family. Those programs, all of which are new or growing, will either be scaled down or eliminated if the deficit isn't made up by Jan. 15, Minnery said. The Web project, for example, likely would move forward at a slower pace, but the Arabic translation would not be done. Dobson in his letter called the programs vital. "Whatever God chooses to do with this place, we'll do," Minnery said. "But there's not an undue concern here. When we've been down in the past, people have said, 'Let us know.' So we've done that." Like many Christian nonprofits, Focus on the Family relies entirely on donations to meet its $135 million budget. The ministry's income was $30.8 million June through September, shy of its $31.3 million projection, Minnery said. The ministry received $31.6 million during that same period a year ago, he said. This year's deficit may not seem large, but it's a concern because the group runs on only two to four weeks of cash reserves, Minnery said. The ministry takes the approach out of a "dependency on God that he's going to provide for us," and takes shortfalls as a sign it should re-examine things, said Focus spokesman Paul Hetrick. Pleas such as Dobson's aren't unusual for Christian ministries, said Paul Nelson, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, which accredits Christian groups that meet its financial standards. The key is to avoid sounding shrill or making requests too often. "An appeal of the type James Dobson gave will produce a
significant response because he has built such a loyal following and
doesn't do it often. He's not Most Focus donations are small. Take away a few large donations, and the average gift is $30.50, Minnery said. Dobson's plea comes at the most important time of year for charities.
By one estimate, charities get up to 40 percent of their donations in the
year's Why Focus suffered the decline isn't clear. Nelson said he hasn't heard about similar problems at Christian ministries. Hetrick said other Christian organizations have experienced a "flattening out" in donations and are being more explicit about their needs during fund-raising pitches. The dip happened before two incidents potentially damaging to fund
raising: Mike Trout, a senior vice president and radio co-host, resigned
in October after - Edited by Jim Borden; Headline by Connie Becchio Short term The deficit might not seem big, but Focus on the Paper: The Gazette This month, his words are more urgent. Dobson's May letter to 2.4 million households outlines in detail how
donations have slipped to the point the Colorado Springs-based ministry
finds itself at In an interview last week with The Gazette, Dobson said Focus on the Family, which relies entirely on donations to run, is $2 million below budget so far this year. The media and broadcast ministry's 2001 budget is $129 million This marks the second time in seven months Dobson has made a
fund-raising plea. By the end of January, after his first request, Focus
said donors had wiped That turned out to be a temporary fix. Now, Focus on the Family is
trying to find a long-term solution at a time when it wants to expand its
mission worldwide "If what we're seeing now continues, we will do less of what we
planned to do," Dobson said. "As of right now, we're OK. But
we're definitely bringing Focus says it doesn't know exactly why donations are down, though
Dobson said he thinks the sluggish economy and increased use of the Focus
Web site are Many Christian groups are in similar financial crises, prompting
emergency fund-raising pleas and at least one case of layoffs. Others,
including one Unlike many nonprofit organizations, Focus on the Family has no reserve fund for down times. The ministry also avoids taking on debt. Dobson said it's all part of a philosophy: "If the money doesn't come," he said, "we simply do less." That comes with risk. Dobson said Focus was down to three days worth of operating money at its lowest point in December. Tom Mason, a Focus executive vice president, said the situation isn't as grave now because the 1,300-employee ministry has cut expenses. The fact that it's been unable to fill 100 open positions - most of them lower paid, entry-level jobs - has helped, he said. Most of Focus' donations come from people who contact the ministry for a book, tape or advice. The average gift is about $30, the ministry says. In his May letter, Dobson writes that Focus began seeing its letters and phone calls decrease by about 10 percent beginning in early 2000. At the same time, visits to Focus Web sites went up, with about 40,000 people a day logging in, Dobson said. A ministry official said visits to the main site, www.family.org, increased 50 to 70 percent this year. Dobson said people who turn to the Web site for help are less likely to donate. Mason said the ministry hasn't done research to confirm the belief. He said the theory is based on anecdotal information and general research on giving and the Net. Early next year, Focus on the Family plans to launch a new, more interactive Web site that will ask people for donations in return for getting help on family problems. Dobson insisted in an interview that the dip in giving had "zero" connection to two well-publicized stories involving Focus on the Family employees last year. Mike Trout, a senior vice president and Dobson's radio co-host, resigned in October after admitting to an extramarital relationship. John Paulk, a self-described ex-gay, kept his job but took a lower profile after he was spotted at a gay bar in September and later admitted lying about it. Dobson said he'd gotten positive responses to how Focus handled both situations. Dan Busby, a vice president with the Evangelical Council for Fiscal Accountability, said it's too early to say whether Focus' challenges are part of a larger trend because ministries won't be filing up-to-date financial reports until summer. The council accredits Christian groups that meet its financial standards. Several groups, however, have sounded alarms: The Pat Robertson-founded Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia said in March it would lay off 50 employees, or 5 percent of its work force, and trim $7 million in costs in response to the economic downturn. FamilyLife Today, an Arkansas-based radio ministry, called for more donations after a major donor withdrew a $2.5 million pledge because his high-tech stocks crashed. Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries in the Washington, D.C.,
area issued a "special needs appeal" because donations are about
$3 million short Not all Christian groups are suffering, though. Donations to the Minneapolis-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association are right on target this year, spokeswoman Kristel Bosshardt said. The ministry is similar to Focus on the Family in budget size and average donation. And, like Focus, it's headed by a charismatic leader. Dobson declined to discuss possible cuts in Focus programs, saying donors might perceive it as a threat. His May letter, in fact, takes the opposite approach. As a challenge of
sorts, Dobson relates how a visit by the author of a popular Christian
self-help book He explains how Focus executives have been assigned to come up with plans to better reach minority families and young families that don't know about the ministry. Then, he writes, financial support must be re-established for the ministry to fulfill those goals and others. "It's a one-time letter," Dobson said. "I've never done
it before and I don't intend to do it again." - Eric Gorski covers religion and nonprofit groups
It apparently wasn't necessary. By the end of January, the Colorado Springs-based ministry said it was in the black again, thanks to end-of-the-year checks that flooded in. On Friday, ministry vice president Paul Hetrick revealed the full extent of Focus' end-of-2000 financial problems. He said the ministry was $2.5 million in the hole at one point in December, part of a six-month downward trend. This was not the small seasonal downturn of years past. This was, in Hetrick's words, a "more serious matter." Why Focus suffered the decline isn't clear. Nationally, charities did
extremely well in 2000, though some reported that queasiness about the
economy and the Regardless, Dobson again demonstrated he has the power to turn his organization's fortune with a few words. In addition to his written plea, he also made his fund-raising pitch on his syndicated radio show. The ministry, which relies entirely on donations to meet its $135 million budget, got a hint of possible problems during the summer, Hetrick said. From June through September, it brought in $500,000 less than expected. Dobson's letter went out in November. He told supporters that "vital" programs would be shelved if the deficit wasn't made up. The programs included a new Web site, an abstinence education initiative and a parenting video. Ministry officials didn't say it in interviews at the time, but according to Hetrick they thought the $500,000 deficit was a sign that things could get worse. Hetrick said that's why Dobson made the unusual fund-raising plea. Things did get worse. During the next three months, Focus said it fell another $2 million behind budget. Hetrick said the ministry has suffered similar downturns several other times during his 18 years there. Much of the latest decline took place after two unflattering news stories: Mike Trout, a senior vice president and Dobson's radio co-host, resigned in October after admitting to an extramarital relationship. John Paulk, a self-described ex-gay, kept his job but took a lower profile after he was caught at a gay bar in September and lied about it. Dobson said in October he didn't foresee any negative consequences from the Paulk and Trout stories, saying, "we're going to be all right." Hetrick acknowledged that the stories may have played a role in the decline, but said there is no way to know. Nationally, charitable giving was up in 2000. By one government
estimate, Americans gave more than $200 billion, up from $190 billion in
1999, the fifth Some charities that are heavily dependent on stock gifts reported slowing at the end of the year. But charities such as Focus on the Family, which rely on small
individual gifts, generally aren't hurt at the start of an economic
downturn, said Pat Read, Another local Christian nonprofit, the Navigators, didn't suffer like Focus did. In fact, donations to the $80 million group exceeded expectations during the last six months of 2000, said senior vice president Lauren Libby. Still, some Christian nonprofits reported a downturn at the end of the year, when the majority of charitable gifts are made, said Paul Nelson, president of the Evangelical Council for Fiscal Accountability in Washington, D.C. Nelson said that in general Christian nonprofits fare better than
secular ones during bad economic times because "there is more a
giving of the heart, and therefore a tendency more to sacrifice." - Eric Gorski covers religion and nonprofit groups
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