Via Gazette.com:
Because of a weak economy and cash-strapped donors, Focus on the Family said it is eliminating 202 jobs, the deepest cuts in the 32-year history of the Colorado Springs-based Christian nonprofit. The ministry laid off 149 workers, and cut another 53 vacant positions.
The cuts announced Monday slash Focus’ local workforce by nearly 18 percent – from about 1,150 to 950. Twenty percent of the cuts are in management.
The layoffs come just weeks after Focus announced it was outsourcing 46 jobs from its distribution department. Focus also laid off 30 workers and reassigned 15 more in September 2007.
The organization also cut its the budget from $160 million in fiscal 2008 to $138 million for fiscal 2009 in anticipation of tough times.
The reason for the layoffs and budget revisions Donations are down, and Focus relies almost entirely on the charity of others. …
Donations began to decline in October, which starts Focus’ new fiscal year, and after polling major donors, Focus expects this holiday season – normally the most lucrative time of the year for nonprofits – to be even more painful to the bottom line. …
Although Focus grabs most of its headlines on political topics, it spends only 6 percent of its budget in that arena, such as the roughly $500,000 the organization spent to support the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban in California.
The other 94 percent of its budget is dedicated to its far less sensational mission of dispensing parenting and marital advice via Dobson’s radio broadcasts, as well as through books, magazines and Web sites. …
The 149 laid-off employees will enter a tough job market in the Colorado Springs metro area, where job growth is flat and unemployment has crept up over 6 percent.
A spokesman says that Focus On the Family expects the jobs to return when the economy turns around. I wouldn’t bank on it.
It seems to me that Focus On the Family has lost some of its credibility, tarnished along with the rest of the hard right, Christianist/Republican alliance.
Remember that James Dobson refused to endorse John McCain until McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. That didn’t turn out so well, Mr. Dobson.
It’s risky for Christian organizations to immerse themselves in politics. The gamble paid off for Focus On the Family for a long time, but it’s not a good long term strategy.
