Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family
Founded1977 (1977)
California, United States
FounderJames Dobson
95-3188150 (EIN)
Location
Area served
98 countries
Key people
  • Jim Daly
  • (president and CEO)
  • John Fuller
  • (VP audio division)
  • Paul Batura
  • (VP communications)
  • Tim Goeglein
  • (VP external and governmental relations)
  • Robyn Chambers
  • (executive director, advocacy for children)
Revenue
$99,205,813 (2019 FY)[1]
Employees
880 (as of 2023)[2]
Volunteers
112
Websitewww.focusonthefamily.com

Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant[3] organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[4] The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s. As of the 2017 tax filing year, Focus on the Family declared itself to be a church, "primarily to protect the confidentiality of our donors." Traditionally, entities considered churches have been ones that have regular worship services and congregants.[5]

It most prominently lobbies against LGBT rights — including those related to marriage, adoption, and parenting — labeling it a "particularly evil lie of Satan".[6][7] The organization also seeks to change public policy in the areas of sex education, creationism, abortion, state-sponsored school prayer, gambling, drugs, and enforcement of their interpretation of proper gender roles.[8][9][10]

The core promotional activities of the organization include the flagship daily radio broadcast hosted by its president Jim Daly together with co-host Focus VP John Fuller. Focus also provides free resources in line with the group's views, and publishes books, magazines, videos, and audio recordings.

The organization also produces programs for targeted audiences, such as Adventures in Odyssey and Ribbits! for children, and dramas.

  1. ^ "2019 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "How many people work at Focus?".
  3. ^ Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck (September 2011). "Doing Family, Doing Gender, Doing Religion: Structured Ambivalence and the Religion-Family Connection". Journal of Family Theory & Review. 3 (3): 179–197. doi:10.1111/j.1756-2589.2011.00093.x. such as Focus on the Family, an organization that provides advice on familial and social issues from a fundamentalist Protestant...
  4. ^ "Key Christian Conservative Admits Medical Marijuana Has Benefits". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  5. ^ Pulliam Bailey, Sarah (January 17, 2020). "Major evangelical nonprofits are trying a new strategy with the IRS that allows them to hide their salaries". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2020. The IRS status change allows these groups, including Focus on the Family and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, to avoid filing a form that makes details of their institution's finances public. ... Paul Batura, a spokesman for Focus on the Family, said in a statement that the organization changed its status to "church" with the IRS "primarily to protect the confidentiality of our donors.
  6. ^ Corvino, John (2013). What's Wrong with Homosexuality?. Oxford University Press. pp. 139, 144–145. ISBN 9780199856312.
  7. ^ [1] Archived April 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine SPLC on anti-gay groups.
  8. ^ Padian, Kevin (January–April 2006), "The Dover Victory", Reports of the National Center for Science Education, 26 (1–2), Berkeley, CA: 49–50, ISSN 2158-818X, archived from the original on April 20, 2015, retrieved May 6, 2014; Wallace, Tim (2007) [Originally published 2005], "Five Major Evolutionist Misconceptions about Evolution", The True.Origin Archive, Hergiswil, Switzerland: Tim Wallace, archived from the original on March 21, 2015, retrieved April 25, 2011.
  9. ^ Alters, Brian (January–April 2006), "'Ties' to Canada", Reports of the National Center for Science Education, 26 (1–2), Berkeley, CA: 51–52, ISSN 2158-818X, archived from the original on April 20, 2015, retrieved May 6, 2014
  10. ^ Focus on the Family Issue Analysts, "Our Position (Adoption)", Focus on the Family, archived from the original on December 3, 2013, retrieved April 10, 2014; Culver, Virginia (February 5, 2002), "Adoption plan stirs controversy Gays applaud doctors' stance; Focus on Family denounces it", The Denver Post; Draper, Electa, "Adoption initiative halves numbers of kids needing families", The Denver Post, archived from the original on August 12, 2014, retrieved April 10, 2014.