When Focus on the Family laid off 79 employees last month, its leaders framed the move as both a cost-cutting measure and a refocusing of resources. Most businesses describe cost-cutting moves with similar language. But Focus is no ordinary business; it’s a charity that doles out loads of books, radio programs and family advice from its Colorado Springs headquarters — much of it available at little or no cost. The layoffs underlined the fact that, for faith-based nonprofits such as Focus, Christian charity is balanced by the bottom line.Religion is big business in Colorado Springs, and business is booming. More than 80 national Christian nonprofit organizations with combined revenue of nearly $1 billion make their headquarters in El Paso County. Most have gone through a run of long-term growth; Focus, despite its layoffs, expects to grow to $151.5 million in revenue by 2006.Other, even bigger organizations located here, such as Compassion International, rarely have seen even temporary downturns in revenue in the past 20 years. The Gazette used 2003-2004 figures for this story, the most recent available for all ministries considered, but Compassion’s nearly $217 million in revenue for its most recent fiscal year (which ended June 30) make it by far Colorado Springs’ largest Christian ministry.These organizations sometimes have more in common with a Fortune 500 company than the corner church, but experts say they’re typically more stable employers than private businesses and have steadier income streams than secular charities
