Citizen Link sends plea for $2.3 million to stay afloat

The email doesn’t have the drama of the late evangelist Oral Roberts’ announcement in 1986 that God would call him home if he didn’t raise $8 million by a certain date. But the message from CitizenLink, the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family, was nevertheless clear: Act now or there could be consequences.

CitizenLink this week sent an email to constituents pleading for $2.3 million in 30 days to avoid a budget shortfall. If the money is not raised, “our ability to act on your behalf will be severely, and perhaps irreparably, hurt,” wrote Tom Minnery, CitizenLink executive director.

“The threat is still very real,” Minnery writes. “If we don’t stay vigilant, last year’s victories can AND WILL be taken from us!”

Like most nonprofits, CitizenLink has experienced a dramatic drop in donations in recent years. In fiscal 2009, donations were $6.5 million, according to CitizenLink financial records. A year later, donations fell to $5 million. In the run-up to the November 2010 midterm elections, the organization received a sharp increase in donations. But since then, Minnery said Wednesday, giving has fallen off to a worrying degree.

CitizenLink’s 2011 fiscal budget is $5.8 million. The $2.3 million shortfall needs to be balanced by Sept. 30.

In his Tuesday email, Minnery wrote that the falloff “is as puzzling as it is dramatic.”

But Wednesday, after receiving emails from jobless and money-stricken constituents, he realized that the poor economy is the primary cause.

“People are hurting. We understand that,” Minnery said. “Whatever people can send us, we’ll utilize.”

Minnery speculated that another reason for the donation falloff was the lobbying group’s name-change. In 2004, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson started the lobbying group Focus Action. In May 2010, the name was changed to CitizenLink, to avoid people confusing the organization’s political maneuverings with Focus on the Family.

CitizenLink, as a 501(c)(4), can legally take political stances, endorse candidates, lobby and donate to political causes in excess of $250,000, the limit imposed on 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

Minnery said CitizenLink’s greatest recent accomplishment was helping many conservative Republicans win in the November 2010 elections, referred to in his email as “last year’s victories.”

But CitizenLink also has spent millions fighting against gay marriage, gay unions and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” A year ago, the group entered the fray surrounding gay bullying. While not condoning the acts, CitizenLink said at the time that the issue had become overblown and was driven by “the gay agenda.”

Stewart Hoover, director of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said the economic downturn has hit most nonprofit groups hard. The economy and joblessness, not family-value issues such as gay marriage and abortion that these groups focus on, are what people are concerned about these days, he said.

A cultural shift among American conservatives also may have contributed to CitizenLink’s shortfall, Hoover said. The Tea Party, which upholds the conservative Republican views of small government and no new taxes, appears to be siphoning off donations that otherwise would go to faith-based conservative groups.

“The Tea Party has the wind on its sails right now,” he said.

But John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron in Ohio, said CitizenLink’s budget crises is not any different than those of other political groups after an election. A drop-off in donations during the lull between elections is typical, he said.

Green said CitizenLink and other nonprofit faith-based political organizations may rebound in 2012.

“The cultural issues have not disappeared (for conservatives),” Green said. “They are just not top priority. But if the economy improves next year, these groups may be able to raise a considerable amount.”

As for CitizenLink’s money woes, Minnery said that if the budget is not met by Sept. 30, none of his 46 staffers will be laid off. Instead, CitizenLink will cut back on its projects.