Focus on the Family cuts staff by 8 percent 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Focus on the Family announced additional layoffs Sept. 2, cutting its staff by 8 percent to a total of 860 people. The 75 layoffs are augmented by a decision to not fill 57 vacancies as the prominent evangelical ministry in Colorado Springs, Colo., addresses a 5 percent shortfall in its budget.

Focus spokeswoman Lisa Anderson said the shortfall in the $138 million budget was due mostly to a decrease in giving from large donors affected by the economic downturn.

“Many of them have really seen their own businesses be hit and so … that, for us, translated into lower giving,” she said. Anderson said monthly donors have generally maintained their giving levels.

The latest layoffs come less than a year after the ministry laid off 200 employees in November 2008. Economic conditions were also cited for those layoffs. More recently, the ministry transferred its Love Won Out conferences, which aim to help people overcome homosexuality, to Exodus International, an Orlando, Fla.-based organization. At its peak, Focus on the Family, which was founded by religious broadcaster James Dobson, had 1,400 staffers.