Christian Coalition is Insolvent (Virignia Pilot) with $200K LOSS in 2004

The Christian Coalition, the onetime powerhouse of the religious right founded by Pat Robertson, is struggling to stay afloat.

The group’s annual revenue has shrunk to one- twentieth of what it was a decade ago – from a peak of $26 million in 1996 to $1.3 million in 2004 – and it has left a trail of unpaid bills from Texas to Virginia. Among the creditors who have sued the coalition for nonpayment are landlords, direct-mail companies, lawyers and at least one former employee seeking back pay. It has even come to this: The company that moved the group out of its Washington headquarters in 2002 went to small-claims court Friday in Henrico County trying to collect $1,890 that remains unpaid on its three-year-old bill.

It is the latest in at least a dozen judicial collection actions brought against the coalition since 2001. The amounts sought by creditors total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The reasons for the group’s decline are legion, say supporters, critics and experts who have followed its trajectory. Among them are the loss of key leaders, including Robertson, who resigned as president in 2001; alleged mismanagement by his successors; the cyclical nature of politics; and bitter infighting within the organization and with other political players on the religious right.

2004 In a fiscal report to South Carolina, the coalition claims revenue of $1.3 million and expenses of $1.5 million, leaving a $200,000 deficit.

“Their future is really bleak,” said Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University who has followed the Christian conservative movement for years. “The Christian Coalition is a shell of its former self.”

Far more important than the amount of debt is the lack of any project to bring in revenue. The Christian Coalition has not done anything for years. There have been no voter guides in years (despite spin) except perhaps in the few States that have strong, independent chapters operating on their own, like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, and Hawaii, with no help from the national org.

NOTE that the Christian Coalition has still not filed its 2004 tax return, which is publicly available for a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization. It was due May 15. An extension would take it to August 15. As of Sept. 22, the IRS said it still does not have their Form 990. The Form 990 includes a summary "balance sheet" that would probably document the Christian Coalition has a negative net worth, and they are hiding their Form 990, in violation of Federal law requiring disclosure.

The greatest reason for this collapse, however, is the stupid and pointless disputes that Roberta Combs keeps generating with nearly everyone she comes in contact with. Roberta Combs provoked a disastrous lawsuit with fund-raising company Interact Response Communications run by Bill Sidebottom, which resulted in a dozen lawsuits against the CHristian Coalition totaling (we think) $2 million, led by Focus Direct.

However, far more damaging is burning their bridges with the fundraising community. Bill Sidebottom's company had to declare bankruptcy. You can't bankrupt a fund-raising company and expect any other fundraising company to ever work with you again. So, having cut themselves off from the fundraising community, the Christian Colaition has nowhere left to go. For Roberta Combs, there is no one left to alienate. She has alienated everyone already.

Christian Coalition may have dissolved, due to the success of the Republican party, but they are a GREAT GROUP that did more than anyone to get conservatives elected.

The members are still around, helping Republicans win elections...even though they might not be meeting under the name of Christian Coalition.

The boom of the Internet makes it easy to stay in touch with team members via email...where the CC used to have meetings.

The name may have diminished but the fight and passion against the left are still there!!

The Christian Coalition WAS a great group. My entire
family campaigned for Pat Robertson, especially in Iowa.
I collected petitions for Pat Robertson's run for
President, alongside the current Vice President for
Legislative Affairs, Jim Backlin. I attended about half
of their conventions and donated my time and money to
the Christian Coalition over the years.

However, its current leadership knowingly and arrogantly
ran it into the ground, while being warned all the way
down the mountain that they were going to crash and burn
if they did not reform their ways and return to God.
The current leadership said they wanted it to be a business,
and not religious (despite their public spin).

Even Ralph Reed stood on the shoulders of the Robertson
for President campaign, benefiting from the true heroes
like Marlene Elwell, Bruce Hawkins, and others who won
States and delegates for Robertson. The political
establishment was listening to Ralph Reed only because of
the work done by the Robertson for President people.

Yet, typically, Ralph Reed slammed the door on the people
who actually deserved the credit and basked in the glory
all by himself. No one who actually earned Ralph his
place in the sun was ever allowed a crumb from his table.

Right from the start, the leaders were arrogant and
ungrateful and... well, unchristian about their leadership
of the Christian Coalition.

Imgaine if you were God and your Son's NAME was on an
organization... How would you feel if it did not
represent your Son in a good light? It would be like
having an old dirty, beat up ship named after you.

God is not mocked....

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