An established name keeps the organization alive years after the departure of its founder, although it is nearly $3 million in the hole, spends very little on outreach, and lost money last year.
What's the opposite of founder's syndrome? It seems to be what ails the Christian Coalition of America (EIN 75-2372537 Form 990). Founder's syndrome is said to be the problem when the founder of an organization insists on retaining control. But with the Christian Coalition, founder Marion Gordon Robertson (better known as Pat Robertson) left the organization in 2001. The organization was taken over by Roberta Combs, the head of its South Carolina chapter, who shortly afterward moved the headquarters to Charleston.
Recent news stories have reported the organization's latest failed attempt to recruit a new leader. The New York Times (Neela Banerjee) , Washington Post (Alan Cooperman), and LA Times (Nicholas Riccardi) all offered by-line coverage. All mentioned the steep decline the organization experienced after Rev. Robertson left, which the Washington Post explored in greater depth in an article last April ("Christian Coalition Shrinks as Debt Grows," Alan Cooperman and Thomas B. Edsall). But the whole tale of debts, employment of relatives, and lawsuits is laid out in an article last year from the Virginian Pilot (Bill Sizemore) (the CC was originally headquartered in Tidewater Virginia).
Back in 1996, when the organization was run by Ralph Reed, the then Christian Coalition (under a different EIN 54-1518373 Form 990) raised $25 million, which it spent on promoting its cause: printing ($7.3 million), postage ($6.6 million), telemarketing ($3.1 million), list rental ($0.9 million), and production costs ($0.7 million). There were staff salaries of $2.9 million, excluding Mr. Reed's take home of $196,213. (In 1996, there wasn't yet a line on the Form 990 for total staff count.)
Now (as of the 2004 report, the most current), the organization raises a mere $1.1 million, and only about $250,000 goes to the outreach activities that used to be the mainstay. The biggest cost is now payroll at $342,642 for a staff of six (not broken out between regular staff and officers). Roberta Combs is listed as President, working an average of 60 hours per week, but her compensation entry is left blank, so we don't know how much of the payroll is hers. To top it off, the organization lost nearly $200,000 in 2004. So what are they doing? They aren't promoting the cause and they aren't even paying down their debts, which are approaching triple the annual contributions.
With this record of non-accomplishment, it's worth noting that the organization can still bring in a million a year on little more than name recognition. It shows that even a minor brand name can have a remarkable amount of staying power.
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