Focus on the Family Raising Unprecedented Money

In only six months of existence, a new affiliate of Focus on the Family was able to raise nearly $9 million for its cause: taking on the politicians and judges whom founder James Dobson blames for taking the country to the brink of moral bankruptcy.
Nonprofit experts say raising that much money so quickly - the equivalent of $50,000 a day - is astounding, more evidence of the goodwill the child psychologist has built among supporters over a quarter-century of preaching conservative values.
"That is quite a lot of money," said Frances Hill, tax program director at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. "But with Focus on the Family, it is not so surprising. They have an enormous money engine, they are quite well known, and it was a hot election year."
The rapid rise of Focus on the Family Action is also notable because it is part of the evolving landscape of political influence and the role nonprofits play in it.
With campaign finance reform laws restricting the flow of unregulated "soft money" to political parties, nonprofit groups have stepped into the void and are exerting greater influence in the political sphere, experts say.