Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American Evangelical Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s. As of the 2017 tax filing year, Focus on the Family declared itself to be a church, "primarily to protect the confidentiality of our donors". Traditionally, churches are entities that have regular worship services and congregants.
It prominently lobbies against LGBT rights — including those related to marriage, adoption, and parenting — labeling it a "particularly evil lie of Satan". The organization also seeks to change public policy in the areas of sex education, creationism, abortion, state-sponsored school prayer, gambling, drugs, and enforcement of their interpretation of proper gender roles.
The core promotional activities of the organization include the flagship daily radio broadcast hosted by its president Jim Daly together with co-host Focus VP John Fuller. Focus also provides free resources in line with the group's views, and publishes books, magazines, videos, and audio recordings.
The organization also produces programs for targeted audiences, such as Adventures in Odyssey, McGee and Me!, The Last Chance Detectives, and Ribbits! for children, and dramas for other audiences. The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified Focus on the Family as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.
History
Origins and Dobson era
From 1977 to 2003, James Dobson served as the sole leader of the organization, which was originally based in Arcadia, California. Dobson and his organization generated significant controversy by taking a different approach to ministry than many other evangelical parachurch organizations, opting to combine its parenting programs with conservative political activism. By 1993, Focus on the Family was receiving approximately 10,000 personal letters and 3,000 phone calls per day by individuals seeking personal assistance from the organization.The organization, and especially James Dobson, wielded significant national influence within the U.S., and particularly among politically conservative Christians and women working within the home. During the 1990s, Dobson and Focus on the Family were accused by an early member of the organization of moving away from their original mission of helping families and instead becoming "too political". The organization's cornerstone items included their radio broadcasts, as well as other ventures such as their film publishing arm Focus on the Family Films.
In 2003, Donald P. Hodel became president and chief executive officer, tasked with the day-to-day operations. Dobson remained chairman of the board of directors, with chiefly creative and speaking duties. In March 2005, Hodel retired and Jim Daly, formerly the vice president in charge of Focus on the Family's International Division, assumed the role of president and chief executive officer.
By 2007, the executive leadership of the organization reportedly worked to sustain the group's cultural influence by investing more heavily into family programs targeted at younger generations as opposed to only bolstering its political programs favored by James Dobson. As a result of targeting a younger demographic more frequently in digital spaces, the organization reported a decrease in donations, dropping from 755,000 donors in 2004 to 564,000 donors by September 2007.
In the first decade the 2000s, Focus lead abstinence programs both domestically in the U.S. and worldwide. The program, often titled No Apologies, had some success in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt and Malaysia where the teachings of abstinence aligned with messages of Islam. The program was brought to China with the permission of the Chinese Communist Party, who desired to bring down birth rates at the time.
In November 2008, the organization eliminated 202 jobs, representing 18 percent of its workforce. The organization also cut its budget from $160 million in fiscal 2008 to $138 million for fiscal 2009.
In February 2009, Dobson resigned his chairmanship. He left Focus on the Family in early 2010, and subsequently founded Family Talk as a non-profit organization and launched a new broadcast that began airing nationally on May 3, 2010. He died in August 2025.
Post-Dobson
In a break from the previous status quo, president Jim Daly purportedly tried to steer the organization away from the same level of political activism that the organization was known for in its initial decades of existence. Daly made connections with figures and organizations that founder Dobson disdained and cut off, such as Democratic United States President Barack Obama, liberal activist Ted Trimpa, and the newspaper The Independent.On June 23, 2017, Vice President Mike Pence attended the organization's 40th anniversary celebration; at the event, he praised founder James Dobson, stated that then-President Donald Trump was an ally of the organization, and added that the Trump administration supported Focus on the Family's goals. Pence's attendance at the event, along with Focus on the Family's stances on LGBT rights, was criticized by the Human Rights Campaign.
In its IRS Form 990 for Tax Year 2015, dated October 26, 2017, Focus on the Family for the first time declared itself a "church, convention of churches or association of churches", claiming that it was no longer required to file the IRS disclosure form and that the sources and disposition of its $89 million budget were "Not for public inspection". Tax attorney Gail Harmon, who advises nonprofit organizations on tax law, said she found the declaration "shocking", noting that "There's nothing about them that meets the traditional definition of what a church is. They don't have a congregation, they don't have the rites of various parts of a person's life." A spokesperson for the organization stated that it changed its status "primarily to protect the confidentiality of our donors". By 2023, the organization had offices in 14 countries and partnerships in 60 countries, for an international presence in 98 countries.
Programs
Wait No More
Focus on the Family's Wait No More ministry works with adoption agencies, church leaders and ministry partners to recruit families to adopt children from foster care. In Colorado, the number of children waiting for adoption dropped from approximately 800 to 350 people, due in part to the efforts of Wait No More. Focus on the Family's efforts to encourage adoption among Christian families is part of a larger effort by Evangelicals to, in their perception, live out what they see as the "biblical mandate" to help children.Option Ultrasound Program
Focus on the Family's Option Ultrasound Program provides grants to crisis pregnancy centers to pay the cost of ultrasound machines or sonography training. Focus on the Family began OUP in 2004 with the goal of convincing women not to have abortions. FOTF officials said that ultrasound services help a woman better understand her pregnancy and baby's development, creating an important "bonding opportunity" between "mother and unborn child".In 2011, FOTF announced that they would like to talk with pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood to work towards the shared goal of making abortion less common. Rep. Michele Bachmann introduced a sonogram bill in 2011 and, citing Focus on the Family, told Congress that "78 percent of women who see and hear the fetal heartbeat choose life." She was later corrected by Focus on the Family, which released a statement saying they did not release such data. A study released in February 2012 showed that ultrasounds do not have a direct impact on an abortion decision.
Boundless.org
Boundless.org is Focus on the Family's website for young adults ages 18–34 featuring articles, a blog, a podcast, and a conference. The site has been classified as a webzine, and originally included a moderated forum for young adults to exchange thoughts and ideas about topics relevant to them without being dictated what they should believe by an "authoritarian tone". The website covers topics such as singleness, dating, relationships, popular culture, career, and sex.Plugged In
Plugged In is a Focus on the Family publication and associated website created for families that reviews magazines, newspaper comics, films, books, music, and TV and radio shows. As of 2007 it was one of their most popular products, and reviews were offered to members through both their website and through text messages.Day of Dialogue
The Day of Dialogue was a student event which took place April 16. Since 2018, the event is no longer marked on a single date, or organized nationally. Founders described the goal of the event, created in opposition to the anti-bullying and anti-homophobic Day of Silence, as "encouraging honest and respectful conversation among students about God's design for sexuality". It was previously known as the Day of Truth and was founded by the Alliance Defense Fund in 2005. In 2007, Exodus International began supporting the Day of Truth, an event created by Alliance Defending Freedom in 2005 that challenges homosexuality.In 2009, the ADF announced they had passed on their leadership role for the event to Exodus. In October 2010, Exodus announced they would no longer support the event. President Alan Chambers stated they realized they needed to "equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not", adding that the Day of Truth was becoming too divisive. Chambers said that Exodus had not changed its position on homosexuality, rather they were reevaluating how to best communicate their message. Focus on the Family subsequently claimed leadership of the event, and renamed it the Day of Dialogue.