Some 30 years have passed since Colorado Springs economic development leaders actively courted prominent evangelical Christian organizations to relocate their operations and staff to the Pikes Peak region.
The late 1980s and early 1990s brought Focus on the Family, Biblica–The International Bible Society, HCJB World Radio (now Reach Beyond), the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Association of Christian Schools International, David C. Cook and other like-minded nonprofit ministries.
The city already was home to several, including Compassion International, the Navigators, Young Life and Summit Ministries.
While every major city has Christian nonprofits, Colorado Springs has a high concentration of national and international organizations whose headquarters are here. More than 50 fall into that category today.
And the 15 largest of those in the Colorado Spring area collectively are nearing $2 billion in revenue, according to a compilation of 2019 tax filings by North Carolina-based MinistryWatch. 2020 filings are still being studied.
That total is up from $1.2 billion in 2012, says Warren Cole Smith, president of MinistryWatch, which monitors transparency and finances of more than 1,000 evangelical Christian organizations nationwide.
The local evangelical organizations have become national and global powerhouses in what they do, Smith said.
Those in Colorado Springs, whose work includes foreign missions, evangelism, leadership training, Bible translation, relief and development, educational media, communications, Christian music and related services that tend to the flock, continue to post yearly growth and increase their impact in the sector, he said.
But locally, some would argue, the organizations have less clout than in the past, not only in public policymaking but also in shaping the culture and profile of the city.
Dirk Draper
“The role and influence of faith-based organizations have changed considerably from their high-impact, high-visibility days of the 1990s,” said Dirk Draper, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC.
“Collectively, they remain a vibrant industry cluster, but are neither the external face nor the brand of the city.”
Colorado Springs made national headlines in 1992, when local faith leaders led a statewide ballot measure to prohibit gays from being a protected class, which voters approved but was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The city became known as a conservative and hostile hotbed.
In response, many religious leaders began working together to overcome the negative image that grew out of the political movement.
Some think the light that shined brightly and somewhat harshly decades ago hasn’t dimmed but rather has a new bulb.
“Many (organizations) that have been politically active in public-sector issues have realized taking a more service-oriented approach is the best way to have a positive impact,” said the Rev. Stu Davis, executive director of COSILoveYou, a coalition of about 100 Christian churches of varying denominations that partner on community projects.
“For at least the last two decades, they have been taking more seriously their role as community members,” he said. “About a dozen of those organizations bring their resources, expertise and volunteerism to connect with local grassroots nonprofits to alleviate poverty. It’s a tremendous interaction.”
While some see the controversies of the past as having diminished, others say that time is a black mark on not only the community but the entire state — one that has yet to fade.
Bitterness still remains, said Alissa Smith, spokesperson for Inside/Out Youth Services, which supports LGBTQ+ teens and young adults.
“The fact of the matter is that religion is embedded in our society’s structures, and the influence of these powerful organizations is still embedded in the Pikes Peak region and Colorado as a whole,” she said in an email.
“There was a time in the era of Amendment 2 when LGBTQ+ people had to march in Pride parades with paper bags over their heads to conceal their identities, or they could be fired from their jobs,” she noted.
“As a community, we can’t simply move past that kind of trauma, especially when we’re constantly hit with reminders of the discrimination that’s still rampant.”
Targeting economic prosperity
While Colorado Springs “continues to be an attractive place for faith-based organizations” because of a “very dynamic environment,” economic development officials no longer pursue the Christian business market, Draper said.
“Our current focus is on primary employers, those companies that export goods and services outside the region, and particularly those that pay wages higher than the county average,” he said. “Both these attributes help increase economic prosperity in the region.”
With an estimated 16,100 employees in 2020, religious, faith-based and related organizations constituted about 5% of the area’s workforce, Draper said. Government, science and technology, the food and beverage industry and health care lead the region’s employment base, providing 365,300 jobs.
“In terms of employment, it’s a relatively small industry,” Draper said of Christian organizations.
However, he said, Colorado Springs has “much higher employment in the industry than is typical.”
Even though they’re no longer targeted, Christian organizations continue to gravitate here, Draper said.
Christian Care Ministry, which runs a “health-sharing ministry” called Medi-Share and leases office space on Focus on the Family’s campus, opened in Colorado Springs in 2016, for example.
“Part of the attraction is there’s a critical mass here,” Draper said. “In seeking a talent pool, companies look for a cluster where their industry thrives.”
Overall industry growth comes despite sharp declines in Christian publishing due to the growth of online retail, self-publishing and online distributors such as Amazon selling Christian materials. Local losses include Christian Booksellers Association, the lead trade group for Christian retailers, which closed its Colorado Springs headquarters in 2019; and the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which last year decided to pull its 31-year roots out of Colorado Springs and move to Ohio, citing lower housing and living costs.
Longtime publishing and music stalwart David C. Cook, headquartered in Colorado Springs since 1995, struggled during the pandemic, using small-business loans to remain solvent.
However, Warren Smith of MinistryWatch says Colorado Springs remains a key national player in the sector, with communities in Florida, California, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina rounding out other concentrations of Christian organizations.
“Colorado Springs has grown a lot, so Christian ministries may not seem as dominant as in the past, but there are several of significant size and impact in your city,” he said. “Success breeds success, one ministry spins off another.
“People understand each other, nonprofit leadership, fundraising, it’s where they go for the talent pool.”
Donations increase during COVID
Compassion International, which relocated to Colorado Springs in 1980, now is the world’s 12th largest global nonprofit, according to Forbes. Revenue topped $1 billion last fiscal year, and the organization is waiting for financials for the year that ended June 30 to be completed, according to spokesman Tim Glenn.
He declined to comment on whether revenue has continued its upward trajectory.
The area’s top 15 ministries collectively recorded nearly $1.8 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2019, with a few tax filings still not in, according to MinistryWatch.
Other local organizations with significant revenue include Young Life, with $361 million in revenue in 2020; the Navigators, with $138 million in 2020; Focus on the Family, with $101 million in 2020, up from $99 million in 2019; Every Home For Christ, $60 million in 2019 and $59 million in 2020; and Andrew Wommack Ministries, $52 million in 2019.
Colorado Springs Christian Ministry Revenues From 1996 – 2020
Source: MinistryWatch
| | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry name | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue | Revenue |
| Every Home for Christ | 4,566,230 | 5,208,910 | 4,421,226 | 6,501,667 | 6,371,066 | 4,925,050 | 6,157,244 | 6,592,058 | 11,361,240 | 14,112,495 | 16,087,995 | 15,767,941 | 21,584,326 | 22,236,373 | 24,774,516 | 27,240,616 | 29,367,229 | 33,539,620 | 35,900,757 | 40,234,030 | 46,503,928 | 53,910,485 | 56,762,591 | 60,209,717 | 58,706,736 |
| Reach Beyond formerly World Radio Missionary Fellowship, Inc./ HCJB | 21,350,718 | 23,535,295 | 25,250,997 | 24,322,699 | 25,048,063 | 28,221,075 | 30,581,476 | 35,531,734 | 36,171,859 | ||||||||||||||||
| OC International, Inc. | 10,406,568 | 10,776,466 | 10,832,375 | 10,992,610 | 11,663,073 | 11,207,091 | 9,585,006 | 7,934,903 | 12,376,008 | 15,627,330 | 13,809,159 | 12,338,976 | 12,490,162 | 14,184,634 | 13,365,190 | 13,200,996 | 13,288,304 | 13,828,378 | 12,694,310 | 12,636,151 | 12,720,607 | ||||
| Entrust | 1,795,080 | 1,322,267 | 1,269,089 | 1,374,591 | 1,504,347 | 1,377,661 | 1,917,681 | 2,328,194 | 3,040,231 | 3,484,499 | 2,757,312 | 3,505,195 | 3,346,316 | 3,376,186 | 3,281,240 | 3,292,552 | 3,350,373 | 3,220,259 | 3,340,210 | 3,556,056 | 3,691,869 | 4,115,174 | 4,618,516 | 4,444,744 | |
| The Navigators | 69,240,000 | 74,352,000 | 79,119,000 | 84,228,000 | 79,290,000 | 87,988,000 | 94,608,000 | 97,459,000 | 106,784,000 | 111,510,000 | 109,189,000 | 100,214,000 | 107,565,000 | 116,378,000 | 117,934,000 | 117,864,000 | 115,868,000 | 115,317,000 | 124,119,000 | 132,364,000 | 137,990,000 | 137,454,000 | 138,324,000 | ||
| Andrew Wommack Ministries | 22,278,936 | 29,790,080 | 34,312,468 | 40,177,430 | 40,898,153 | 47,953,550 | 52,480,475 | 57,942,418 | 49,771,570 | 51,632,079 | |||||||||||||||
| Biblica / International Bible Society | 25,334,000 | 22,913,000 | 25,931,000 | 24,562,000 | 24,062,000 | 25,314,000 | 69,885,000 | 69,211,000 | 68,927,000 | 63,515,000 | 25,585,000 | 25,368,000 | 8,866,000 | 16,450,000 | 14,802,000 | 13,444,000 | 13,893,000 | 15,775,000 | 16,800,000 | ||||||
| Community Bible Study, Inc. | 10,284,980 | 9,667,301 | 9,942,334 | 9,689,150 | 10,360,368 | 10,843,060 | 11,208,421 | 11,702,215 | 12,603,347 | 12,831,181 | 14,345,142 | 13,392,069 | |||||||||||||
| Compassion International, Inc. | 69,294,547 | 66,783,452 | 74,907,491 | 83,220,390 | 92,544,021 | 107,879,965 | 122,286,710 | 143,328,513 | 174,982,121 | 216,910,433 | 257,996,290 | 314,034,877 | 368,372,839 | 402,303,562 | 507,191,146 | 551,964,177 | 598,673,655 | 657,748,746 | 719,291,375 | 766,383,494 | 803,243,413 | 817,751,000 | 890,571,000 | 959,641,000 | 1,001,200,000 |
| Focus on the Family | 109,243,000 | 114,422,000 | 121,675,000 | 125,948,000 | 127,304,000 | 124,321,000 | 129,656,000 | 131,344,000 | 139,612,523 | 140,302,955 | 148,792,000 | 147,182,000 | 152,505,000 | 139,000,000 | 114,616,000 | 98,217,000 | 101,325,000 | 96,639,000 | 89,465,000 | 88,548,000 | 93,478,000 | 90,634,000 | 98,281,000 | 99,206,000 | 100,912,000 |
| BEE World | 394,870 | 510,601 | 674,020 | 874,359 | 909,255 | 918,272 | 791,218 | 4,301,506 | 3,685,874 | 4,025,876 | 3,926,508 | 4,834,500 | 4,550,955 | 4,132,342 | 4,104,442 | 4,041,717 | 3,933,928 | 3,791,865 | 4,430,527 | 4,030,536 | 3,932,194 | ||||
| International Students Inc. | 4,486,000 | 5,908,938 | 6,273,485 | 7,229,454 | 8,405,396 | 8,638,855 | 7,997,579 | 7,663,915 | 7,519,409 | 8,514,749 | 8,582,211 | 9,104,460 | 11,236,039 | 10,110,350 | 10,514,462 | 11,358,180 | 11,380,907 | 12,956,810 | 12,706,621 | 12,584,832 | 13,140,168 | ||||
| Young Life | 78,704,274 | 89,789,475 | 124,573,459 | 132,295,227 | 159,561,138 | 155,133,786 | 155,903,099 | 161,256,456 | 174,975,357 | 216,302,035 | 236,709,902 | 222,081,545 | 245,342,509 | 252,651,520 | 276,086,452 | 311,157,656 | 331,444,710 | 355,978,256 | 386,652,739 | 441,154,888 | 426,902,026 | 361,035,717 | |||
| Summit Ministries | 2,302,806 | 1,886,160 | 2,515,262 | 2,526,740 | 2,785,064 | 1,916,480 | 2,591,806 | 2,666,059 | 3,016,339 | 2,816,977 | 6,852,446 | 6,500,314 | 7,926,734 | 8,384,738 | 8,008,649 | ||||||||||
| Mission Training International, Inc./ MTI | 848,351 | 995,980 | 813,852 | 944,146 | 1,150,001 | 1,613,406 | 1,368,162 | 1,246,989 | 1,368,225 | 2,141,313 | 2,013,346 | 1,979,837 | 2,056,567 | 2,107,023 | 2,294,808 | 1,403,584 | 2,407,225 | 2,758,695 | 2,890,662 | 3,041,882 | 2,947,198 | 2,797,581 | 2,877,492 | 2,870,115 | 2,521,474 |
| 1,204,447,804 | 1,291,206,258 | 1373280527 | 1,459,865,732 | 1,544,882,233 | 1,609,984,308 | 1,746,617,642 | 1,789,095,191 | 1,709,964,358 |
The top 1,000 Christian ministries nationwide took in about $37 billion in total giving last year, said MinistryWatch’s Smith, author of the book, “Faith Based Fraud,” which examines Christian scams and scandals.
“Donations increased by a measurable amount during COVID,” he said, “not as a statistical anomaly but a real thing.”
One reason for the generosity: “People were witnessing suffering.”
Christian organizations tend to have a limit on how big they get before they spin off to other ministries, Smith said, largely because they become too hard to maintain and the donor base shifts as the population ages.
Issues the industry is facing include donor-advised funds, in which wealthy people pay a management fee to companies for them to research charitable organizations and donate their money for them; and endowments, which only require 5% of the funds be given away annually.
Both can limit donations, he said, and endowments can be held in perpetuity, which can lead to straying away from the donor’s intentions.
A growing trend is for Christian organizations to petition the Internal Revenue Service to become designated as a church, in order to to not be required to disclose their 990 tax filings, Smith said.
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Wycliffe Associates, which supports Bible translators, and Focus on the Family are among the organizations to do that.
However, Focus on the Family voluntarily releases its financial information publicly, Smith said.
The movement started after JavaScript founder and Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich donated $250 in support of traditional marriage, which was uncovered on a donor list. The controversy led to him leaving Mozilla.
“It’s not a widespread phenomenon,” Smith said of 990 non-disclosure. “But we don’t think it’s the right answer. We’re always for transparency and accountability.”
Providing social good
There are some 1 million Christian nonprofits nationwide, Smith said.
Having many in one community provides unlimited opportunities for philanthropy, the Chamber’s Draper said, for “volunteers to do things that have moral or ethical importance to them.”
In fact, Draper wonders if that’s one of the reasons for Colorado Springs’ rapidly growing millennial population, since social causes are important to millennials and Gen Z young adults.
Christian organizations also often provide “social good,” Draper said, services that otherwise would be left to publicly funded agencies to pick up at the expense of taxpayers. Although Christian organizations do not pay taxes, he said, they tend to offset at least some of the dollars with such philanthropy.
You’re not likely to see employees of evangelical Christian organizations preaching on a street corner in Colorado Springs, but rather sharing their time, talent and treasure at a local soup kitchen or during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Davis said.
Volunteers from about 70 churches stepped up to buy and deliver hot meals to hospital workers when on-site cafeterias closed, provide groceries for shut-in neighbors and repair cars for first-responders who needed to get to work, he said.
“At a time when on a national level we saw faith-based Christian leader standing on a platform grabbing for power, we had people delivering meals to people quarantined,” Davis said.
While the organizations can’t invest donor money locally if it’s intended for use in work overseas or elsewhere, employees are known to fundraise or take up collections for local benevolent projects, Davis said.
“The faith-based community has demonstrated its willingness to be a partner without an agenda and help the city,” he said.
“So many have been willing to say, ‘Let’s just serve.’ I think that’s worth some applause.”
This content was originally published here.
