![]() ![]() “None of us have any regrets.” However, Evans said, in some cases where donors could show financial hardship, Family Radio has reimbursed up to half the value of their contributions. We were very open and the whole world knew what we were doing,” Evans said. “We spent a significant amount and we didn’t hide it. Evans said it was a “buyer beware” scenario. Contributions spiked, with stories surfacing across the country of followers donating their life savings, as Family Radio spent prodigiously to publicize the end of the world. On its website and during broadcasts, listeners were told how to donate.Ĭamping became more engrossed with predictions of Judgment Day as the years passed, espousing multiple possibilities before ultimately focusing on May 21, 2011, as the highly publicized date. The nonprofit paid its bills through donors’ philanthropy, amassing $216.4 million in donations from 1997 through 2011, according to tax returns (2012 totals are not yet available). Its stations had no commercials, providing 24-hour, seven-days-a-week Christian programming in 30 languages - including hymns, Bible teachings and gospel talk shows - with Camping’s “Open Forum” program airing every weeknight for 90 minutes. Fourteen shortwave transmitters allowed broadcasts to Africa, Russia and elsewhere in the world. The ailing evangelist may get his wish.įamily Radio, founded more than a half-century ago, built itself into a powerful religious ministry with 66 full-service radio stations, more than 100 FM broadcast relay stations and a handful of television stations across the country. Tuter says Camping had long been telling him that when he dies, he wants the Oakland-based nonprofit to die with him. The 91-year-old president was not available to comment for this story. “But it did force us to make quick changes.”Īt least some of those changes had an air of desperation: In a November letter to his followers posted on the Family Radio website, Camping wrote: “Either we sell (our biggest radio station) or go off the air completely.” And Evans acknowledged the bridge loans, while insisting the nonprofit is not insolvent.Ĭamping, who hasn’t been able to conduct his “Open Forum” radio show since suffering his stroke, still shows up for work and is involved in the nonprofit’s operations, Evans said. “Sufficient funds were in the bank and, thankfully, we didn’t spend everything (on May 21, 2011),” he said. But it is not closing, and the financial problems aren’t nearly as serious as some allege, said the trustee, who instead envisions a downsized, more efficient ministry emerging. Board member Tom Evans, who has taken over day-to-day operations since Camping suffered a stroke in June 2011, said Family Radio is hurting like any other nonprofit in this slow-to-rebound economy. Not everyone predicts Family Radio’s demise, however. ![]() “You eliminate those three (FM stations) and, ultimately, the rest of it dies,” said Tuter, a 55-year-old San Leandro, Calif., resident and longtime right-hand man to Camping, who was fired last year. ![]() The office does not confirm or deny investigations. Since the failed prediction, at least two letters have been sent to the California Attorney General’s Office requesting an investigation into the station sales and Family Radio’s handling of donations. Those insiders say the nonprofit mishandled the sales of the stations, reaping far less than they were worth, and is on the hook for millions of dollars to devotees who have loaned them money over the years. In 2012, records show it took out a $30 million bridge loan to keep operating while awaiting the station sales proceeds it is not clear whether that loan has been paid off.įormer and current insiders allege the situation may be even worse than it appears, claiming donations have dropped almost 70 percent since the Rapture prediction proved incorrect, leading to numerous layoffs of longtime Family Radio staff members. The nonprofit has sold its three largest radio stations, all cash generators.Īt the start of 2007, Family Radio was worth $135 million, according to its tax returns, and by the end of 2011 its net assets had dropped to $29.2 million, even though Family Radio received $85.2 million in donations over that five-year period.īy the end of 2011, Family Radio reported $282,880 in cash on hand, down from $1.5 million at the start of the year and $2.5 million at the end of 2008. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu ![]()
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