Donations slow for Robertson

Donors gave $166 million for the 12 months ending in March 2006, according to the tax return CBN filed with the Internal Revenue Service this month. During the period, Robertson was criticized for proposing the assassination of Venezuela’s president and suggesting Israel’s prime minister suffered a stroke as divine punishment.

CBN has said there was no falloff in contributions after either statement.

“Our active partners are at a five-year high,” CBN spokeswoman Angell Vasko said in an e-mail to The Virginian-Pilot newspaper of Norfolk for a story published Friday.

The 3.2 percent gain contrasts with double-digit percentage increases between 2001 and 2005.

Despite its slower donation growth, CBN remains one of the nation’s most successful nonprofit organizations in terms of fundraising. Last year, it ranked 89th in the nation in donations from private sources, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

CBN produces and broadcasts Christian programs, including “The 700 Club,” which Robertson hosts. The show solicits contributions through telethons, and donations from viewers and supporters represented the biggest portion of CBN’s total revenue of about $247 million for the last fiscal year.

The latest tax statement showed CBN’s spending rose 13 percent, to about $236 million. Fundraising accounted for 12 percent, or $29 million, of total expenses, while management costs were nearly 7 percent, or about $16 million.

Pat Robertson receives no salary as chief executive officer, and neither does his wife, Adelia Robertson, who is on CBN’s board as a director and secretary.

Salaries included $268,604 for Robertson’s son, Gordon P. Robertson, who is a program co-host and a CBN vice president, and $81,200 for his daughter, Ann R. LeBlanc, a CBN associate vice president.