Local charities must have been part of the federal campaign; a few have chosen to no longer participate in their local “CFCs.” All the charities in this site certify that they meet the CFC’s 10 Accountability Standards.

     Most charities in this site participate in the Charitable Choices guides that we produce each year. For these organizations, being part of our website is a free service.

     For more than 25 years, we have provided trustworthy charities opportunities to jointly promote their work. By doing this, these groups save their resources while donors are able to learn a lot about a broad range of charities they may want to support.

     Charitable Choices grew out of the effort in the early 1980s to allow federal employees to make on-the job donations to a much broader range of charities.

     All these charities must meet the Combined Federal Campaign’s 10 accountability standards.  Among other things, all but the smallest charities must have an annual audit. All must prepare annual reports for the IRS, reports that show their revenue and expenses and how much they pay their top staff members, among many other things. These reports must be publicly available.

     Gifts to all of these "501 (c) (3)" charities are tax deductable. These organizations can do some lobbying and other types of advocacy, but they cannot engage in partisan political activity (such as endorsing candidates).