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What is the "CFC?"
The Combined Federal Campaign is the federal government's on-the-job fund-raising drive. It is like a "United Way" drive for federal employees and the military, though it includes a much broader range of charities than do most United Way campaigns.
How does it work?
The Campaign takes place every fall, usually from mid-September through early November. Employees receive a pledge card and "catalog" that lists all eligible charities. Employees decide which charities should receive their gifts. They do so by using a 5-digit code number (we provide that number for every charity in this website). They can only choose charities that have been accepted into the Campaign. Write-ins are not allowed. No other charity benefits from an employee's gift.
Employees can give by having a little deducted from each paycheck, or by making a one-time gift.
Local CFC campaigns are administered by a local "Principal Combined Fund Organization," or PCFO. In most cases this is the local United Way (though the United Way no longer manages the DC-area CFC, the country's largest). Within each agency or military base, a volunteer "keyworker" helps run the campaign.
Each eligible charity can choose to become part of a CFC "federation", or it can be "unaffiliated." Federations help their members stay eligible, promote their members and collect and distribute donations. They charge a fee that varies according to the federation.
How does a charity become eligible?
Charities must apply every year, during the winter. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) determines the eligibility of national and international charities. The eligibility of local and statewide charities is determined by a "Local Federal Coordinating Committee," which includes federal employees and federal employee union representatives.
Eligibility decisions are based on a series of criteria laid out in regulations that were revised in 2006. We have summarized the criteria: 10 accountability standards.
In 2007 there were nearly 4,000 charities eligible in the DC-area CFC. While this is a lot of charities, it is still much less than 1% of all "501 (c) (3)" charities recognized by the IRS.
How much is given?
The CFC collected $273 million in 2007. About 1.25 million people made gifts through the "CFC" in 2006. They gave an average of more than $200.
Most CFC donors choose to give by having their donation deducted from each paycheck.
How has the campaign changed?
Prior to the 1950s, fund raising in the federal workplace was "an uncontrolled free-for-all," according to the official history of the Combined Federal Campaign. People were asked to give to various causes throughout the year. Not much money was raised.
This began to change in the mid-1950s, when restrictions were placed on who could solicit and when they could do it. By 1958, only the Red Cross and three groups of charities (United Ways, health agencies and international agencies) were allowed to run separate fund-raising campaigns at certain times of the year.
The first "combined" campaign was begun in 1964 as an experiment in six cities. The four separate campaigns were combined into one -- the "Combined Federal Campaign." It did very well.
By 1971, all campaigns had become "combined." In addition, payroll deduction was introduced. Giving went up dramatically, from $12.9 million in 1964 to $82.8 million in 1979.
How did employees get more choice of charities
to support?
During the 1970s, employees still could only choose to support a small and slowly growing number of charities (23 in 1969; 33 in 1979). It was extremely difficult for a new charity to qualify to receive employee gifts.
Some charities challenged the rules governing eligibility in court, in Congress and in the media. They were successful, with the rules being slowly changed during the 1980s so that more and more charities could participate. Most significantly, charities that tried to change laws as a way to help people were allowed to do so. (The IRS restricts how much all charities can spend on lobbying and forbids charities from engaging in partisan politics, such as endorsing candidates.)
Employees apparently liked these changes, with the number of people making CFC gifts rising from 2.2 million in 1980 to 2.7 million in 1988.
These changes had a dramatic impact on some charities. The Alzheimer's Disease Association of Greater Washington, for example, received $140,000 in gifts during its first year of eligibility. This allowed it to hire full-time staff for the first time and greatly expand its services.
There was an attempt by some in Congress to restrict eligibility in 1995, but it was not successful.
The CFC regulations were changed in 2006. Among other changes, the CFC eliminated the rule that restricted the percentage that charities could spend on fund-raising and administrative costs. However, charities still must reveal the percentage of total support that they spend on these costs.
Should you give through the CFC?
We at Charitable Choices are not part of the CFC, but we still
think it is an excellent way to support charities. Here's why:
- The CFC is very efficient, spending about 8.5% on expenses, such as printing materials, training volunteers and auditing contributions. Direct mail can easily cost 50% or more. Thus, nearly all your gift directly supports the charities you want to support.
- You also know exactly how much of your gift that the charity spends on their programs (as opposed to administration and fund raising). Every charity in the CFC -- including every charity in this website -- has met 10 accountability standards!
- You can choose to have a little of your gift deducted from
each paycheck, a convenient and almost painless way to support
charities.
- You have the ability to support a very wide range of charities. Few people other than federal and military employees can sit down once a year and choose to support such a broad range of causes. Only those charities you choose to support will benefit from your gift.
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