Despite all the uncertainties last fall, giving through the CFC remained strong, especially in the DC/Baltimore area, where giving stayed almost constant (a 1.2% decline). Overall, CFC giving fell 4%, to $66 million.
The average payroll deduction pledge by CFC donors went up again, to $992. Nearly 9 of 10 CFC donors give by pledging to have their donations deducted from each paycheck. Just 12% of donors make a one-time donation.
In the new “MidAtlantic CFC,” the average donation is $1,248. The MidAtlantic CFC brings together the DC CFC (“National Capital Area/No Va CFC”) and the “Chesapeake Bay Area CFC” (centered in Baltimore).
This one CFC campaign now accounts for nearly half of all CFC giving (49.4%) and 38% of CFC donors.
GIVING BY RETIREES GOES UP AGAIN
The CFC’s one growth area continues to be giving by retired federal employees and military personnel. They increased their giving by 16% in 2024, to more than $6 million. The number of retiree donors also keeps increasing, to 4,516 in 2024, a 9% increase.
Retirees gave an average of $1,331, which suggests their potential. There are more than 2.2 million federal government retirees and about 2.6 million retired military people receiving payments from the federal government.
WHO BENIFITED FROM CFC GIFTS?
The cause that went up the most in 2024 was Public Safety and Disaster Relief, up 23.4%. This no doubt reflects the impact of the two major hurricanes that hit the U.S. just as the CFC campaign was beginning, including Hurricane Helene. The Red Cross went up $173,000. Similarly, Samaritan’s Purse, also involved in disaster relief, went up more than $163,000.
The other major causes (raising more than $1 million) that went up were Housing and Shelter (+8.3%) and Civil Rights and Social Action (+1.8%).
The major causes that declined the most included Education (down 15%), Health Care (-10.4%), Youth Development (-9.5%) and Human Services (-8.9%).
Among CFC Federations, Community Health Charities continues to raise the most money, $9.3 million, up slightly in 2024. The DC-area United Way is the second largest federation ($6 million), followed by America’s Best Charities ($3.8 million), America’s Charities ($3.1 million) and Global Impact ($2.8 million).
Among individual charities, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital continues to be the largest recipient, raising nearly $3.5 million, followed by the Red Cross ($1.39 million) and Doctors Without Borders ($1.04 million).
The Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation continued to go up in the order of recipients, to #4, raising $741 million. Planned Parenthood Federation of America also rose, to #5, raising $734,000, followed by Samaritan’s Purse ($718,000). The Capital Area Food Bank dropped three places, to #7, raising $682,000, a decline of more than $82,000.
The rest of the top 10 included World Central Kitchen ($690,000), American Lebanese Syrian Association (which raises money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital), which raised $590,000, and the American Cancer Society ($525,000).
One of the biggest jumps was by the ACLU, which went from #17 to #11. One of the biggest declines was by SOME, a local DC-area charity, which went from #11 to #19.
There are links to many more articles about the CFC on our "About the CFC" page.