A Resource for Donors
Obama expected to issue executive order allowing retirees to be part of the campaign
More than 3½ years after they were proposed, the new rules for the federal charity drive will go into effect for the next campaign, starting in 2017. The rules were finalized in 2014 but implementation was postponed in 2015 and 2016. The rules call for profound changes in the CFC, one reason they have taken a long time to implement.
One reason many charities’ CFC donations have gone down so much during the past two years has been poor search engines on CFC websites. This poorly functioning search engine has been fixed, at least for the DC CFC.
While we at Charitable Choices are not part of the CFC, we still believe that it is an excellent way for federal employees, military personnel and postal workers to support charities.
For the fifth straight year, donations to the Combined Federal Campaign declined last fall, to $177.8 million, an 8% decrease. Since 2010, the amount the CFC raises annually has fallen by more than a third, a loss of more than $100 million a year in donations.
The new rules for the Combined Federal Campaign will cause major changes in the CFC, especially how the campaign is run and paid for.
One of the most noteworthy developments in the CFC during the past few years has been the rise of the Wounded Warrior Project, which has come from nowhere to raise the third most in the 2013 CFC -- $4.6 million.
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.
The Combined Federal Campaign takes place every fall, usually from mid-September through December. Employees receive a pledge card and often a "catalog" that lists all eligible charities – more than 4,000 in the DC area.
Most charities are raising less through the Combined Federal Campaign, some a lot less. As a result, many are cutting back on CFC promotion. But if you’re still raising significant money through the CFC, data on CFC giving is showing that now is not the time to do that.
The results of the 2014 Combined Federal Campaign were released on a Friday afternoon without a press release, which unfortunately tells you something about how the CFC did in 2014.