Issue Briefs

Following is an OPM memo to agencies urging participation in the Combined Federal Campaign, the annual federal workplace fund-raising drive.

Through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), members of the Federal family demonstrate that our commitment to public service extends far beyond the workplace. Last year, Federal employees voluntarily participating in the CFC contributed more than $104 million to thousands of local, national and international causes in both funds and volunteer time.  The people we serve are all the better for it.

Today, I am pleased to announce that the Honorable Josephine K. Olsen, Ph.D., Director of the Peace Corps, will serve as Honorary Chairperson of the 2018 Campaign.  This year’s CFC solicitation period will run from September 10, 2018, through January 11, 2019.

Your Leadership is Important

I am asking for your support in helping to lead and promote this year’s campaign as well as the CFC structure where your organization employs Federal workers.  Your active and visible leadership is critical to a successful campaign.  With your help, we can make sure campaign workers in your organization reach every Federal employee to let them know how they can make a voluntary contribution and pledge volunteer time to support organizations that help people in need.  To help make this easy, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will provide a package of tools that you can use to communicate with your employees and senior executives.

Encourage Support to Administer the CFC

There is a direct correlation between the CFC’s success and the dedication of the leaders who administer the campaign within their agencies and in 36 CFC Zones around the world. Without a personal solicitation from a colleague, employees are less likely to participate in the program.

I strongly recommend that you allow employees in your Department or Agency to serve on the Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC).  A strong LFCC is the foundation of a successful local campaign.  Please encourage your employees to serve in other leadership opportunities such as CFC campaign managers, loaned executives, coordinators, and key workers to the extent permissible during the campaign period.  These positions are often a great way to develop professional skills, such as public speaking, financial accountability, and expertise in building public-private sector partnerships.

Key Changes for 2018

Last year, OPM contracted with The Give Back Foundation (the central campaign administrator or CCA) to develop and deploy a new national CFC Online Donation System.  During this same time, we introduced the new CFC Online Donation System (www.opm.gov/showsomelovecfc) which replaced electronic CFC modules in Employee Express and myPay, as well as a variety of local systems. For the 2018 campaign, we updated that system to accommodate some of the changes that were most requested by Federal employees and other donors.  Continuing with the fall 2018 CFC period, campaign workers will direct anyone choosing to make an online pledge to this CFC Online Donation System.  The only exceptions are employees in the Intelligence Community and the Department of State.

New rules implemented last year also streamline the process for Federal shared services and payroll providers.  They now disburse funds to one organization instead of over 120 organizations as required by the prior regulations. The new process reduces the burden on your human resources and customer service employees in Finance Centers.  It also makes management of CFC pledges easier for charities.

Benefits

This new CFC Online Donation System also increases transparency and ensures that the contributions made by Federal, Postal, and Military personnel reach the people who need help the most. The benefits of the new CFC Online Donation System to the government include:

·   All Federal, Postal, and military personnel have access to one electronic giving platform to support all charities across all Zones.

·  Increased transparency and accountability with fees disclosed up front to the donor before they pledge.  The CFC recovers the cost of administering the campaign through fees assessed of charities.

·A new avenue for collecting recurring gifts by annuitants who could make only one-time pledges in the past. Retirees gave more than $500 thousand tof their favorite charities through CFC in 2017.

·The ability to engage employees to give volunteer time in addition to monetary pledges.  In the first year, pledges of volunteer time amounted to more than 125,000 hours valued at over $3 million by the charities they serve.

·  An additional new feature enables newly hired employees who start their Federal service outside the CFC solicitation period to establish a pledge to their approved local, national, or international charities. This “New Hires” will extend from February 1 through August 1 of every year.  To continue a new hire pledge, those employees will need to make an election during the regular solicitation period with their colleagues annually.

As a reminder, for financial security, the CFC no longer accepts cash donations.  Now, special events during your campaign must focus on increasing employee awareness of CFC charities, and their missions—not cash fundraising. While popular CFC events such as bake sales or chili cook-offs are not prohibited (in fact, they’re encouraged as campaign awareness and engagement events), their use as fund-raising events is no longer authorized.

If you have any questions, please email cfc@opm.gov or call (202) 606-2564.