Through the annual 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 and retirees voluntarily participating in the CFC pledged more than $86.4 million to thousands of local, national, and international causes in both funds and volunteer time.  Also, employees and retirees pledged an additional $2.6 million through the CFC Special Solicitation for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for all that support of the local, national, and international charities in the CFC and the people we serve.

However, the needs continue.  This fall, the CFC solicitation period will run from September 21, 2020, through January 15, 2021.  New employees may make pledges within 30 days of entry on duty, if outside of the campaign solicitation period.

Your Leadership is Important

Your active and visible leadership is critical to a successful campaign.  With your help, we can assure those campaign workers in your organization reach every Federal employee to let them know how they can make a monetary contribution and pledge volunteer time to support organizations that help people in need.  This is important since employees are more likely to participate in the program if they are asked.

You also can encourage employees to become CFC leaders.  The success of the CFC is due in no small part to the dedicated service of Federal leaders who administer the campaign within their agencies and in 36 CFC zones around the world. I strongly encourage you to allow employees from your Department or Agency to serve on the Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC) in geographic areas where your organization has a substantial presence.  A strong LFCC is the foundation of a successful local campaign. 

Please encourage CFC leaders among your employees to serve on in other leadership positions such as CFC campaign managers, loaned executives, coordinators, and key workers to the extent permissible during and after the annual solicitation 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.  Leadership and service within the CFC also can help augment the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to advance to more senior-level positions and eventually, into Senior Executive Service positions.

Benefits of CFC

OPM has contracted with a central campaign administrator  (CCA), to offer a national CFC Online Donation System (www.opm.gov/showsomelovecfc).  As a result of feedback from local leaders and our donors, we are planning enhancements to the system for the 2020 campaign.  For employees who may not have access to or decide not to use the electronic giving system, we also will continue to make a paper pledge form available.  

The CFC system increases transparency and ensures that the contributions from Federal, Postal, and Military personnel and retirees reach the people who need help the most. The benefits of the CFC to the government include:

·       All Federal, Postal, and military personnel have access to a single electronic giving platform that supports all charities across all zones. 

·       A simple and easy way for retirees to participate. Retirees can use their monthly annuity and/or credit card to contribute through the CFC. In 2019, federal and military retirees pledged more than $1.5 million to their favorite charities through CFC.

·       Empowering donors to pledge volunteer time to help charities. CFC allows employees to give volunteer time in addition to monetary pledges.  In the first three years, Federal employees pledged more than 364,884 hours (valued at more than $ $8.6 million) to their favorite charities. 

As a reminder, to improve financial security, the CFC no longer accepts cash donations.  However, special events during your CFC season are still encouraged provided they focus on increasing employee awareness of CFC charities, their missions and bring a higher level of employee engagement into the workplace.  Popular CFC events such as bake sales or chili cook-offs are encouraged as campaign awareness and engagement events.  The new CFC Giving Mobile App replaces cash fundraising at these events and allows federal employees to make one-time donations via credit/debit card or bank transfer.

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

Cc:      Federal Executive Boards

            Chief Human Capital Officers Council

            Local Federal Coordinating Committees

            Outreach Coordinators