There will soon be more options for federal employees and retirees to give to charity. President Obama has signed an executive order that highlights two improvements made to the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity program.
What is the CFC?
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the world’s most successful and largest workplace charity campaign. It covers close to 200 campaigns raising millions of dollars each year. Their mission is to “promote and support philanthropy through a program that is employee-focused, cost-efficient, and effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all.” The campaign season starts September 1st and goes to December 15th each year. Pledges made support eligible non-profit organizations that provide health and human service benefits throughout the world.
Changes to the CFC Program
In recent years, contributions have steadily been declining. For this reason, President Obama has signed an executive order to make it easier for federal employees to volunteer at charitable organizations and for retirees to donate to them. Federal employees can now donate their time to these organizations. This is especially beneficial to those who can’t afford to donate monetarily or just want a more hands-on approach to helping out.
A number of agencies already allow this, but none of them credit the hours toward the annual pledge goals the agency sets. This order gives The Office of Personnel Management the authority to do that. The idea is for agencies to monetize the volunteer hours their employees contribute; therefore, an estimated value is given to one hour of volunteer time. Then the total value of volunteer time given by a donor is added to the total contribution from all employees for the year.
This also allows retirees to make contributions through their annuities. This change to annuity deduction will impact about two million federal retirees. It will also allow the government to raise even more money for these organizations. These changes will take place starting September 2017. OPM is expected to issue regulations on procedures and limits to the program in the upcoming months.
To see more information on the CFC, please click here.
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