CFC - Combined Federal Campaign of Eastern Massachusetts

★ ★ ★ THE CFC: ITS STORY AND MISSION ★ ★ ★Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)The mission of the CFC is to support and to promote philanthropy through a voluntary programthat is employee-focused, cost-efficient and effective in providing all Federal employees theopportunity to improve the quality of life for all.What is the CFC?The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the only authorized solicitationof Federal employees in their workplaces on behalf of approved charitableorganizations.The CFC began in the early 1960’s to coordinate the fundraising efforts ofvarious charitable organizations so that the Federal donor would only besolicited once in the workplace and have the opportunity to make charitablecontributions through payroll deduction.Federal employees continue to make the CFC the largest and mostsuccessful workplace philanthropic fundraiser in the world. Continuing along-standing tradition of selfless giving, in 2010, Federal employees raisedover $281.5 million dollars for charitable causes around the world.Structure of the CFCThe CFC is made up of 199 local campaigns that organize the annual fundraising effort in Federal workplaces in the United States and abroad.Each local campaign is managed by a Local Federal CoordinatingCommittee (LFCC), which serves as a “Board of Directors” for the localcampaign. The LFCC is comprised of Federal employees andrepresentatives of labor unions and is responsible for the oversight of thelocal CFC. In conformance with CFC regulations and policies, the LFCCmakes admission determinations for local charities and selects a PrincipalCombined Fund Organization (PCFO) to administer the day-to-dayoperations of the campaign and to serve as its fiscal agent.The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulates the CFC andprovides guidance and oversight to the local campaigns (LFCCs andPCFOs).Public AccountabilityOPM is accountable for assuring Federal employees that their designationsare honored and distributed to the charitable organizations of their choice.OPM achieves this in several ways:(1) OPM maintains strict eligibility and public accountability criteria that allparticipating CFC charities must meet. For details, see CFC Regulationsin 5 CFR Part 950 at http://www.opm.gov/cfc/opmmemos/index.asp.(2) On an annual basis OPM makes admission decisions for all national andinternational charity applicants and resolves local charity admissionappeals.(3) OPM sets strict requirements and provides on-going guidance for theactivities and conduct of the LFCC and the PCFO. The fiscal integrity ofthe campaign is verified by OPM compliance audits and the annualreview of local campaign audits that PCFOs are required to havecompleted by an independent CPA.The CFC Charity ListThe Charity List is a paper or web-based display of national, international,and local organizations that have met CFC eligibility requirements. Asample charity listing is shown below with key elements shown in italics.Key elements include: the organization’s five-digit CFC code, the IRSBusiness File name shown in parentheses if it is “doing business as” anothername,), a 25-word statement of purpose (except in abbreviated listings), itsadministrative and fundraising expense rate (AFR), and its ServiceCategories (Taxonomy Codes).Sample Charity Listing11405 ABC Charity (Alpha-Charity) (800) 555-5555 www.abccharity.orgEIN#123456789 ABC Charity attacks the causes of hunger andpoverty by promoting effective and innovative community-basedsolutions that create self-reliance, economic justice, and foodsecurity. 15.8% P,S,K★4Making Informed Giving DecisionsThe EIN, AFR, and the Service Categories are included to help you identifyorganizations that meet your interests and performance standards.The Employer Identification Number (EIN) is issued by the InternalRevenue Service (IRS). It can be used for obtaining additional informationabout an organization from the IRS (877-829-5500). Please Note: Someorganizations may be covered under an umbrella organization’s taxexemption status and EIN may or not be required to have an EIN.The Administrative and Fundraising Rate (AFR) represents the percentageof dollars spent on administering the charity. It is calculated as a percentageof the organization’s total support and revenue. OPM, as well as thephilanthropic community at large, remains concerned about excessive AFRlevels. The philanthropic community generally considers an AFR in excessof 35 percent to be problematic. Some organizations are listed with anegative AFR. While there are other reasons this may happen, these areoften the result of organizations reporting negative revenues caused byinvestment losses experienced during these extraordinary difficult economictimes. Donors should check with the organization and/or review its IRSForm 990; which is available to the public for a complete explanation. Eachsituation is unique. Donors may contact the charity directly and/or industryoversight organizations in order to better understand the financial status,service delivery record, and governance policies of the charity beforedonating.The Service Categories (Taxonomy Codes) categorize the types of servicesthat most charitable organizations offer. Charities self-select up to threealpha-codes (shown below) for inclusion in the CFC charity list. Charitiesthat did not select at least one category are assigned “Z” for the “Other”category.The 26 service categories are derived from the National Taxonomy ofExempt Entities (NTEE) classification system. This system, developed bythe National Center for Charitable Statistics, is widely used in the non-profitcommunity.SERVICE CATEGORIES (TAXONOMY)A Arts, Culture, and HumanitiesB Educational Institutions & Related ActivitiesC Environmental Quality, Protection & BeautificationD Animal RelatedE Health – General and RehabilitativeF Mental Health, Crisis InterventionG Disease, Disorders, Medicinal DisciplinesH Medical ResearchI Crime, Legal RelatedJ Employment, Job RelatedK Food, Agriculture, and NutritionL Housing, ShelterM Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness & ReliefN Recreation, Sports, Leisure, AthleticsO Youth DevelopmentP Human Services – Multipurpose and OtherQ International, Foreign Affairs, National SecurityR Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacyS Community Improvement, Capacity BuildingT Philanthropy, Voluntarism & FoundationsU Science & Technology Research Institutes, ServicesV Social Science Research Institutes, ServicesW Public, Social Benefit: Multipurpose, OtherX Religion Related, Spiritual DevelopmentY Mutual/Membership Benefit Orgs., OtherZ OtherFor additional guidance on selecting charities, visit the CFC website athttp://www.opm.gov/cfc/html/qfd.asp.