The fall 2014 Combined Federal Campaign is the first time that federal employees nationwide can designate to local organizations outside their permanent duty station. This means if they have a favorite CFC-approved charity in their hometown or another location beyond their current work assignment, employees can now give to those organizations in addition to the normal local charity listing.
All campaign regions are offering donors the opportunity to give through Universal Giving—the ability to donate to any national, international, or local charity not denied participation in the CFC. Prior to offering this nationally, OPM has been moving the CFC in this direction since 2006. First came the implementation of a universal coding system in 2006 and then the universal designation system was successfully piloted in three markets (Chicago, Alabama and Portland, OR) in 2011 and 2012. Now, any federal employee has the option to give to any participating CFC charity they choose, without regard to geographic boundaries. All campaigns must honor their donors’ valid Universal Giving pledges.
The print version of the CFC Charity List (“Catalog of Caring”) will continue to be designed as it has in the past (i.e., it will contain the national and international charity information provided by the OPM and the unique local charity section based on the Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC’s) review of local charity applications. The printed list will not contain information on charities that did not apply to the local campaign area and were not approved by the LFCC.
The “Universal Giving List.” on the other hand, is a single nationwide list of local charities and is determined through a combination of all campaigns’ eligibility decisions. It will be compiled from all approved local charities. This list will only be made available to donors electronically.
In the case of a charity that belongs to different federations in different campaign regions, the charity will be listed on the “Universal Giving List” as belonging to the federation to which it is a member in its local campaign region.
OPM will produce and provide on its website (www.opm.gov/cfc) a “Universal Giving List” in both/either an online search tool and/or a searchable Portable Document Format (pdf) file. Donors presenting pledge forms with valid charity codes from this list must be processed by all PCFOs. Charity contact information, disbursement addresses, and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) data will be provided to campaigns as needed based on the Universal Giving pledges they receive. Again, all campaigns must honor their donors’ valid Universal Giving pledges, without regard for the pledging method used.