Northern New England Combined Federal Campaign

1. What is the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)?

2. What is the purpose of the CFC?

3. Why do we have a CFC?

4. How important is the Northern New England CFC?

5. Who runs the Northern New England CFC?

6. What are the administrative costs for the Northern New England CFC?

7. How do I give to the Northern New England CFC?

8. Do I have to make a pledge?

9. Is there a minimum or maximum payroll deduction gift one can donate through the CFC?

10. How much should I give?

11. How do I know that my gift goes to the charity that I designate?

12. Why isn't my favorite charity in the book?

13. If I give to a charity directly won't they get more money?

14. What is the role of a federation?

15. What is the CFC policy on coercion?

16. How do donations get to charities?

17. Do I get a receipt?

18. When do I need verification of my donation for tax purposes?

19. Why should I make charitable contributions through the Northern New England CFC when I could just give directly to charities I wish to support?

20. How do federal agencies benefit from participation in the CFC?

21. How do I know the charities participating in the CFC are legitimate?

22. What are some of the ways that federal agencies support the CFC?

23. Is the Northern New England CFC covered by federal regulations?

24. Why do some charities have such a high administrative cost?

25. Why should I contribute to the CFC when I don’t use or need the services they provide?

1. What is the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)? ↑
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the only authorized charitable fundraising campaign for federal employees, both civilian and military. The Northern New England Combined Federal Campaign is the local campaign in New Hampshire/So. Maine/Vermont area and solicits approximately 19,600 employees from postal, military, and civilian branches.

2. What is the purpose of the CFC? ↑
The mission of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is to support and to promote 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.

3. Why do we have a CFC? ↑
The annual fundraising campaign helps support a variety of health, human and other services provided by local, national and international charitable agencies. This single campaign is one of the most cost-efficient fundraising methods available. It succeeds because volunteers from the Federal workforce combine their resources for one coordinated appeal.

4. How important is the Northern New England Combined Federal Campaign? ↑
You are part of the most significant philanthropic campaign in the world. Thousands of charities in Northern New England, throughout America and around the world depend upon your generosity for their very existence. These charities provide services to every part of our community, and touch every one of our lives. Funding from the CFC is one of the most important sources of revenue for these charities, since your payroll deduction pledges provide a steady income stream throughout the year that helps keep their core programs operating. In short, you've got the power to make our community, nation and world a better place

5. Who runs the Northern New England CFC? ↑
The Northern New England CFC is directed by a Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC) comprised of members of local federal interagency organizations that act as a "Board of Directors" for the local campaign. The LFCC includes representatives from the larger federal agencies, the Federal Executive Association, and federal employee union leaders. The LFCC selects one of the voluntary organizations involved in the CFC to manage the campaign and serve as a fiscal agent. This agency, called the Principal Combined Fund Organization (PCFO), manages the CFC. Office of Personnel Management's Office (OPM) sets strict requirements for this role including annual audits of the PCFO by an independent CPA.

6. What are the administrative costs for the Northern New England CFC? ↑
LFCC approved a budget of $113,000 for this year. The budget is a fixed amount, not a percentage of funds raised. If we are successful in achieving our target of $1.2 million raised, this budget would amount to about 10.8 percent of revenues. The final fund-raising cost percentage will be known when the campaign is complete and a final total has been reached. However, only actual expenses are charged to the campaign. For many years, our actual campaign expenses have been consistently under budget.

7. How do I give to the Northern New England CFC? ↑
The most common method of making a donation is by filling out the traditional paper pledge card and having the amount that you choose deducted from each paycheck. New this year is online giving which you can access through the homepage of this website by clicking on “Click Here to Pledge Online.” Payroll deductions will begin with the first pay period in January and end with the last pay period beginning in December. You may also use the pledge card to make a one time donation by check or cash.

8. Do I have to make a pledge? ↑
Absolutely not. The CFC is committed to giving every federal employee an informed opportunity to participate in the campaign. However, participation is strictly optional, and any effort to coerce an employee to take part in any CFC when he or she does not wish to do so is prohibited by regulation.

9. Is there a minimum or maximum payroll deduction gift one can donate through the CFC? ↑
The minimum gift for military is $2 per pay period and civilian personnel is $1 per pay period. There is no maximum gift. All gifts are welcome.

10. How much should I give? ↑
It is your decision; give what is right for you.

11. How do I know that my gift goes to the charity that I designate? ↑
You have the option of authorizing the CFC to disclose your name, pledge amount, home address and home email to the charities you donate to. If this box is not selected, and the address information is not completed, the charity will not have knowledge of your name and will not be able to answer questions about your specific gift or acknowledge your personal donation. Many charities will write to you acknowledging your gift if this box is check and information is complete.

12. Why isn't my favorite charity in the book? ↑
All charities interested in joining the Combined Federal Campaign must go through an application process on a local or national level. Charities must apply in order to be included. If your favorite charity is not listed, they either did not apply or did not qualify. We suggest that you encourage your favorite charity to apply next year and ask them to contact the Northern New England Combined Federal Campaign office for further information.

13. If I give to a charity directly, won't they get more money? ↑
In nearly all cases, charities in the CFC have much higher fundraising costs on their own then they experience when they are part of a federated campaign like CFC. People give as much as four times more through payroll deduction then they do when making a direct cash gift because it is given overtime through payroll deduction. Charities stand to gain in three ways; the gifts they get through CFC may be higher than when people give directly, the administrative costs to generate a gift through CFC are lower than if they had to generate that gift independently, and the charity gets a share of any undesignated funds.

14. What is the role of a federation? ↑
A federation is an organization that provides administrative, marketing and operational support for a group of individual charities. For these services, the member charities typically pay some kind of fee (often a percentage of their receipts) for the services provided by the federation. Many individual charities believe that this is more cost-effective than doing these tasks internally.

15. What is the CFC policy on coercion? ↑
CFC giving is strictly voluntary and coercion in any form is forbidden. Our objective is to assure that 100% of the federal employees in our campaign area have the opportunity to make an informed choice whether to give through CFC or not. Only you can determine whether to give and how much you or your family can afford to give to charity. If you feel you are being coerced into giving you have a right to register a complaint. Civilians should register complaints with the LFCC and their personnel office; military personnel should contact their commanding officers.

16. How do donations get to charities? ↑
Donations are distributed to charities by the PCFO following the close and processing of the campaign. Donations made by check or cash are distributed once the audit of those funds is complete. Donations by payroll deduction are distributed quarterly after deducted funds have been received and audited. In all cases, the amount distributed to a charity is based on how much was designated to that charity by federal employees. If no one chooses a particular charity, it will not receive any funding.

Charities choose whether to receive their CFC donations directly, or through a federation. Many charities choose to join a federation, which allows them to share the expense and administrative burden of applying and participating in campaigns like the CFC with other charities. Federation membership is voluntary. Federations are non-profit organizations that are funded by their member organizations in a variety ways. Payments to charities in a federation are made through the federation, which then distributes them to each member charity based upon the designations by federal employees.

Independent charities do not belong to a federation, and apply individually to take part in the CFC. All costs associated with applying and participating in the campaign is part of an independent charity's overhead, instead of being handled by a federation. Payments to unaffiliated charities are made directly by the PCFO based on designations by federal employees.

17. Do I get a receipt? ↑
Donors should keep a copy of their pledge form, as well as their final pay period statement, as a receipt for their pledge. A federal employee who makes a one- time (cash or check) contribution must maintain a copy of the processed check, bank record or written communication from the local campaign showing the name of the organization donated to, the date of contribution and amount contributed.

18. When do I need verification of my donation for tax purposes? ↑
If you make a one time donation of $250 or more by cash or check and claim your gift as a tax deduction, IRS regulations may require verification of your charitable donation. Please contact your local CFC office for more information.

19. Why should I make charitable contributions through the Northern New England Combined CFC when I could just give directly to charities I wish to support? ↑
You could write a check and mail it directly to a charity, but most of us wait to be asked before we give. You might respond to a mail solicitation, for example, but maybe not the first one. Maybe a second or third mailing would get your attention. The CFC consolidates all of these individual and costly solicitations into one campaign, once a year resulting in lower solicitation costs to the charities. Accounting costs are also much lower because gifts are consolidated into monthly checks. Imagine the total overhead if all of these gifts were processed one-by-one each month. CFC costs are lower than any other form of charitable solicitation. The CFC is the most cost-effective way to donate to a charity and the only way for federal employees through payroll deduction. Finally, the charities also know in February what their revenue from pledges will be and can plan their programs accordingly. Systematic planning is not possible with sporadic individual contributions.

20. How do federal agencies benefit from participation in the CFC? ↑
Participation in the CFC enhances the visibility of federal employees and the agencies for which they work. Federal employees are viewed by the community as good neighbors who are concerned with the welfare of others. Federal employees benefit from an improvement in the quality of life in their local communities and around the world. Participation in the CFC assures that services will be available to federal employees when their own personal situations arise. The campaign affects everyone, including the lives of a federal agency's employees.

21. How do I know the charities participating in the CFC are legitimate? ↑
Federal employees volunteer to serve on an Application Review Committee that evaluates each charity applying to become eligible to receive designations from local CFC contributors. Each local charitable agency must meet the following requirements, as defined in federal law and OPM rules and regulations:

• Organizations must certify that they provide or conduct real human health and welfare services, benefits, assistance or program activities.

• Organizations must provide a letter from the Internal Revenue Service recognizing them as tax exempt under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3).

• Organizations must provide a completed copy of their IRS Form 990.

• Organizations must demonstrate that they have a substantial local, statewide or adjacent statewide presence, which must include a staffed facility or office available to the public seeking its services.

• The organization's local facility must be open at least 15 hours per week and have a telephone number exclusively dedicated to the organization.

• Organizations with annual revenue in excess of $100,000 must have an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.

• Organizations must be directed by an active and responsible governing body whose members have no conflict of interest and a majority of which serve without compensation.

22. What are some ways that federal agencies support the CFC? ↑
Federal agencies appoint volunteers to serve as Campaign Chair, Vice Chair and Campaign Manager to lead their agency's CFC effort. The Campaign Manager recruits a Campaign Committee, Team Coordinators and Keyworkers to help implement campaign plans and accept pledges.

23. Is the Northern New England Combined CFC covered by federal regulations? ↑
Yes. All CFC campaigns operate under regulations issued by the Office of Personnel Management. The regulations are designed to give federal employees who wish to help others through the CFC a chance to participate, without putting inappropriate pressure on individuals who do not wish to do so. In addition, the regulations define the process by which charitable organizations may participate in the CFC, along with the duties and responsibilities of the LFCC and PCFO. More information is available at OPM's CFC website http://www.opm.gov/CFC .

24. Why do some charities have such a high administrative cost? ↑
CFC regulations require that all participating charities keep their administrative costs below 25%, unless there are extenuating, justifiable circumstances. This assures that the maximum possible funding goes directly to the programs that serve people. If 25% still seems high, remember that these services would not be possible at all without an organization to provide the services. Administrative costs provide for stable continuing services, a location where people know they can receive the services they need, a staff of motivated, concerned people, often augmented by volunteers, and a focus on a particular need. Think of administrative costs this way – as a federal employee, how much professional work could you get done if you had to provide your own lighting, desks, building space, telephones, vehicles, payroll and personnel services? Overhead costs are a fact of life in any organization. The CFC helps hold them to a minimum.

25. Why should I contribute to the CFC when I don’t use or need these kinds of services? ↑
It is unlikely that you have never had contact with at least one CFC agency. Swimming at the “Y”, Red Cross Blood drives and first aid lessons, cheering for the U.S. Olympics Team, shopping at Goodwill retail stores, expressing concern about the environment, adopting a healthier lifestyle based upon information from a health agency…all our lives have been touched by CFC organizations. Experience and recent events teach us that we may be just one step away from needing the help of a CFC supported organization. Even if you and your family happen to be one of the “more fortunate” that never do need to use a CFC agency, each of us benefits from living in a community and a world where information, support and services are provided for all who want or need them.