NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
The Combined Federal Campaign launched its 2018 pledge portal Sept. 10 and it will remain open until Jan. 11. This year’s theme encourages all Federal employees to “Show Some Love” by making a pledge to one or more of the many worthy charities who rely on CFC donations throughout the year.
Last year, the Office of Personnel Management contracted with The Give Back Foundation (the central campaign administrator or CCA) to develop and deploy a new national CFC Online Donation System. During the same time period, OPM introduced the new CFC Online Donation System which replaced electronic CFC modules in Employee Express and myPay, as well as a variety of local systems.
For the 2018 campaign, the system was updated to accommodate some of the changes that were most requested by Federal employees and other donors. Continuing with the fall 2018 CFC period, campaign workers will direct anyone choosing to make an online pledge to this CFC Online Donation System.
This new CFC Online Donation System also increases transparency and ensures that the contributions made by Federal, postal and military personnel, as well as retirees and contractors reach the people who need help the most. The benefits of the new CFC Online Donation System to the government include:
· All personnel have access to one electronic giving platform to support all charities across all Zones.
· Increased transparency and accountability with fees disclosed up front to the donor before they pledge. The CFC recovers the cost of administering the campaign through fees assessed of charities.
· A new avenue for collecting recurring gifts by annuitants who could make only one-time pledges in the past. Retirees gave more than $500 thousand to their favorite charities through CFC in 2017.
· The ability to engage employees to give volunteer time in addition to monetary pledges. In the first year, pledges of volunteer time amounted to more than 125,000 hours valued at over $3 million by the charities they serve.
· An additional new feature enables newly hired employees who start their Federal service outside the CFC solicitation period to establish a pledge to their approved local, national, or international charities. This “New Hire” feature will extend from February 1 through August 1 of every year. To continue a new hire pledge, those employees will need to make an election during the regular solicitation period with their colleagues annually.
As a reminder, beginning in the 2017 campaign, the CFC no longer accepts cash donations. Donations can be made through the CFC Online Donation System in the form of pay roll deductions or using a paper form with payment by check or credit card. Paper forms can be obtained through CFC keyworkers located throughout your agency.
All payroll deductions for the 2018 CFC campaign will begin in February 2019 and run through January 31, 2020.