Our Services

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We provide an array of services associated with the Combined Federal Campaign and other public sector campaigns. Applicants are usually not required to affiliate with a federation to enter these campaigns, but most do – for three good reasons.

Admissions support. The admissions process can be hard to understand, and many first-time applications fail without expert guidance. Indeed, federal government staff tell us that about half of those national groups that apply on their own initially fail. We help applicants make sense of the requirements and advise early in the process if improvements to an application are needed. If an organization does not qualify initially for a campaign, we sometimes can offer suggestions that will lead to success in later years.

Increased visibility. Federations with thematic names, like ours, make it far easier for donors to navigate the printed campaign directory to find groups that interest them. In the CFC, the directory often runs 100 pages or more, and listings are not in alphabetical order. However, a table of contents at the front of these directories lists federations, so donors interested in a particular kind of work can quickly find a list of relevant organizations.

Fiscal services. The CFC operates in over 200 administrative zones. Each one reports pledges and forwards donated funds separately – potentially creating a mountain of correspondence and thousands of checks for each charity. For federation members, correspondence and payments are first sent to the federation. We consolidate data, track pledges and payments, and make regular, lump-sum distributions to members. The reporting of results by state and local administrators is also often confusing; federations like ours help make sense of the numbers and ensure that promised funds do in fact arrive.

How We’re Different

All federations are required to provide admission support and fiscal services. All those with thematic names offer increased visibility. However, like every other federation in the Workplace Giving Alliance, we do some things a little differently:

• Virtually every new organization we present to the CFC and other campaigns is admitted. Overall, more than 98% of applications from federations in the Workplace Giving Alliance are accepted.
• Our fees are low – quite low – and we spell them out in writing.
• When we tell our members how much has been pledged to them, we also project how much of that amount they are likely to receive. We explain, for example, what local CFC administrators typically withhold to cover their operating costs, and the percentage of pledges that usually are not fulfilled. We base our fee on our members’ net donations, not gross pledge amounts.
• We do not sell advertising. We do help our members craft the brief statements that are printed in the campaign directories after each group’s name. We may even suggest that a group develop a DBA (Doing Business As) to better communicate to potential donors what they do.
• We publish information about CFC promotional events and allow anyone to subscribe for e-mail or RSS notifications when new content is posted.
• Through our Campaign Calendar, we organize and publish information about fund drives sponsored by states, municipalities and other public-sector entities – so that charities can understand the costs, potential benefits and processes associated with each one. The federations of the Workplace Giving Alliance make this information available for all charities, whether they work with us or not.
• We notify our members when we believe they may qualify for a campaign beyond the CFC (see Other Campaigns). Then we help members understand how to apply – on their own, through Human & Civil Rights Organizations, or through our sister federation, Partners for a Better World.
• The Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management periodically audits federations and local CFC administrators. In 2007, one of our sister federations, which uses the same management systems we do, received a clean audit from the IG. To our knowledge, no other federation can make this claim.
• Finally, we do not bundle our services. We will help you apply to the CFC or to a state campaign – even if you wish to work with some other federation or on your own in other areas.