OPM Proposes Combined Federal Campaign Reforms

The Office of Personnel Management is moving forward with a rule to revamp the Combined Federal Campaign, and increase participation in the federal employee charity drive.

The proposed rule will be published in the April 8 edition of the Federal Register. It would reform the CFC in 13 “key areas of change,” including moving the solicitation period to Oct. 1-Jan. 15, from Sept. 1- Dec. 15; creating a disaster relief program to allow employees to donate within hours of a catastrophe; and building a new oversight structure that will consolidate Local Federal Coordinating Committees into regional ones.

“These steps follow through on the CFC 50 Commission’s excellent recommendations for strengthening the CFC,” OPM Director John Berry said in a statement Friday. “Getting 100 percent of an employee’s donations to go to the charity they choose focuses energy on the CFC’s core purpose.”

In a statement, OPM also said that the rule would save money and was “designed to increase the CFC’s accessibility, accountability, transparency and affordability.”

The CFC raised $273 million in pledges, with a 24 percent participation rate in 2011, according to the CFC-50 report.  In an informal poll conducted by Government Executive in September 2012, 60 percent of respondents said that they would not contribute to the 2012 CFC, with only 28 percent saying that they intended to donate. 

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