Good News for Nonprofits: CFC Rule Change Delayed Until 2017

Earlier this week, America’s Charities received the following letter from the Office of the Combined Federal Campaign (OCFC) of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), notifying us that the CFC rule change, initially set to take effect for the 2016 campaign, has been delayed and will not be implemented until the 2017 campaign:

Dear Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Stakeholder:
 
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has determined that the best way to ensure the successful implementation of important new regulations to modernize the CFC is to make the rules effective for the 2017 CFC campaign. OPM is working with Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to change the effective date of the rule from January 1, 2016 to a future date (e.g. January 1, 2017).
 
The new effective date for the CFC regulations will ensure that the tools needed to put these reforms in place – including the pivotal online charity application and donor pledging systems – are thoroughly tested and fully operational before being made available to charities and donors. The current regulations governing the CFC, set forth at 5 CFR §950, will remain in effect for the 2015 and 2016 campaign periods.
 
The Office of CFC will follow-up with representatives of Local Federal Coordinating Committees and Principal Combined Fund Organizations in the coming weeks to answer any questions they may have.
 
Sincerely,
Office of CFC

Since April 2013, America’s Charities has been working to fight certain proposed changes that we believe would harm the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). We believe this decision by OPM is great news for America’s Charities’ members and other nonprofits that participate in the CFC, because it means that certain key changes, such as the charity application fees and changes to the application process and campaign structure, will not take effect until 2017.  A summary of the rule change and our work in fighting the proposed changes may be found here. 

You can also read a statement from America’s Charities president and CEO, Steve Delfin, in TheNonProfitTimes posted here.