Save the CFC

Background

America’s Charities has been working to fight certain proposed changes that we believe would harm the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). After a draft rule was published on April 8, 2013, America’s Charities and many other charities, including Christian Service Charities, Community Health Charities, EarthShare, Global Impact, Human Service Charities of America, Independent Sector, National Black United Fund, United Way and YMCA of the USA, voiced our significant concerns with specific proposed rule changes that would, if implemented, dramatically reduce giving. Nearly 1,400 comments were submitted to The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and in conjunction with a coalition of national federations and with member support, we met with Congressional staffers to discuss our concerns. 

These meetings culminated in a Congressional hearing on July 10, 2013, with the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Government Reform.  During the hearing, the subcommittee requested that the OPM address specific concerns they had about the proposed rule change, including the sweeping nature of the proposed revisions without any details being provided or any testing. In addition, they requested that OPM form an advisory committee of industry experts and key stakeholders to assist with the rulemaking refinement process, as well as communicate more openly in response to concerns put forth regarding the proposed changes. 

Final Rule Change to the CFC

Posted July 2015:

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.  This 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. 

Below is the email we received from the Office of the Combined Federal Campaign (OCFC) of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regarding this update:

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

We will continue to post updates on this site. Thank you for all of your support and speaking out against the proposed rule changes. 

If you have questions, please contact: 

Thank you for helping us keep the CFC viable!