What Employee Giving is and How Workplace Giving Works

Employee Giving Programs

If you work for a company, organization or the federal government, chances are you've had the opportunity to participate in a workplace giving program (if not - share this link with your employer to bring workplace giving to your company). Workplace giving is an easy and efficient way to make tax-deductible donations to the charities you care about, typically with donations taken directly out of your paycheck. (Donations via credit card, vacation time and other methods might also be available depending on your employer's program).

How Workplace Giving Works:

  • Typical workplace giving campaigns occur in the Fall but many employers are moving to year-round employee engagement programs. When your employer holds its workplace giving campaign, you will be given the opportunity to give to many charities.
  • Based on those giving options, find the charity(ies) you want to support and designate a set amount of money you would like to donate to the charity(ies). You can pledge different amounts of money to different charities based on the level of support you wish to provide. After you make you decisions and submit your pledge, you're done!
  • Your donation will be deducted automatically from your paycheck (or whatever payment method you selected) for a 1-year period, and that money will be distributed to the charity(ies) you designated during the campaign.
  • As your company will hold its annual workplace giving campaign in subsequent years, you can renew last year's pledges or choose new charities to support.

Benefits of Workplace Giving: 

  • Convenience & Tax Benefits: You get the convenience of automatic payroll deductions without losing the tax benefits of charitable giving.
  • Financially More Manageable:  By having a smaller amount of money deducted from your paycheck throughout the year, you can donate a larger amount of money and have a greater impact overall. For example, if you get paid biweekly (26 times throughout the year) and you pledge $38.50 of each paycheck to a charity, by the end of the year you will have donated $1,000 to that charity!
  • Matching Gifts: Some employers will offer to match your contributions up to a specified amount.  This leverages your employer's philanthropic support and maximizes your gift to the causes you care about. Learn more about a few great programs here.
  • Cost-efficient and Sustainable Fundraising: Workplace giving is more cost-effective and efficient for charities to raise funds than other fundraising methods. The cost of participating in a workplace giving campaign is far below the cost that would be incurred if participating charities had to launch any type of campaign to try to raise an equal amount of money. Your donation enables charities to spend more time and resources on services and programs rather than elaborate fundraising.
  • Unrestricted Money: Your donation provides charities with a sustainable, year-round source of funds. And because this money is 'unrestricted,' your donation provides charities with funds that enable them to decide how to best use that money and invest in their ability to deliver vital programs and services.

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC):

If you are a federal employee, you can support your favorite charities through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)'s fall campaign.  With 30+ CFC campaign zones throughout the country and overseas, the CFC is one the world's largest workplace charity campaigns and has raised over $8 billion for non-profits since its inception in 1961.

Each charity participating in the CFC has a unique CFC number assigned to them.  To support specific charities, identify the charity's unique CFC number and enter the number on your CFC pledge form or through the online donation platform.  Please log into the CFC's donor pledging site: https://cfcgiving.opm.gov/welcome for the complete CFC Charity List and to find more information about your specific CFC zone.

To support America's Charities and our members, use our charity database to find your favorite charity(ies) and the unique CFC number.