Pledges to the 2018 federal-employee charity drive fell to $90 million, a 13 percent drop from the 2017 effort, according to data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The federal drive, commonly known as the Combined Federal Campaign, is a key source of financial support for many nonprofits but has been hit by a series of setbacks.
The decline in 2018 follows a 41 percent drop in 2017. And it continues a long string of nearly steady declines since 2006, when federal employees pledged $338 million to charity.
News of more declines was not surprising to philanthropy experts. Some cited lost fundraising time due to the federal shutdown that began late last year and small wage increases for federal employees. Also, a slew of changes to the CFC may still be affecting the program, including glitches in the online pledge system and the addition of upfront administrative fees for nonprofits that want to participate.
“We are currently in the planning stage for the 2019 campaign,” reads a statement from OPM in response to questions. “We are reviewing what changes are needed to the online system, to the processing of paper pledge forms, to the overall campaign management and marketing, and any other changes needed to optimize the campaign.”
‘Ray of Hope’
Daniel Mansoor, president of GoodWorks Group, a consulting firm, said making it easier for donors to make recurring gifts, like an automatic subscription, could keep more people engaged.
Thomas Bognanno, CEO of Community Health Charities, an organization that helps nonprofits solicit donations in workplace fundraising campaigns, cited one “bright ray of hope” — a growth in giving by retired federal employees who couldn’t participate directly until recently.
“We’re encouraged to see retiree giving growing and hope that trend continues,” Bognanno said.
Some nonprofits that oppose President Trump’s legislative and political plans saw big gains from federal employee giving drives in 2016, the year Trump was elected, but those gains have not held up.
For example, the ACLU saw its pledges increase from $219,000 in 2015 to more than $1.1 million in 2016, but its CFC donations then fell to $772,000 in 2017 and $675,000 in 2018. Planned Parenthood, likewise, had a spike in pledges from the CFC to $1.7 million in 2016, but they fell to $914,292 in 2017 and $766,735 in 2018.
Top 15 CFC Recipients
| Organizations | 2017 Pledges | 2018 Pledges | Change |
| St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital | $4,655,825.03 | $3,597,662.37 | -23% |
| American Red Cross | $2,114,836.23 | $1,782,496.68 | -16% |
| American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities | $778,064.23 | $1,328,818.73 | 71% |
| Doctors Without Borders | $1,433,154.81 | $1,306,518.06 | -9% |
| American Cancer Society | $1,097,122.28 | $865,722.34 | -21% |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America | $914,292.16 | $766,735.99 | -16% |
| Wounded Warrior Project | $983,891.00 | $711,666.56 | -28% |
| Catholic Relief Services | $915,015.27 | $706,299.60 | -23% |
| Samaritan’s Purse | $761,331.42 | $682,432.02 | -10% |
| American Civil Liberties Union Foundation | $771,538.22 | $674,967.59 | -13% |
| SOME (So Others Might Eat) | $704,270.20 | $659,527.99 | -6% |
| Fisher House Foundation | $703,450.91 | $631,422.12 | -10% |
| Shriners Hospitals for Children | $686,022.40 | $623,861.39 | -9% |
| American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | $657,774.15 | $562,254.44 | -15% |
| Habitat for Humanity International | $649,415.06 | $533,020.92 | -18% |
Source: United States Office of Personnel Management
Structural Problems
Tim Saasta, a co-founder and director of Charitable Choices, said one of the main reasons for declines since 2017 was the decision to oust local organizations that ran the local federal campaigns, mostly United Ways, in favor of regional “outreach coordinators.” Although the online portal got slightly better, he suspects that the CFC is still feeling aftershocks.
Marshall Strauss, chief executive of the Workplace Giving Alliance, a consortium of federations that participate in the CFC, said more than 20,000 charities participated in the campaign in 2016. That number has dropped by roughly two-thirds to around 7,000 and is likely to drop again. There have also been sharp declines in the number of donors.
Strauss said he is increasingly pessimistic but hopes that the CFC can increase participation, lower costs, and market the campaign more effectively in 2019.
“We warned the government that these changes were going to be profoundly disruptive. Unfortunately, we and others were right. Some of the things that are broken cannot be repaired,” he said, adding, “I’m worried that we’ve crossed a point of no return.”
Steve Taylor, a senior vice president for United Way Worldwide, said the shutdown should not take the lion’s share of blame for this year’s losses. He also said local organizations need to take back control of the CFC to make connections with federal employees.
“Frankly, OPM is delusional in thinking that they can make some little tweaks around the edges and fix what is a fatally flawed structure. It may not be helpful to say we told you so, but everyone told OPM that this was not going to work,” Taylor said. “To fix it, they have to reopen the rules. Either Congress has to force them to reopen the rules or they on their own are going to have to.”
Bognanno, from Community Health Charities, praised the federal workers still giving to the CFC.
“It was once a matter of pride to see how federal workers embraced charitable giving as an expression of the values America still believes in, and it can be again.”
Correction: A previous version of this article said pledges declined by 11 percent in 2018; the correct figure is 13 percent when the 2017 figure is adjusted for inflation.