As part of our CFC activities, our committee desires to conduct a silent auction. The auction will comply with all of the requirements of the CFC, e.g., participation is voluntary and the high bidder will be able to designate the charitable organization that should receive his/her monetary donation, however, the committee desires to know if they are able to solicit items from local businesses and commercial vendors to place in the auction. I have told them that they may not do so, but the local CFC chair has apparently indicated otherwise. Is there an OPM position regarding this type of outside solicitation? If so, what authority may be cited? Thank you for your assistance.
OPM requires the campaign (or event coordinator if not a campaign-wide event) to check with the agency ethics official(s) for the agency(ies) in which the event will take place. The agency ethics official’s decision is final for their agency in these situations. Please also note that for a silent auction, the winning bidder should be provided with the actual value of the item. Only the amount over the value of the item may be considered as a tax deductible donation.
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