Combined Federal Campaign CFC FAQs

No. A retiree can volunteer to help on the campaign but cannot represent any government entity or solicit federal employees.

Yes. All special solicitations must be approved by the Director of OPM, regardless of whether or not the recipient charity participates in the CFC.

No. Donors may not use the CFC pledge form to direct their contributions to special solicitation efforts. This can lead to confusion and ultimately the CFC does not have the authority to designate that a specific program within an organization receive the funds.

No. The agreement must be between the Loaned Executive and his/her supervisor. This issue must be addressed at the LFCC level.

No. Special solicitations are conducted outside of the CFC procedures. In addition, special solicitations are intended to provide immediate financial assistance to charities involved in immediate relief efforts for disasters and emergencies. The fastest, most direct way to process special solicitation contributions is in the form of cash or check payable to the recipient charitable organization.

Chapter I of the CFC Audit Guide requires the PCFO to provide a copy of its own organization's audited financial statements to the LFCC who then forwards them to OPM. Chapter II of the CFC Audit Guide requires the LFCC to complete a compliance assessment with assistance from the PCFO. The LFCC Chair, or a designated LFCC member, must prepare and sign a report communicating the results of its compliance assessment and provide the report to OPM along with a copy of the Pledge Form Questionnaire. The Agreed-Upon Procedures (AUP) report must be completed by a certified public accountant or CPA firm in accordance with Chapter III of the CFC Audit Guide. The report must include copies of the audit schedules used to complete the AUPs. The PCFO is responsible for forwarding the AUP report to the LFCC who then forwards it to OPM along with the audit schedules.

If a Federal agency wants to solicit funds for a charitable organization not listed in the CFC Charity List it may do so in an OPM-approved special solicitation. Again, this collection effort is conducted outside of the CFC through a special solicitation. The CFC has no mechanisms for tracking donations to charitable organizations not identified by a CFC number.

Because the special solicitation is outside of the CFC, the Federal department, agency, or component conducting the solicitation is responsible for the oversight and administration of the collection of contributions. The Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC) can be contacted for assistance. OPM recommends that Federal departments and agencies holding a special solicitation request that the charitable organizations receiving funds from the solicitation be responsible for the collection and substantiation of all contributions.

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) does not require that participating organizations be in existence for a minimum of three years. Organizations that apply to participate as national/international charities may submit examples of services provided within the previous three years to demonstrate a national or international presence. There is no requirement that services were provided in each of those years, however.

The CFC is only authorized to deduct contributions for 26 pay periods, even in a year when there are 27 pay periods.  Payroll offices have adjusted their system to ensure that there are not 27 deductions.