About Us

CFC History and Rationale

The tradition of commitment to the community through the selfless efforts of federal employees has its roots in the many charitable campaigns of the early 1960s. Seeing a need to bring the diversity of fundraising efforts under a single umbrella, federal employees created the CFC - one campaign, once a year. By allowing employees to select from a single guide and to make their contributions through payroll deductions, the CFC opened wide the door to more opportunities for generous giving to literally hundreds of worthy causes. An Executive Order by the Kennedy Administration in 1961 made the CFC a reality, and turned an innovative idea into a uniquely effective way for federal employees to help those in need across our communities and throughout the world.

The CFC is the only authorized solicitation of employees in the federal workplace on behalf of charitable organizations. It continues to be the largest and most successful workplace fundraising model in the world. There are about 360 CFC regions nationally, reaching 2 million civilian, postal and military employees. Regulation and administration of the CFC nationally is conducted by the Office of CFC Operations in Washington, D.C.

In 2001 alone following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Federal donors' contributions rose by 8% over 2000 for a total of $241 million, the largest increase in 12 years. In 2006 contributions totaled $271.6 million.

Local CFC Background

The Pacific Northwest Combined Federal Campaign is administered by the Oregon Federal Executive Board (OFEB), and a committee of federal employee volunteers called the Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC). Ron Johnson is the Executive Director of the OFEB and Chair of the LFCC. He can be reached at 503.326.2060 or rjohnson@pcez.com.

Our CFC now serves approximately 23,000 federal employees in 33 Oregon and SW Washington counties:

Oregon: Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Jefferson, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Polk, Sherman, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler & Yamhill.

Washington: Clark, Cowlitz, Klickitat, Skamania & Wahkiakum.

Pacific Northwest CFC Regional Growth History

2008	A merger with Lane County CFC is approved by OPM.  The PCFO and LFCC of this CFC thought that campaign efficiencies could be achieved through a merger while maintaining the level of service to this area.  In 2007 Lane County set a record with over $150,000 in CFC contributions.  A merger with Central Oregon CFC (Deschutes, Crook, Grant, and Harney counties) is also approved by OPM.  The campaign changes its name from Columbia River/Willamette Valley CFC to Pacific Northwest CFC to better describe the region served by the campaign.
2007	The Pacific Northwest CFC sets a new campaign record with over $1.57 million raised for a nearly 5% increase.  Our campaign's percent participation also increases in 2007.
2006	The Pacific Northwest CFC agreed to serve Baker, Union and Wallowa counties in eastern Oregon. The federal employees in these counties had previously not been part of any CFC region.
2005	The Pacific Northwest CFC welcomed federal employees from Clatsop and Tillamook counties in Oregon as part of the region. Thanks to Captain Michael Farrell of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station/Group Astoria for his leadership in this partnership.
2004	Umatilla and Morrow Counties in eastern Oregon approached our CFC about a merger. Management costs to run the smaller campaign had become too prohibitive. An agreement was reached in March to merge the two campaigns and it was approved by the national CFC office. About 700 federal employees live in these two counties, and the campaign raises approximately $25,000 annually.
2003	Our CFC agreed to serve four counties in central Oregon that previously had not had a Combined Federal Campaign: Gilliam, Jefferson, Sherman and Wheeler. This enabled more from our federal family who previously could not give through the CFC a chance to do so. The 2003 campaign raised over $1.5 million for the first time in our history. It was done at a remarkable 6.0% overhead rate, down from 6.7% in '02 and among the lowest in the country for a campaign of our size.
2002	The campaign raised over $1.475 million, a record at the time for our region and a 5.1% increase in total dollars.
2001	The Columbia River Area and Willamette Valley CFCs merged to form a 17 county region. That year the new Columbia River/Willamette Valley CFC raised a record $1.4 million, a 6% increase over the previous year, with a 32.5% participation rate. Donations rose 20% and participation jumped 30% in the Willamette Valley alone.

Campaign Results

Annual Reports:
2007                            2006

	2007	2006	2005	2004
Dollars Raised	$1,575,132	$1,507,079	$1,512,529	$1,490,544
Percent Participation	27.5%	27.2%	27.8%	28.7%
Employees Served	20,350	20,065	21,268	20,943
Number of Donors	5,589	5,447	5,909	6,002
Average Gift	$281.83	$276.67	$255.97	$248.35
Overhead Costs	7.3% (projected)	6.5%	6.1%	6.0%

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