Charity Information

Thanks to our Charity Partners

Your invaluable service to society once again earned the trust of our local federal employees in 2008, inspiring them to once again donate more than $1.78 million from our region - thank you for all that you do!

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How Does the CFC Work?

Click on the following links for information about:

General Overview
The Application Process
Distribution of Donations
Campaigning
Calendar

General Overview

The CFC is the only official workplace charitable fundraising program allowed in federal government offices. During a six-week time frame between Sept. 1st - Dec. 15th of each year, the local CFC is promoted and federal employees are given the opportunity to designate a payroll deduction, cash or check donation to any of over 2,000 charities.

Donations are distributed the following year, beginning in late March. All donation decisions are made by the donors; some charities may receive several thousand dollars, while others may not receive any in a given year.  Designations are paid based on funds received.

The application period occurs once annually in the winter or early spring (depending upon your applicant classification) and every organization must re-apply each year to participate. Organizations must meet a series of standards, which includes: being in operation for at least one year, be categorized as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization by the IRS, provide real and verifiable services, and a variety of other requirements. See the Application Process section below to determine whether or how you should apply, or go to the national Office of CFC Operations web site for regulations and more info.

National or international charities apply in December - January to the Office of CFC Operations in Washington D.C., and local charities apply to local CFC offices in March - April. Applications are then reviewed by a committee of federal volunteers to verify eligibility. Approved charities are published in a charity list booklet that is distributed to all federal employees within a CFC territory. To request a copy of the 2008 charity list please contact Leslie Morrison.  Please see the About Us page for more information about our local campaign.

The Application Process

• The 2009 application period for national and international charities: CLOSED 
• The 2009 application period for local charities: CLOSED

To determine how you qualify and should apply, consider:

Step 1: If your primary service area covers 15 or more states or a foreign country, you are a national or international applicant. If your primary service area is within our CFC boundaries or the serves the entire states of Oregon or Washington, you are a local applicant. If your charity serves Oregon or Washington outside of our CFC boundaries, you must obtain an application from the local CFC office for that region. Go to the National CFC web site and “Local Campaign Information” for a list of other CFC offices.

Step 2: If your organization is not associated with any federation, such as United Way, Earth Share, Community Health Charities, etc., then you should apply as an independent organization. If your organization primarily funds member charities and has 15 or more qualifying members, like the groups above, then you should apply as a federation. If your organization is a member of a federation, then you should contact your federation office and apply through them. An organization cannot apply in more than one category.

To Apply as a Local Organization

Applications:  The 2009 applications for Local Independent Organizations and Federations are posted below.  Please note that the Oregon Federal Executive Board cannot accept applications until the application open date (March 9th, 2009).  If you have trouble downloading this document, please contact Leslie Morrison.

2009 Local Independent Application
2009 Local Federation Application

After the application period opens (March 9th) , complete applications should be mailed to:

Ron Johnson
Oregon Federal Executive Board
1220 SW 3rd Ave. Suite 1776
Portland, OR  97204-2823

Federations - You must distribute, collect and review for approval completed CFC Local Federation Member Applications from each of your member organizations you wish to list for participation. Unless you are new to the local CFC, please send to the Oregon Federal Executive Board (OFEB) only your federation application and those applications of from new members in your federation or those members that did not participate in the CFC the previous year. By regulation, however, you must keep all of your federation member applications on file for three years.

IRS Form 990 -  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a revised IRS Form 990 which tax exempt organizations will be required to file starting with tax year 2008.  This revised form is significantly different from the previous IRS Form 990.  These changes affect both the method used to calculate the Administrative and Fundraising Rate (AFR) for CFC as well as the required pages that an organization using a pro-forma IRS Form 990 is required to provide with its application.   The CFC applications above reflect this change to the IRS Form 990.

Questions about the local application process? Contact Jeff Sargent at 503.326.3030/jsargent@pcez.com or Ron Johnson at 503.326.2060/rjohnson@pcez.com.

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To Apply as a National or International Organization

The application period for national or international non-profit organizations to participate in the 2009 CFC has already passed.  Please check the OPM website in fall of 2009 for the 2010 national/international applicaiton.

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Distribution of CFC Donations

Charities with designations from the 2009 campaign will receive a letter in mid-March of 2010 detailing the dollars pledged or donated to their organization. This letter will include the name, contact information, and donation amount of donors who agreed to have that information released. The first payment from 2009 donations will be sent prior to April 1st, 2010 and will continue through March of 2011.

Mailing Address Changes for CFC Funded Organizations

If your charitable organization is receiving CFC funds and your mailing address changes, please contact Lenny Logan at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, 503.226.9315 or lennyl@unitedway-pdx.org, for details. More than one piece of evidence will be required for verification; a simple voice-mail or e-mail will not suffice. Your notification is important, as it will help you to continue to receive timely donation payments.

Campaigning

The Pacific Northwest CFC strives to give each charity the opportunity to present their organization's work to federal employees.  It is our goal to be unbiased in our promotion of member charities.  The charity list, which all Federal employees receive during the campaign, provides a brief description of your charity's services and gives contact information.  Other ways to get involved are to:

Attend charity training.  July 22nd, 2009, 1:30pm-3:00pm, Green-Wyatt Federal Building, 1220 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR  97204, Room 322.

Sign up for Speakers Bureau.  We distribute the Speakers Bureau list to campaign coordinators and post it on our website.  Agencies select charities from this list to speak at meetings and special events during the campaign.  You will be emailed prior to the campaign to request contact information for this list.  Note:  Signing up for Speaker's Bureau does not guarantee a speaking engagement.  If you are contacted to speak, please clear any promotional materials you would like to distribute with the agency leadership through your campaign coordinator prior to your visit.

2008 Speakers Bureau

Please note that CFC regulations prohibit charities from soliciting Federal agency personnel for speaking engagements or other promotional activities at Federal agencies. 

Calendar

This document provides a timeline of events to help our member charities plan for the 2008 Pacific Northwest Combined Federal Campaign.  Please contact Leslie Morrison at 503.226.9557 or lesliem@unitedway-pdx.org for more details.

Event	Date
Local Application Period Opens	March 9th, 2009
Donor Information report and Accounting letters issued (Designations and donors list)	March 16th, 2009
Initial disbursement from 2008 campaign	April 1st, 2009
Local Application Period Closes	April 9th, 2009
Deadline for LFCC to notify charities of eligibility decision	May 1st, 2009
Deadline for appeals to LFCC eligibility decisions	Within seven business days of the date of initial LFCC decision or fourteen calendar days from the date the decision was mailed, whichever is earlier.
Charity Orientation	July 22nd, 2009 1:30pm to 3:00pm Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building 1220 SW 3rd Portland, OR  97204 Room 322 Register HERE