Federal fundraising drive aims to build on last year’s success

The federal government's annual charity drive has started, and organizers in the National Capital Area are hoping to set new records for participation this year despite tough economic times.

On Sept. 1, the Combined Federal Campaign launched its 2010 season of giving, and federal employees nationwide will have until Dec. 15 to donate to approved organizations. Linda Washington, chairwoman of the National Capital Area's Local Federal Coordinating Committee and senior policy adviser for community initiatives at the Transportation Department, said she remains confident in the charitable spirit of feds inside the Beltway.

Washington is aiming to increase participation in the National Capital Area drive by 1 percentage point over 2009, bringing it from 41 percent to 42 percent. While she declined to name a target dollar figure until a kickoff event on Wednesday, she noted that last year, D.C.-area employees exceeded their goal of $64 million in donations. "We blew the lid off of that," she said during an interview with Government Executive on Tuesday.

Capital Area employees gave a record-breaking $66.5 million in 2009; federal employees, U.S. Postal Service workers and military personnel nationwide set another record by donating $283 million.

"When you talk about service to America, they really take it to heart," Washington said. "Federal workers are not just spectators."

In an Aug. 31 memorandum, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry pledged his support for the Combined Federal Campaign: "I've always said federal employees are big-hearted people. Nothing demonstrates that caring spirit better than the CFC."

Federal fundraising for charitable organizations started in the late 1940s, but there was no formal authority for workplace campaigns until President John F. Kennedy established one in 1961. With 320 regional campaigns and more than 20,000 participating charities, the Combined Federal Campaign is the largest annual workplace drive.

Although there are no strategic or structural changes to the National Capital Area's 2010 drive, Washington said fresh faces, such as recently appointed LFCC Executive Director Lindi Harvey, will bring "new creativity, new ideas and energy."

Federal employees who wish to participate in the fundraiser can visit OPM's Combined Federal Campaign site to find out more about their region's drive. Capital Area workers can browse the 2010 Catalog of Caring and choose from more than 4,000 federally approved nonprofit organizations working on causes from disaster relief to youth development and the arts. The National Capital Area drive also urges employees to take advantage of e-Giving tools.