OPM guide seeks to prevent mismanagement in federal charity drive

The Office of Personnel Management has issued a new audit guide to help prevent financial mismanagement in the annual federal charity drive. The Combined Federal Campaign was formed in 1961 to pool informal solicitations into one large-scale charity drive and is the only authorized solicitation for charities in the federal workplace. The new guide issued by OPM will help protect the integrity of the CFC program, OPM Director Kay Coles James said in a memo that accompanied the guide.

"Protecting the integrity of the Combined Federal Campaign remains OPM's highest priority in overseeing the program," James said in the April 17 memorandum. "By strengthening oversight of the CFC program and promoting better financial controls among campaign management organizations, we will build a stronger CFC for the future. Federal employees expect and deserve a program that honors their decision to donate their hard-earned dollars."

Last week, the Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit group Global Impact won the bid to administer the National Capital Area Combined Federal Campaign for 2003, ending the United Way's 25-year reign over the annual fundraising event. Global Impact, which has administered a fundraising campaign for overseas Defense Department employees since 1996, beat out the Central Maryland United Way for the contract to manage the National Capital Area CFC this year.

In February, the National Capital Area United Way, which ran the Capital Area CFC drive for 20 years, withdrew its bid to run the federal campaign in 2003, following allegations of financial mismanagement at the organization. Those allegations led James, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to call for an investigation of the organization's management of charitable donations. The OPM inspector general's office found evidence of a questionable loan, according to OPM spokesman Mike Orenstein.

"A $3 million loan had been made," Orenstein said Thursday. "The loan had, however, been paid back with interest and the fact that the loan was made did not impact distributions in any way. . . although it was not illegal, it was questionable."

The OPM guide contains specific procedures for auditing Principal Combined Fund Organizations (PFCOs), which coordinate marketing, collection and disbursement of donations for the federal charity campaigns. PFCOs must be independently audited each year. According to James, the more specific fiscal and program compliance information required by the new audit guide will help local CFCs and OPM oversee PFCOs.

About 180,000 civil servants participated in the 2002 capital area CFC campaign, raising more than $47 million last year, and $50 million in 2001.