POLICY ALERT: Take Action Against “Pay to Play” Combined Federal Campaign Fees

 

The federal Office of Personnel Management announced that all organizations seeking to participate in the 2017 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) will be required to pay a non-refundable upfront fee, in addition to a listing fee and a distribution fee assessed against contributions. This represents a substantial change in CFC funding fees that were previously solely charged as a percentage of contributions received.

Under the announced fee schedule, all local organizations not affiliated with a funding federation must pay an upfront fee of $340 merely to apply for participation. Maryland Nonprofits joined thousands of other groups in opposing the 2014 change in CFC rules that allowed the use of these fees, but that simply delayed their imposition.

The Combined Federal Campaign is the largest workplace giving vehicle in the nation, and a quarter of all donations to the CFC originate in the Maryland-DC area. We continue to believe that an upfront “pay to play” fee will present a real barrier to participation, particularly for smaller community-based organizations in our region.

Maryland Nonprofits joins the United Way Worldwide in urging you to contact your members of Congress to express your concerns and ask that this “pay to play” fee program be blocked.