Charitable Donation Campaign For Feds To Proceed, But Long-Term Future Uncertain

By Drew Friedman, Federal News Network, Maryland Matters

September 12, 2025

After temporarily halting this year’s Combined Federal Campaign, the Office of Personnel Management told agencies that it plans to proceed with the 2025 CFC, while also calling into question the long-term future of the annual donation drive for federal employees.

In a memo sent to agencies Wednesday evening, OPM said it hoped this year’s CFC would be successful. But at the same time, OPM expressed reservations about the costs of keeping the program up and running in 2026 and beyond. The agency said it would be “evaluating changes” for the CFC next year, and noted the possibility of ending the program altogether.

“OPM believes strongly in charities and supports the generosity of federal employees in donating their time and money to charitable causes,” the memo states. “However, OPM is concerned about excessive administrative costs associated with the CFC, along with steadily declining participation.”

A few weeks ago, the Trump administration considered canceling the 2025 CFC. As the White House took time to make a final decision, OPM told agencies to pause all activities supporting the CFC and suspend contractor work on the charitable donation drive. With the announcement that OPM will now proceed with the campaign this year, that work is expected to resume.

The CFC has been an annual campaign for more than 60 years, allowing federal employees to contribute to thousands of charities worldwide. During last year’s campaign, federal employees contributed a combined total of $70 million to about 4,500 charities. Since the CFC began in 1964, around $9 billion have gone to charities around the world.

Maryland charities concerned over funding, as OPM pauses Combined Federal Campaign

Prior to OPM’s announcement that the 2025 CFC would continue, nearly 400 charities urged the Trump administration to proceed with the campaign. In a letter addressed to OPM Director Scott Kupor, a coalition of charitable organizations argued that the program has saved $400 million over the last five years by letting federal employees make voluntary contributions “that would otherwise require taxpayer funding.”

“This substantial public benefit, delivered without burdening the federal budget, demonstrates a remarkable return on investment that validates the program’s efficiency and civic value,” the Sept. 4 letter, led by The Nonprofit Alliance, says. “The potential elimination of the CFC would create devastating consequences extending far beyond the immediate loss of charitable funding.”

In contrast, however, Kupor estimated that it would cost $22 million for OPM to administer this year’s CFC, due to contractor and listing fees.

“This means for every $1 a federal employee donates, about $0.33 (or 33%) does not reach the charity for which it was intended,” Kupor said in a blog post Wednesday evening. “Rather, dollars that could be deployed to help sick children, help veterans in need, or help victims of natural disasters get back on their feet, are instead diverted to overhead.”

Kupor said the 2025 CFC would continue “only because many charities have already spent time and money preparing for this over the course of this year.”

Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers considered including a provision in the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” that would have put a 10% administrative fee on all CFC donations made through federal employee payroll deductions. Congress ultimately scrapped that provision and it was not included in the enacted version of the reconciliation legislation.

For the 2025 CFC, federal employees will be able to donate to the campaign between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.