Combined Federal Campaign Under Fire (Again)
The Washington Post reports today that six charities are suing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), claiming they were unfairly dropped from the official eligibility list for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). The CFC, which is run by OPM, is a fund-raising drive conducted every fall that allows federal employees and military personnel to donate money directly to charities — 22,000 in 2005 – of their choice.
According to the article, "In rejecting the charities' applications, OPM said they did not meet a requirement that charities operate in 15 or more states or in another country over the previous three years." The article continues, "The way OPM goes about creating the annual [CFC eligibility] list has been a recent subject of criticism and legal wrangling. Last year, OPM dropped a long-standing requirement that charities spend no more than 25 percent of their revenue on salaries and other administrative expenses after the national chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation sued in federal court. The agency was forced to print additions to the brochure it had prepared for the campaign."
OPM also came under fire earlier this year when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that OPM did not independently verify with the Internal Revenue Service whether charities in the CFC were truly tax-exempt organizations. The House Ways & Means Committee requested that GAO look into this matter and held a hearing on GAO's findings in May. As a result of the increased attention from Capitol Hill , OPM recently issued a proposed rule, which would make significant changes to the “eligibility requirements and public accountability standards” for charities participating in the CFC. For more information on the proposed rule, see my post on it.
According to the article, "In rejecting the charities' applications, OPM said they did not meet a requirement that charities operate in 15 or more states or in another country over the previous three years." The article continues, "The way OPM goes about creating the annual [CFC eligibility] list has been a recent subject of criticism and legal wrangling. Last year, OPM dropped a long-standing requirement that charities spend no more than 25 percent of their revenue on salaries and other administrative expenses after the national chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation sued in federal court. The agency was forced to print additions to the brochure it had prepared for the campaign."
OPM also came under fire earlier this year when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that OPM did not independently verify with the Internal Revenue Service whether charities in the CFC were truly tax-exempt organizations. The House Ways & Means Committee requested that GAO look into this matter and held a hearing on GAO's findings in May. As a result of the increased attention from Capitol Hill , OPM recently issued a proposed rule, which would make significant changes to the “eligibility requirements and public accountability standards” for charities participating in the CFC. For more information on the proposed rule, see my post on it.
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