Combined Federal Campaign safe way to donate to charity

1st Lt. Nathan Rhoads

"The mission of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is to promote and support philanthropy through a program that is employee focused, cost-efficient and effective in providing all federal employees the opportunity to improve the quality of life for all.”

What the statement above means is that the CFC is a quick and easy way for people to donate money to the charities of their choice.

That being said, there are some things to keep in mind when donating through the CFC or to any charitable organization.

I’ve pulled the following five tipson donating from the CFC Website’s Workplace Giving Guide:

1. Examine your values — One of the benefits of workplace donation campaigns is the number of choices. Take a couple of moments and look at which issues or causes are truly important to you. If you find a

charity that you’re interested in, but are unsure of, take a couple of minutes and visit the

organization’s website.

2. Review personal finances — After you’ve found the charity or charities that best reflect your personal interests, the next step is trying to decide how much to give. One way of doing that is to determine what you can afford to give each pay period. Take the amount you are considering and put it in terms of something you commonly buy. For example, a $10 donation each pay day is about one-fourth of a tank of gas every two weeks. Over the course of a year, that $10 donation, twice monthly, equals out to $240. It’s amazing how small donations each pay day can add up.

3. Are charities pre-screened? — Most of us have heard horror stories at one time or another about someone using a supposedly charitable organization to enrich themselves. For this reason, the CFC requires participating charities to be pre-screened with comprehensive reviews of their finances and governance over the previous year.

4. What percentage goes to the charities? — One of the biggest benefits of workplace giving campaigns is the lowered overhead costs. For example, the only overhead that comes out of CFC donations is from the charity itself, not the CFC. Also, each charity in the CFC catalog has its overhead percentage listed, so you know how much of your money is going into making the world a better place.

5. Follow up at the end of the year — After you’ve taken the time to find a charity to support and figured out how much to give, it’s time to grade their performance. You can review annual reports and other performance indicators on most charity websites.

Remember, it’s your money that you freely gave to make the world a better place. Why not see how it, in fact, made this place better for all of us?