Federal Workers’ Charity Drive Plummets Under Trump Administration

The Grinch who stole Christmas? The annual federal workers’ charity drive is facing a steep downturn in donations under the Trump administration.Fundraising data reported by the Washington Post shows that federal workers donated just $23 million combined as of last weekend — a significant decline from the $40 million raised by the same point in recent years.The Combined Federal Campaign has raised more than $9 billion since its inception in the 1960s, with funds supporting thousands of charities across Washington, D.C., and the Mid-Atlantic region.The dismal donations come just months after the Trump administration considered scrapping the annual event altogether, causing the drive to begin later than usual. Although Office of Personnel Management officials extended the campaign through January, charities that rely on these funds worry it won’t make much difference. That’s because the Office recently informed the employees who help run the program that their contracts would not be extended, according to the Post.“If the contractors in the final four weeks in January are not allowed to do their work, it’s a question of how successful can we make the CFC campaign after we’ve already been hit with a delay because of the shutdown and are dealing with other constraints in the nonprofit community,” the vice president of government affairs at the Nonprofit Alliance, Ann Hollingsworth, told the Washington Post. Her organization lobbied the government not to cancel the fundraiser. The Office of Personnel Management, however, maintains that it is looking to establish “more cost-effective ways for federal employees to donate to charities than the current CFC,” spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover told the Post. “We are not paying them additional monies for the extension period because we do not believe that is a good use of donor dollars,” she added.Other factors impacting the annual charity include the administration’s sweeping layoffs, which have affected nearly 300,000 federal employees, and this year’s 43-day government shutdown.The Nonprofit Alliance, which led some 400 organizations in writing a letter urging the administration to continue the drive, stated that canceling would mark “a significant departure from the federal government’s longstanding commitment to fostering a culture of service and civic engagement among its workforce.” The letter noted that federal employees have consistently supported charitable causes through voluntary contributions, and the CFC provides “an efficient, transparent, and administratively streamlined mechanism for channeling this generosity where it is most needed.”Signers of the letter included the American Diabetes Association, America’s Best Charities, CASA of Central Texas, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, Christian Military Fellowship, DAV Charitable Service Trust, DC Central Kitchen, Earthjustice, Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington, Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, Meals on Wheels America, Prostate Cancer Research Institute, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio, United Way of the National Capital Area and Wounded Warrior Project.The letter described the program as “a tangible expression of federal employees’ commitment to public service that extends beyond their official duties.”

Federal Workers’ Charity Drive Plummets Under Trump Administration

Federal Workers’ Charity Drive Plummets Under Trump Administration

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