Cfc?

However…. from years of CFC I understand the following:
* CFC takes out an administrative fee. Not sure what it is, but 100% of your donation is not going to your favorite org
* CFC donations are delayed. Years ago, when I was told this – I was told that the delay was like 6 months.

I always participate in CFC – make a token donation – to show that I am a “team player” an make my office participation rate 100% — and then I donate directly to my favorite charities.

One more thought: Never ever never donate “undesignated” funds. Even when buying cupcakes at a CFC bakesale. Your $$$ will go to an organization with views radically different than yours (your money will get spread out through the participating CFC orgs —- those orgs have views from across the entire spectrum and then sum — so by definition some of those orgs will espousing views different than yours).

* Where do CFC donations go? Not always where you think (“More than 10 percent of the government’s regional Combined Federal Campaigns suffer excessive overhead costs, official figures show.”)
* With fewer feds giving, can CFC be saved? (“”There is a cost associated with running CFC,” Brown said. “People [are] giving directly because they’re trying to get more of their donation dollar directly to the charity.””)
* Panel proposes overhaul of CFC
* CFC FAQs (“Donations are distributed to charities by the PCFO following the close of the campaign, starting in March 2013. Donations made by check and cash and one-time credit/debit transactions on the eGiving site are distributed once the audit of those funds is complete. Donations by payroll deduction and recurring credit/debit transactions from the eGiving site are distributed monthly after deducted funds have been received by Federal government from payroll centers or the credit card site.”)

The big question is whether CFC is able to gather more donations overall than if people were left completely to their own devices.

I appreciate your points. They are good points.

Just one comment – no, that’s not really the big question. Meaning, that’s the big MACRO question. That’s the big question for the program as a whole.

But its not the question for me individually. Simply because CFC as a large program is a way of persuading more people to give – doesnt have anything to do with how *I* individually will give. Or to say it different, CFC has *no* baring on how much I will give – I will give – and I will give directly to maximize my donation.

I dont give to charities that spend a lot of money attempting to give me more money. I actually keep notes on this. If I give to someone, and then I get…. well, like you said, those free mailing labels in the mail, I dont give to that org again.

I select a few organizations that I have a personal relationship with, that I know are doing great work, that I know are spending my money wisely – that do not turn around and spend my money on getting more money from me. Like?? Glad you asked:
* Miriams Kitchen, Washington DC
* Arlington Food Assistance…. um… AFAC
* Lost Dog Rescue, Arlington

All of them are doing good work. None of them turn around and blitz me with junk mail. Most of them I have volunteered for or have a personal relationship with.

As an institution, yes, the existence of CFC is causing more people to donate. But that isnt what leads me to donate.

PS – those orgs that send out the mailing labels and spend a lot of money on solicitations – they still do it whether you give through CFC or not. You may not get the junk from them, but they are spending/wasting your money on that junk. I’d rather know that, and just not give to them.