In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10927, which authorized the U.S. Civil Service Commission to authorize nonprofit solicitations from employees of the federal government. Then, in 1982, 10927 was replaced when President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12353 and established the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) — which would be overseen by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The federal charity drive, according to Washington Post reporter Meryl Kornfield, has "raised more than $9 billion from federal government employees" over the years. But Kornfield, in an article published on Christmas Day 2025, reports that the program is "facing a steep decline in donations and other challenges just months after the Trump administration weighed canceling it altogether."
This year, according to Kornfield, the annual CFC "started later than expected because the Office of Personnel Management had paused planning in late August and for a time considered ending the initiative."
"OPM announced last week that it would extend the campaign through January," Kornfield explains, "but charities are worried that the drive won't be as effective — especially because the agency told its contracted organizers this week that their agreements would not be extended, according to two people familiar with the decision, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions."
"The campaign is faring far worse than in previous years, buffeted not only by the loss of nearly 300,000 federal employees — part of the (Trump) Administration's government downsizing — but also, by this year's 43-day government shutdown," Kornfield added.
The Post reporter adds, "As of Saturday, [December 20], workers had contributed only $23 million. In each of the past three years, fundraising had topped $40.5 million by the same time, according to data obtained by The Washington Post."
Ann Hollingsworth, vice president of government affairs at the Nonprofit Alliance, is worried about what will happen with CFC in January.
Hollingsworth told 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."
Retired federal worker and U.S. Air Force veteran Jennifer Ward, an organizer for the program, is also worried about CFC's well-being.
Ward told the Post: "The main concern that I have is that, come January, we can start off and have this great campaign for the next 31 days, but there's no outreach coordinator to ramp us up again. There’s no charity events that we can have. The resources are extremely limited, and if there’s no contracts, it's like we’re being blindsided.… and the charities can't do anything about it."
Read Meryl Kornfield's full Washington Post article at this link (subscription required).
