Charities Still Skeptical of Federal Workplace Drive Revamp

Plans to eliminate cash contributions and centralize administration of the U.S. government’s annual workplace giving campaign continue to raise the ire of charities, but nonprofit leaders say they welcomed an effort by the official in charge of the drive to seek their help in implementing the changes, The Washington Post writes.

Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta called nonprofit executives last week to discuss the revamp of the Combined Federal Campaign. “We view this as a positive sign,” said Stephen Delfin, president and chief executive of umbrella group America’s Charities and a leading critic of the changes announced last year.

The personnel office issued a fact sheet Friday outlining the “final rule” to amend the campaign, but full details of the changes will not be public until they are published in the Federal Register.

After initially proposing a switch to all-electronic giving, the personnel agency agreed to reinstate check and money-order donations but still aims to bar cash gifts, which officials say are expensive to process. Charities contend that and other changes will deepen a long-term decline in giving to the campaign, and that the personnel office has not given sufficient consideration to their objections.