Long Island Charities Bemoan Threats to Federal Employee Giving

As nonprofits grapple with sweeping federal budget cuts, dramatic executive orders and constant economic uncertainty, the Trump Administration now says it’s taking a hard look at the Combined Federal Campaign – America’s largest annual workplace charitable-giving drive, which is set to start on Oct. 1.

Over the last 60 years, federal employees have contributed – usually through regular payroll deductions – more than $9 billion to CFC-approved charities to help those in need. In 2023, the last year for which data is listed on the CFC website, federal, postal and military personnel contributed a whopping $68.6 million.

What’s more, they logged 83,000 volunteer hours with 4,400 charities nationwide, ranging from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to the American Cancer Society to Catholic Charities USA to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

That’s a lot of money and a lot of precious time. So, when recent reports surfaced that the campaign “could be shelved at the last minute,” already-strained nonprofits panicked and wondered whether the inclusion on the list of groups like the ACLU, the NAACP and the Southern Poverty Law Center – frequent recipients of CFC funds and volunteerism – had caught the White House’s attention.

Those concerns aren’t entirely unfounded. The Trump Administration has unapologetically slashed funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood, National Public Radio and the U.S. Agency for International Development – groups that don’t align with President Donald Trump’s policies. And countless federal officials have trumpeted “cuts to woke programs.”

Responding to the latest threat, Washington-based watchdog The Nonprofit Alliance fired off a Sept. 4 letter to Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the federal agency responsible for overseeing the CFC campaign. Signed by nearly 400 nonprofit organizations, the letter warned that the potential elimination of the annual giving campaign would create “devastating consequences extending far beyond the immediate loss of charitable funding,” and noted that “participating nonprofit organizations have already invested millions of dollars in preparation for the 2025 campaign, including application fees, compliance costs, marketing materials and staff resources dedicated to CFC participation.”

Kupor didn’t immediately respond to the letter, but a Sept. 10 post on the OPM website confirmed that the 2025 campaign will launch as planned – “only because many charities have already spent time and money preparing for this over the course of this year.”

Ironically, the same investments that saved the campaign in 2025 might kill it in 2026.

The website post goes on to read, “OPM is concerned about excessive administrative costs associated with the CFC, along with steadily declining participation, and it is evaluating changes to the CFC for 2026 (including whether to continue the program).”

Indeed, campaign application and listing fees can cost charities as much as $2,400 a year. And some federal employees have taken to Reddit to question the efficiency of JFK-era workplace campaigns, especially since campaign promotion expenses come off the top before the money gets to community-based organizations. Personally vetting organizations and making regular, automated contributions has also become easier in recent years.

For all the concern about administrative costs, though, Republican lawmakers tried to include a provision in the recently approved “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would have levied an additional 10 percent administrative fee on all CFC donations made through federal employee payroll deductions. The measure didn’t survive reconciliation and was not included in the final legislation.

As the campaign kicks off next month, it’s safe to say that local CFC participant organizations like The Marfan Foundation in Port Washington, Hauppauge-based Long Island Cares-The Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Smithtown-based Guide Dog Foundation – who receive donations from Long Island’s 17,000 federal employees – are already thinking about 2026.

Katherine Fritz, vice president for development and communications at Long Island Cares, notes that the organization’s participation in the CFC “provides low-cost fundraising and exposure to millions of potential new donors within the federal community, including military personnel and retirees.”

While the donations total “just a few thousand dollars,” she says the agency’s participation “ensures broad donor engagement and a significant collective impact in feeding and caring for our neighbors in need.”

Her boss, Long Island Cares President and CEO Paule Pachter, brings things full circle.

“Of course, we’re also concerned about the growing number of federal employees that are losing their jobs,” he says. “And who very well might be turning to Long Island Cares and other food banks for assistance.”

A version of this article first appeared on Innovate LI.