Number: 

DAO 202-959

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

.01 This Order prescribes general policy, responsibilities and procedures for administering Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) activities within the Department of Commerce.

.02 This Order prescribes the Department's rotational schedule for CFC management and for support of the CFC's Loaned Executive (LE) Program.

SECTION 2. AUTHORITY.

.01 Legal authorities for the overall Federal Fund-Raising Program are: Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 950: Solicitation of Federal Civilian and Uniformed Services Personnel for Contributions to Private Voluntary Charitable Organizations, November 24, 1995; Executive Order No. 12353, "Charitable Fund-Raising," March 23, 1982, as amended by Executive Order No. 12404, "Charitable Fund-Raising," February 10, 1983; and Public Law 100-202, dated December 22, 1987. The rules and regulations which govern fund-raising within the Federal Government and which provide the system for administering the CFC were approved by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

.02 The CFC Loaned Executive Program was authorized on March 3, 1971, in a Presidential Memorandum to departments and agencies.

SECTION 3. POLICY.

.01 Fund-raising is authorized for recognized health, welfare, and philanthropic organizations when the general public is the beneficiary of the programs. Only two fund-raising activities may be conducted by the Department for the general public: the CFC, an annual on-the-job solicitation, and support for emergency and disaster appeals when specific prior approval has been granted by the Director of OPM.

.02 The CFC, which was developed in response to Federal employee requests for a single fund-raising campaign, reduces administrative expenditure, permits voluntary payroll withholding for contributions, and provides improved support to local, national, and international recognized health, welfare, and philanthropic organizations.

.03 The principles of true voluntary giving will be practiced in the conduct of the CFC. All methods, techniques, and strategies used to enhance fund-raising will be practiced within the limits and the spirit of non-coercive, voluntary giving. Actions that do not allow free choice or create the appearance that employees do not have free choice in their participation will not be permitted. Each Department employee has the following rights:

a. To give or not give as he or she chooses.

b. To disclose any contribution or make it confidential.

c. To make contributions in the form of cash, a check, or payroll withholding.

d. To select or designate which agency, agencies, or federation(s) will receive his or her contributions. Undesignated contributions will become part of the undesignated funds pool and be distributed according to a formula approved by the Director of OPM and publicized prior to the campaign.

e. To participate or to not participate in any promotional events and activities.

.04 In support of the annual CFC, the Department's rotational schedule for administering the campaign is two-pronged and includes:

a. The annual designation of a Lead Operating Unit/Bureau " that agency which will directly support the Secretary and which will provide the campaign Vice Chair and the Campaign Manager, and the annual designation of a Deputy Campaign Manager from the following year's Lead Operating Unit/Bureau.

b. The annual designation of two employees to be detailed to the CFC's LE Program.

.05 The Department of Commerce Lead Operating Unit/Bureau is authorized limited use of resources, including appropriated and other funds, in support of the CFC. The use of appropriated and other funds is limited to expenses related to CFC kick-offs, publicity, volunteer recognition, rallies, victory events, awards ceremonies, and other similar events that build support for the CFC, but that are not directly involved in fund-raising (such as carnivals, car-washes, and sporting events). The use of appropriated and other funds for refreshments, personal gifts, or any other item or activity that is not essential to support the CFC is not authorized. Some examples of the types of activities that may be conducted to raise funds for CFC are:

a. A reasonable amount of appropriated funds may be used to pay for items used to build support for the CFC, but only to the extent that an appropriate Department official makes an administrative determination that the expenditure of funds is necessary to a successful CFC event, is directly related to efforts to build support for the CFC campaign, and is prudent and insubstantial.

b. Fundraising events, such as bake sales or raffles may be conducted during the official CFC campaign period provided the event is not coercive and is held on behalf of the CFC in general, and not on behalf of a particular charity or group of charities. Employees shall not be coerced into purchasing raffle tickets or purchasing or baking items for a bake sale. Purchasers of raffle tickets shall be identified by ticket number or some method other than a CFC pledge card. Raffle winners shall not be required to present a CFC pledge card to receive their prize.

c. Soliciting businesses for donations of items to benefit the CFC is permissible if an appropriate Department official can confidently state that the solicitation will be done in a manner which does not create any impression of preferential treatment or of a quid pro quo in return for the donation, and does not give any appearance of connoting special benefits from the Government to those who donate or disadvantages to those who do not.

SECTION 4. PROCEDURES.

.01 Local, national, and international charitable, emergency relief, and philanthropic organizations depend on voluntary contributions to achieve their objectives. Department personnel, as citizens and members of the community, share the responsibility for supporting these activities in addition to enjoying their benefits. Each employee of the Department will be given the opportunity, through on-the-job solicitation, to contribute voluntarily to recognized health, welfare, and philanthropic organizations under the policies and procedures in this policy.

.02 Each Department of Commerce employee will be given the opportunity to decide whether to contribute or not contribute to the CFC. The most common form of CFC solicitation is the request for a monetary donation or pledge.

.03 Secretarial Officers, Heads of Operating Units and managers at all levels shall give support and leadership to the annual CFC fund-raising drive and ensure compliance with the spirit and intent of this policy.

.04 Each Operating Unit/Bureau and major Departmental office will provide resources to support the CFC based on the rotational schedule contained in Section 6 of this directive.

SECTION 5. RESPONSIBILITIES.

.01 The Secretary of Commerce shall provide leadership to and support of the CFC by serving as the annual Campaign Chairperson. Typical responsibilities may include:

a. Designating as Vice Chair the Head of an Operating Unit based on the rotational schedule presented in Section 6 below.

b. Encouraging senior leadership to support and endorse the campaign.

c. Supporting the campaign kickoff, recognition ceremonies and/or other campaign events.

d. Endorsing the campaign through communications which urge employees to become familiar with the participating voluntary agencies.

e. Regularly reviewing progress throughout the course of the campaign.

.02 The Vice Chair assists the Secretary. The Vice Chair also selects the Campaign Manager and works closely with the Campaign Manager throughout the CFC.

.03 The Campaign Manager is the individual most familiar with the fundamentals and policies of the CFC. The Campaign Manager, working closely with the Vice Chair, assumes the leadership duties for the campaign, bringing together the necessary resources to carry out the campaign. Duties typically include:

a. Developing objectives, themes, strategies and schedules, in conjunction with the Vice Chair.

b. Coordinating with CFC headquarters as appropriate.

c. Conducting senior status briefings for management.

d. Organizing a kick-off or start-of-campaign rally for campaign workers and/or employees at the Department prior to the start of the solicitation period.

e. Starting the campaign on time and remaining on schedule.

f. Administering the campaign records. The campaign requires the development and maintenance of certain records and rosters for financial accountability and campaign reporting purposes. Records should be maintained until the final audit is complete. Use of CFC records for any purpose other than campaign administration and funds accountability is strictly prohibited.

g. Identifying and resolving issues which may arise during conduct of the campaign.

h. Reporting, as appropriate, to the Vice Chair and Campaign Chair, regarding the status of interim and final campaign results.

i. Analyzing and evaluating all aspects of the campaign to determine areas needing improvement as well as areas of success, and the reasons for success, in order to garner valuable information for planning subsequent campaigns.

j. Consulting, and as appropriate, working with, the Deputy Campaign Manager.

SECTION 6. ROTATIONAL SCHEDULE.

.01 In order to effectively support the Secretary in the annual conduct of the campaign, a rotational schedule for CFC management and support of the CFC LE Program is hereby established.

.02 CFC management will be rotated among the Department's five largest Operating Units/Bureaus: Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA)/Bureau of the Census (Census), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Technology Administration (TA)/ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), International Trade Administration (ITA), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The following table denotes the CFC rotational schedule:

	Lead Operating Unit/Campaign Vice Chair	Lead Bureau/Campaign Manager	Subsequent Year's Lead Bureau/Deputy Campaign Manager
I	NOAA	NOAA	PTO
II	PTO	PTO	Census
III	ESA	Census	NIST
IV	TA	NIST	ITA
V	ITA	ITA	NOAA

.03 Two LEs will be provided to the CFC based on a rotational schedule shared by the Department's smaller bureaus and the larger Departmental offices. Bureaus participating in this rotation include: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Economic Development Administration (EDA), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Departmental offices include: Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration (CFO/ASA). Based on the order in which they appear, the following bureaus and offices will provide one LE to the CFC: BEA, MBDA, NTIS, OIG, BIS, EDA, NTIA, OCIO, and CFO/ASA. Two LEs are provided annually so in the initial year BEA and MBDA will each provide one LE; the next year, NTIS and OIG will each provide one LE and so on.

.04 The general rotational schedules described above in Sections .02 and .03 may be adjusted, as necessary, to accommodate unusual circumstances or organizational exigencies that occur.

.05 Additionally, every annual campaign will have a Vice Chair from the designated Lead Operating Unit and a Deputy Campaign Manager from the Bureau responsible for the following year's campaign. The Deputy Campaign Manager will have the benefit of learning from the Lead Operating Unit/Bureau's experiences in order to be better prepared to manage the subsequent campaign.

SECTION 7. APPLICABILITY.

This Order is applicable to all elements of the Department. Signed by: Chief Financial Officer and
Assistant Secretary for Administration

Approved by: Secretary of Commerce

Office of Primary Interest: Office of Management and Organization