The federal workers’ charity drive, the largest of its kind in the country, is facing a steep decline in donations and other challenges just months after the Trump administration weighed canceling it altogether.
The annual Combined Federal Campaign — which since the 1960s has raised more than $9 billion from federal government employees donating their pay and time — 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, 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 administration’s government downsizing — but also by this year’s 43-day government shutdown. As of Saturday, 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.
Thousands of charities participate in the drive annually, and a significant amount of the donations support causes in the Washington area and the Mid-Atlantic. Charities that have been stretched thin with other funding cuts amid increased need have sought support from Congress and tried to raise awareness about the campaign’s plight this year. Now, as they plan for 2026, they worry whether they can count on receiving their allotment of funds raised without the contractors that manage pledges.
“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,” said Ann Hollingsworth, vice president of government affairs at the Nonprofit Alliance, which has rallied charities on the issue.
OPM spokeswoman McLaurine Pinover said Tuesday that the agency is working on developing “more cost-effective ways for federal employees to donate to charities than the current CFC,” citing the costs of the contracts that set up and run the campaign. Pinover initially said organizers could participate after their current agreements expire, then later specified that OPM was not seeking such involvement.
“We are not paying them additional monies for the extension period because we do not believe that is a good use of donor dollars,” she said.
The contracts are fixed-price, however, so the agency would not pay more for any work extensions.
The campaign’s delayed start this year coincided with the record-long government shutdown — when most federal workers were not paid.
OPM decided that the campaign could proceed in part because charities had already paid the fees to participate, according to OPM Director Scott Kupor. But he estimated that the drive would cost $22 million to run, and he wrote in an agency blog post that he was “evaluating changes to the CFC for 2026 (including whether to continue the program).”
Though donations have been down since the campaign began in early October, the pace has increased this month, catching up with last year’s numbers for December.
Jennifer Ward, a government retiree, an Air Force veteran, and a local and national organizer for the campaign, said federal employees showed greater interest in donating as the holidays approached. She noted that one donor on Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico pledged $1,776 just two days after President Donald Trump announced “warrior dividend” bonuses of that same amount.
“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,” Ward said. “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.”
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