The Lightning Rod M/M Blog

Another "Only Inside The Beltway" Idea

If you think "inside the beltway" mentality is confined to politicians and bureaucrats, consider this tale...

It happened like it always does. 

In the 1980s all the national CFC federations would get together in Washington once a quarter to meet informally with the CFC managers at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to trade ideas, observations, and information.  It was a collegial group.

Then, in the 1990's one of the federation representatives to the group (one of my former clients, I'm embarrassed to say) sold his peers the bad idea of "visualizing our mission" and "securing the resources" to fund that vision.

All of which quickly led to:

*     Rules for "membership" in the "committee" (now grandly named the National Combined Federal Campaign Committee, although in fact it had and has no official CFC status)

*    Mission creep (in addition to meeting with OPM the members would conduct CFC "market research," publish a web site, and produce the annual CFC film, among other things)

*    Membership creep (the committee would be open to representatives outside of the national federations)

*    And, of course, a dues assessment system to fund all this important work. 

Within a year or two it became apparent that nobody on the committee knew a thing about market research, web sites, or making films.  In any case, these things were already being accomplished by OPM and CFCs in the field.  Not being able to justify the expense, federations began leaving the committee, and it dwindled in size to just a third of the national CFC federations.  Most of the federations remaining stopped sending their senior executives to the meetings, and OPM put less importance on working with the committee.

All of which, in a rational world, would have led to the committee's unmourned demise.  But wait.  Kalman Stein of EarthShare has proposed that the CFC levy a tax on contributions that would raise about $278,000 to fund the committee.  (The present committee budget is about $70,000). 

Let me get this straight, Kal.  You want the Federal Government to deduct fees from CFC contributions and send the money to a self-appointed, non-official group representing a tiny fraction of CFC participating charities so this group can continue to produce useless programs to justify its existence.  And you are serious about this.

Only inside the beltway.

 

Is UJC Changing Its Modus Operandi?

Thanks to Ira Kaminow at Just-Tzedakah for this heads-up on an article about United Jewish Communities appearing on the JTA web site entitled "Strategic-planning Model Spreads As Federations Seek To Grow Campaigns."

Some chapters of UJC are copying United Way of America's new approach (or is it the other way around), replacing the traditional "member charity allocations" system with an "outcome-based grants" system.   The result is to increase the decision-making power of the federation and reduce the decision-making power of the member charities. 

Readers of this blog may recall my objections to United Ways adopting this new model when they do so in conjunction with moves to disempower individal contributors' opportunities to give to the charities of their choice.  Moves such as restricting or eliminating donor option programs ("write-in gifts"), for example.  Full disclosure:  My client, Jewish Charities of America, takes the opposite approach, encouraging contributors to tell the federation which of the member charities should share in their gifts and how much for each.

So what do you think?  Is UJC on the right track?

When the Board Asks "Why Are We In A Federation," Tell Them This

Good Afternoon Patrick,
I hope your day is going well. I have a question for you. I have been handling the CFC donation payments and donor name downloads for thank yous for the last two years. Members of our Board of Directors have inquired as to why we use a federation for CFC donations and are not an independent agent. Can you please give me some insight on this question as to the benefits that we receive by affiliation with your organization? I’m uncertain as to the procedures one would have to go through to become an independent entity. I believe that it is very beneficial to be a member of Maguire/Maguire, and would appreciate any help you might give me on this matter!
Thanks again for any help. Enjoy your day.

Dear Deb,

This is a good question, and one I get all the time. The first thing I do is send the board member to the appropriate federation web site (in your case, www.conservenow.org). The web site explains the mission and operation of the federation and includes a list of member benefits. Then I recommend they go to my web site and log on to their charity's online portfolio to review all the information posted there. And if it's not just the question of why be in a federation but also wanting to understand how workplace campaigns function I encourage them to watch the hour-long training video "Workplace 101," which is also on my web site.

Or you could just tell them this:

1. If we weren't in our federation I'd have to process reports and payments monthly from 300 separate local CFCs instead of getting one report and one payment that represents the proceeds from all of them.

2. If we weren't in our federation we would be listed in the "unaffiliated" section in the CFC campaign brochures, and our CFC income would drop 40% or more because few donors who are interested in conservation or preservation issues scan that section.

3. If we weren't in our federation we would receive most of our donor names on paper and I'd have to manually enter them.

4. If we weren't in our federation we wouldn't be participating in $50 million worth of corporate employee fund drives in addition to the CFC, which in our case represents $12-15,000 a year that we otherwise wouldn't have.

5. If we weren't in our federation we'd lose access to our share of the pool of gifts that donors have made to the federation itself to be shared by all the federation's members. That share pays for almost our entire cost of membership in the federation.

Here's the full list of member benefits from the federation web site:

MEMBERSHIP SERVICES AND BENEFITS - Campaigns reaching an estimated 10,000,000 employees, depending on your local presence eligibility and state charitable solicitation registration.
Access to the Combined Federal Campaign, 30 state employee campaigns, scores of municipal, county and university campaigns, United Way campaigns in Washington DC and San Francisco, and various independent corporate campaigns.
Automated "sign & go" applications (after first year of participation) including electronic processing and receipt.
Application assistance for campaigns where you can qualify directly, e.g. the Philadelphia, PA, and Dayton, OH, United Way campaigns.
Donor names & addresses keypunched and forwarded electronically, pre-formatted for download to your contributor database.
Monthly electronic funds transfer of gifts directly to your bank account.
Members share in "undesignated" funds and gifts made to the federation, as available.
Private, workplace campaign online portfolio, where members can check the status of their gifts and distributions at any time, review a three year history of workplace campaign giving, keep up to date on individual marketing programs, and download exclusive workplace training and education materials.
Inclusion on our federation's web site, which features "search" capability to help donors find you and information to motivate them to give to you once they do.
Automatic notification of campaign speaking opportunities, kickoff events, "agency fairs", and other opportunities to promote your agency directly to donors.
Complete workplace campaign marketing support, including but not limited to: campaign marketing packet, annual training conferences, copy writing and consulting service for campaign brochure statements and other campaign marketing materials, and assistance with custom workplace development plans and (optional) mass media display advertising.
E-Commerce Giving: This is an optional service available to our members. It is an online donation form that goes on your web site and allows donors to make credit card gifts to you via a secure server. Visa and MasterCard donations are processed free of charge and American Express donations are assessed a low transaction fee of 2.85%. It's a great service if you don't have your own on-line credit card processing system. ( Click here to see an example of the form)
Vehicle Donations: Through a partnership with VDAC (Vehicle Donations to Any Charity), we offer you a zero liability vehicle donation system. You can accept vehicles from anywhere in the country. We handle the towing, issue a charitable receipt to the donor, auction the vehicle, handle the transfer of title, etc. All you have to do is receive the money. Donations can be accepted online, or via a toll free number.

What Do You Mean, Human Interest?

Q: What do you mean 'human interest'? Is there a word limitation? I am an animal rescue org....what would work with us?

A: "Human interest" is a journalism term that translates to "heartwarming stories people like to read." The stories don't have to be about humans, necessarily. For examples and inspiration for your own story, I recommend going to your federation web site, clicking on the list of members, and reading the stories others have posted. That process can also be a fund raising reality check when you see how your presentation (with no story and no web ad graphic) compares with others who do have those elements.

You can post a human interest story via your online portfolio -- see the menu list. There is a limit of 200 words.