about workplace fundraising Federations
Federations are a feature of most workplace campaigns. These organizations are authorized by campaign sponsors to perform certain administrative functions.
Each federation must be an independent, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation governed by a volunteer board of directors. Federations review applications,
provide marketing services, and distribute donated funds.
There are 37 national federations within the CFC. Applicants are not required to
affiliate with a federation to enter the CFC, but most do – for
three key reasons.
Admissions support. Federations assist groups in
preparing their applications. While eligibility requirements are public, preparing a successful application may not be intuitive. Federations can
help applicants understand what is required, spot application weaknesses early in the process, and advise on ways to address them.
Increased visibility. Most federations are organized around a specific theme. Thematic federations
make it far easier for donors to find and support groups they are interested
in. Campaign directories are often quite lengthy: In the CFC the directory
of approved groups has about 100 pages. Federations are usually listed at the
front of these directories in the table of contents, so donors interested
in supporting a specific kind of work can easily find a focused
list of relevant organizations.
Fiscal services. Federations substantially reduce
the administrative burden of processing donations. In the CFC, for
instance, over 250 administrative units conduct the fall fundraising
drive. In the year that follows, each unit individually reports pledges
and forwards pledged moneys – potentially creating a mountain
of correspondence and thousands of checks for each charity. Federations receive the correspondence and payments on behalf of their members. They report consolidated pledge information to members, track payments, and make regular, lump-sum distributions of donated funds.
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