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CFC contributions jump $1M in 2005
Charity officials feared Katrina would hinder donations
By Karen Jowers
Navy Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marc Lee died Aug. 2 when he stepped into the line of fire to save the lives of his wounded teammates.
And the mother of one of those wounded SEALs flew to California to sit next to Lee’s mother at the memorial service Aug. 12.
Her trip was paid for by the SEAL-Naval Special Warfare Foundation, one of the things the group does for the Navy special warfare community, said Bob Rieve, the foundation’s president and chief executive officer.
All of the foundation’s funds come from donations, including money it gets as one of the charities in the Combined Federal Campaign.
“It means a lot to us that we even qualify,” said Rieve, a retired Navy captain and 30-year SEAL.
When the SEAL-Naval Special Warfare Foundation became part of CFC in 2002, barely two years after its creation, the move helped jump-start donations, Rieve said. “Not only that, it has helped us get the word out about what we do,” he added.
The foundation is one of 53 charities in the Military Veterans Patriots Service Organizations of America, one of the umbrella CFC organizations that allow charities to be grouped by their mission.
Most of the 44 charities in the MVPSOA for the 2005 CFC campaign saw an increase in donations over 2004, despite fears of a general decrease because of donations to Hurricane Katrina victims, said Patrick Maguire, president of Maguire/Maguire Inc., an association management firm that specializes in helping CFC federation groups.
In 2005, pledges to MVPSOA charities topped $9.1 million, up almost $1 million, or 11.5 percent, from 2004.
“The generosity of federal workers and the military was stunning,” Maguire said.
There is continued interest in giving to military- and veterans-related charities, he said.
Overall in 2005, pledges rose 4.5 percent from the previous year, according to the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the CFC campaign. The $268.5 million in pledges represented an increase of more than $11 million over the $257 million pledged in 2004.
Such charitable campaigns show that federal workers are very generous, said OPM spokesman Peter Graves, in an e-mail response to questions.
Seventy-one local CFC campaigns reported raising more than $2 million for Katrina victims, and 250 others planned to hold special fundraisers, he said.
CFC is increasingly promoting online giving, which often appeals to younger workers. Officials found that the average per-capita gift from online donors was $225 more than the average for donors who pledged via paper methods, Graves said.
The CFC began in 1961 to merge charitable fundraising into a limited time each year and to regulate what had been an “uncontrolled free-for-all” prior to the 1950s, according to OPM.
CFC is the only authorized fundraising solicitation in the federal workplace, although the military services also allow their relief societies to hold separate fundraising drives.
More than 300 local CFC campaigns exist, including one for those living overseas. Each chooses when its six-week fundraising drive will take place any time between Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. Most start in late September or early October.
Federal workers and military personnel pledged nearly $113,000 to the SEAL-Naval Special Warfare Foundation in the 2005 CFC, Rieve said. This year, the foundation has used more than $100,000 for scholarships and educational expenses. Some 44 scholarships totaling about $58,000 went to spouses and children of those in the Navy special warfare community, he said.
After 11 SEALs died in Afghanistan in June 2005, the foundation helped pay for family members’ trips to memorial services at bases in California, Virginia and Hawaii.
“We rented over 100 rooms,” Rieve said.
The foundation also will pay $100 per course for books, up to $400 per year, for all active-duty Navy special warfare people accepted into the Navy tuition assistance program.
The foundation also uses part of its CFC contributions to sponsor a family event at SEAL bases in California and Virginia.
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