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For more than 20 years, Charitable Choices has been producing and distributing guides to charities that are eligible for the federal government's on-the-job charity drive, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC).
We produce four guides, all of which are distributed in the fall, when the CFC takes place. When you become part of any of our guides, your charity gets two pages in our website for a full year for free!
Charities sign up to be part of our guides and website in the spring and summer. Once our guides are produced, charities that are part of the CFC can come into our website at any time: the cost of doing so ($250) can be deducted from the cost of being in next year's guides. To learn more or to apply, contact us at 240-683-7100 or info@CharityChoices.com.
Charitable Choices is an information service, not a "federation." As a result, charities from any CFC federation (or "unaffiliated" charities) are welcome to participate in our guides and website. Because we are not a federation, we do not receive any part of the donations that a charity gets through the CFC. Read a note to charities that are part of CFC Federations.
Our four guides differ according to how and to whom we distribute them:
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Our Washington Area CFC Guide is distributed exclusively to federal and military employees in the DC area. |
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Our National CFC Guide is distributed exclusively to federal and military employees across the nation. |
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Our United Way Guide is distributed through The Washington Post. |
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Our California Guide goes to federal and military employees as well as other potential donors in three California cities: Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area. |
Altogether we printed and distributed more than 829,000 guides in 2007. Over the years we have developed a superb system for distributing our guides:
- More than a quarter million guides (280,000 in 2007) go directly to federal
employees, the people who give about two thirds of the money given through the CFC.
There is no other way to reach this many federal employees (as opposed to members of
the military).
- Many (nearly 98,000 in 2007) are handed directly to federal employees as they enter their
workplaces. This distribution is timed to coincide with when employees of a certain
agency receive their CFC pledge cards. This date can vary by as much as two months
even in one city such as DC.
- More than 50,000 (50,161 in 2007) are mailed directly to federal employees, using the lists from
the Federal Yellow Books, authoritative directories of federal managers in both the
DC area and across the country. Because these directories are printed quarterly, this list
is constantly updated. Mailing is quite expensive, but this is an extremely effective
way to get our guides in the hands of federal managers.
- We distribute more than 194,000 guides to members of the military at more than 150 bases
across the country.
Details about how each of our guides is distributed (and how many are distributed) are included in our distribution reports: Complete National Distribution Report and Complete DC Area Distribution Report.
Information about why it is important to promote a charity's work in the CFC and why so many charities find our guides a very cost effective way to promote themselves is included in our 2008 Charitable Choices Information Booklet.
We have worked to keep the cost of being part of our guides very affordable even for small charities.
- A small charity (budget under $400,000) can be in the guide we distribute through The Washington Post for just $500, a price we have never raised. We distribute more than 330,000 of these guides.
- A local California charity can be in our California guide for just $300.
- We also offer other charities discounts for being in more than one guide and for signing up before our early response deadline.
We believe our guides are easily the best option for charities that want to promote themselves in the CFC, as this 2008 comparison chart shows. The effectiveness of our guides was underscored by data about 59 charities that were new to our guides between 2001 and 2005. This data showed that most charities that were new to our guides raised more money in the CFC and that the average increase was 23%. This report discusses this new data.
Altogether more than 300 charities use Charitable Choices guides to get the word out about their important work. Many have been part of our guides and website for years. One is DC's Visitors' Services Center. Its executive director, Ann C. Keep, explains why:
- "On an annual budget of just $200,000, small organizations like ours can't afford expensive advertising campaigns. The Charitable Choices guides give us equal billing with the big charities and lets our simple, effective mission shine through."
We also provide other services to our clients, such as providing them a list of the dates and locations of the "charity fairs" that many federal agencies hold during the CFC. These fairs are an excellent way for charities to connect with federal employees.
If asked, we will give our clients feedback about their brief descriptions of their work that they run in the official CFC "catalogs" as well as in our guides.
We have also put together a list of 12 simple steps that charities can take to increase how much they raise in a workplace campaign like the CFC (12 Simple Steps).
The deadline to sign up to be in our guides and website depends on the guide. It varies from mid-August to early September.
For more information or to sign up, please e-mail or call us:
- Email: info@CharityChoices.com
- Phone: 240-683-7100
- In California: 310-392-8240
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