CFD Policies and Procedures

Important policies and procedures of the Washington State Combined Fund Drive are housed here. You'll find policies and documents regarding donor privacy, ethics board opinions on the use of state resources for the Combined Fund Drive and the Washington State law that created and defines the statewide giving program.

Click any of the links below or contact the CFD office with questions about our policies.

CFD WACs

The Washington Administrative Codes (WACs) that are used to define the operations of the Combined Fund Drive are under Chapter 434-750. WACs are used much like legislation and the Constitution and are a source of primary law in Washington State. For more information on WACs, visit the Washington Administrative Code website. 

Click here to access the CFD's WACs (PDF).

RCWs for the Combined Fund Drive

The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) is the compilation of all permanent laws now in force. It is a collection of Session Laws (enacted by the Legislature, and signed by the Governor, or enacted via the initiative process), arranged by topic, with amendments added and repealed laws removed. It does not include temporary laws such as appropriations acts.

RCW 41.04.033 gave the Office of the Secretary of State the authorization to operate the Combined Fund Drive.

RCW 41.04.0331 established the powers and duties of the Office of the Secretary of State when administering the Combined Fund Drive.

RCWs for Raffles in the CFD

Combined Fund Drive volunteers are allowed to run raffles through an exemption made with the Washington State legislature. However, there are limitations to how a raffle can be run for the Combined Fund Drive. Below are two links that address those requirements:

RCW 9.46.0315

RCW 9.46.0321

Ethics Board Opinion

This is the official Executive Ethics Board opinion that allows the Combined Fund Drive to operate much in the manner of a private nonprofit. Because of this ruling in 2000, volunteers of the CFD are allowed to use state resources (i.e. time and materials) to administer CFD events.
Review the Ethics Board opinion (PDF).

CFD Policies  

Charity donor contact

Policy

Charities are prohibited from contacting individual state employees during office hours other than acknowledgement or training purposes. Each donor is entitled to be placed on the program’s “anonymous” list, preventing charities from acquiring donor’s contact information. Upon that request, donor information will be listed as anonymous on all charity member records.

Policy guidelines

Initial failure to comply with this policy will result in a written request by the CFD to the charity requesting a cease in contact with the donor/volunteer, followed by a disqualification from the program (as expressed in WAC 434-750-230).  

Exceptions to this policy include contact to state employees by the CFD, any charity that has entered in an oral or written agreement with the CFD to assist with training in local areas, or any charity that has received oral or written permission from the donor and/or volunteers to contact them. 

Charity membership requirement 

Policy

To be listed in the CFD directory and to receive CFD quarterly distributions, charities must:

• Be recognized by the IRS as an approved 501(c)3 or 170(c)2.
• Be registered with the OSOS Corporations and Charities Division.
• Maintain active status with the OSOS Corporations and Charities Division.
• Complete a CFD application and maintain updated information.
• Have a Statewide Vendor number (SWV) with the Office of Financial Management (OFM).

Charity presence at CFD events

Policy

Under no circumstances should CFD member charities receive favors, increased promotion or special treatment from the CFD or CFD staff.  The CFD must remain an unbiased program providing fair and equal treatment to all CFD charity members.

Conflict of interest

Policy

Any employee of the Combined Fund Drive or member of a county committee will work to avoid conflicts of interest, whether actual or perceived, due to membership on the council or committee or other affiliation with a charitable organization.

Policy guidelines

• Conflicts of interest must not violate any statute, regulation, executive order, or applicable agency standards of conduct.
• Due to the need to remain unbiased, CFD staff members who serve on charity boards or are in any capacity to make decisions that impact operations, donors, or volunteers of a charity, may not participate in the determinations of the charity CFD participation.
• CFD staff and county committee members must annually declare any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts to the CFD manager.

Contracts

Policy

All contracts must follow the formal procurement and approval process established by the Office of the Secretary of State. With the exception that volunteers may not enter into contractual agreements.

Discrepancy threshold

Policy

Any fiscal differences between the GL5199 ledger balance and CFD DMS must be clearly identified and have a resolution plan. Unreconcilable differences that are less than or equal to 1.5% of the total amount received within the given quarter must be approved by the CFD and Financial Services Manager prior to disbursement.

Policy guidelines

• Reconciliation should be completed to ensure on-time charity fund disbursements.
• Reconciling differences between the accounting system and support documentation must be cleared up or corrected within the given quarter.
• Justification and approval for the differences must be clearly documented.
• Any unreconcilable difference greater than 1.5% of account balance documentation must be presented to and approved by Executive Management.

Donor refund

Policy

Donor-initiated refunds

A donor may request a refund for donations submitted to the CFD on their behalf. Refund requests must be submitted to CFD staff within the quarter in which the deduction was received.

Donor-initiated refunds - University of Washington (UW)

The University of Washington Combined Fund Drive (UWCFD) participates in an annual contract with the CFD state office. As a result of this agreement, refund requests are processed by UWCFD staff through the UW payroll system.

CFD-initiated refunds

Notices will be sent to donors that have donated to closed charity. If there is no response from donor within 14 days, a refund will be automatically processed.

Policy guidelines 

Quarters are defined as the four 3-month periods:

• January - March, April 30 disbursement
• April - June, July 31 disbursement
• July - September, October 31 disbursement
• October - December, January 31 disbursement

Fundraiser purchasing

Policy

The Washington State Combined Fund Drive (CFD) supports agency volunteers by assisting with preauthorized payments and/or reimbursements of approved purchases incurred in connection with hosting fundraising events for CFD campaigns. These purchases are intended to directly benefit the CFD and its member charities. 

Policy guidelines

• Purchases must be preapproved by CFD project manager and directly support CFD fundraising activities. Agencies may request the CFD to pay or reimburse items such as greens fees, venue rentals, catering, or other event essentials that are necessary to hold a successful CFD fundraiser.
• Reimbursement requests need to be submitted in writing. Volunteers must submit an event overview via email to [email protected], outlining the purpose of the event, cost and use of the item(s), a budget, and the charities to benefit.
• Receipts must be submitted with reimbursement request.
• Unused items must be reported and returned. If a purchase is not used for its intended event, funds must be returned to the CFD. Volunteers must notify staff within 24 hours of any cancellation or change. 

Privacy

Policy

What data we collect

The CFD collects state employee personnel data through secure file transfer from your payroll provider. This data includes: first & last name, employee ID, address, telephone number, email address, and charity pledges and donations. Payroll information collected cannot be modified by CFD personnel, volunteers or charities. Check donation data includes only the data visible on the check.

Who can see this data

• Combined Fund Drive administrative staff
• Agency payroll office
• Campaign leader at your specific agency
• OSOS staff that supports CFD
• Receiving third-party charity

Donor data will not be shared with agency management, local coordinators within your agencies, or third-party charities that have not received a pledge from a donor.

Anonymity

A donor can choose to anonymously donate to a charity. Their pledge data is accessible only to Combined Fund Drive Staff and the donor’s agency payroll office. In such cases, it is the internal policy of the CFD that personnel are not to share this information with any outside third party. A donor can select this option at any time.

Policy guidelines

Cookies

We use cookies to store your login information on your computer. You can access much of our site without cookies, but there are some areas such as your donor profile that require cookies. However, we do not use cookies to track your browsing history or match it with your identity for any purpose such as market research or advertising.

Security

This website takes precautions to protect our users’ information. Donor profile entry uses SSL encryption, and our database uses hashed passwords that no party associated with the Combined Fund Drive can view. The database is not exposed to any outside parties.

Links

This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that the CFD is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements.

Relief campaign

Policy

Under extraordinary circumstances the CFD is authorized to conduct special campaigns where relief is deemed necessary. The CFD Program Manager will provide written cause to the Director of External Affairs and Assistant Secretary of State to begin a relief campaign. With approval from the Director of External Affairs and Assistant Secretary of State, the CFD Program Manager will work with External Affairs and CFD staff to assist in creating web content, notifications, and donation payment web pages for state employees.

Policy guidelines

• The content provided regarding the relief campaign must include:
  • A brief description of the cause.
  • A list of CFD member charities who have provided proof they are working with the impacted area or population.
  • Relevant contact information for the CFD, OSOS, or member charities 
• Any charity providing aid during a relief campaign must provide information on how they are actively involved in relief efforts.

Retiree CFD deductions

Policy

On October 1, 2017, the CFD amended to an “opt-out” policy in retirement.  Donations will be deducted in the same amounts and to the same charitable organizations a retiree chose while they were a state or higher education employee.  

Retirees have the option to opt-out of charitable giving through the CFD at any time. Additions, cancellations, and modifications to donation pledges can be made at any time by retirees using the CFD online system or by contacting CFD staff. If desired, retirees can request a refund of donations deducted for the open quarter per the CFD Donor Refund Policy. 

Policy guideline

Available only to state and higher education employees that receive benefits from the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS). 

Unredeemed donations

Policy

Unredeemed donations are warrants that have reached the statute of limitations for redemption. Warrants issued by the Office of the Secretary of State Financial Services have an expiry date of six months from issuance. When a cancelled warrant becomes CFD property, it is added to the CFD general fund to lower administrative costs to all charities in subsequent quarters.

Policy guidelines

• For donations of $100.00 or less per quarter or charity:
  • If the warrant has expired, the funds will become CFD property.
• For donations of $100.01 or more per quarter or charity:
  • If the warrant has expired, the CFD will make one final attempt to contact the charity to redirect donations.
• For contributions over $100 in a quarter per charity made by an individual donor:
  • Donors will be notified that the charity they've chosen to support has failed to redeem the warrant and be offered a refund.
    • If the donor does not respond within two weeks or there are no donors that individually contributed over $100, the funds will become CFD property.