Fly, Fight and Fundraise: The do’s and don’ts for private organization fundraising during CFC Published Aug. 18, 2014 By Capt. Dena Burke and 2nd Lt. Ryan S. Crnkovich 55th Wing Legal OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- As we begin to trade in our summer swim trunks for college football sweatshirts, it's once again time to talk about your private organization's fundraiser and the Combined Federal Campaign. As many of you may know, the "CFC is the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign, with almost 200 CFC campaigns throughout the country and overseas raising millions of dollars each year." During the CFC solicitation season, there are several significant fundraising rules you must be aware of and follow. CFC lasts from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15, but it has been extended in the past beyond the initially planned end date. First and foremost, if you are planning to hold a fundraiser in the near future and would like to avoid the onerous task of complying with several AFI provisions that only apply during the CFC solicitation period, you may be best served by holding your fundraiser either before Sept. 1, or after CFC ends. Doing so can save you from unnecessarily jumping through the proverbial hula-hoops of bureaucracy just to hold a simple fundraiser. However, if you do insist on holding such an event during this time period, you need to be aware of the various restrictions and prohibitions that will apply. Specifically, you should intimately acquaint yourself with AFI 36-3101. Generally, during a time period outside of CFC or the Air Force Assistance Fund, a PO may fundraise with approval on base in a location that is considered outside of the workplace. The wing commander has designated certain areas as "not in the federal government workplace" such as all NAF, DECA, and AAFES activities, and the area near the elevators and family health center on the first floor in the Ehrling Bergquist Hospital. During CFC, a PO is generally not authorized to fundraise on base in a location that is away from the workplace. This means that during CFC a PO may generally not hold traditional fundraisers, such as a bake goods or sub sandwich sale in which external individuals are solicited to make a purchase with the extra money going to the PO. See AFI 36-3101, Table 1, Rule 5. There are two exceptions to this. First, the PO may hold a fundraiser in which only internal members are solicited. But this usually defeats the purpose of getting external individuals to support the PO with a purchase. Second, the PO may hold a fundraiser off base. Because these limitations are normally unappealing to PO members desiring to fundraise, your PO should consider holding a fundraiser before Sept. 1, or after CFC ends. Remember, PO members may never hold a fundraiser in uniform, in the work place, or during official duty time. If you want to learn more about how to correctly and ethically fundraise, attend the next PO Workshop at 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19 in the Offutt Legal Office Law Library, Building 302A. To submit a fundraiser request, contact Ami Means at 294-6251. For more specific fundraiser questions, contact Means or U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Jill Mankel at the Offutt Legal Office at 294-3732. Fundraiser requests take 15 days to process, so please plan accordingly.