America’s Charities CEO Jim Starr on the CFC’s Uncertain Future, $1B Milestone, and Emergency Assistance Funds

Interview with Jim Starr, President and CEO of America’s Charities, about the organization’s mission to “mobilize the power of giving” through workplace giving, corporate volunteering programs, emergency assistance funds, and scholarships. They explain the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)—founded in 1961, once raising $280M in 2009 but down to $68M from about 70,000 donors in 2024—its shift from paper catalogs to an online platform, and factors behind its decline, including new charity fees, government shutdowns, and workforce morale; retiree giving is noted as a bright spot. Starr says OPM has paused or signaled possible cancellation, shut down the reporting portal, and has not opened 2026 applications, raising concern the CFC may end and that much of the $70M would not be replaced due to payroll giving’s low-friction nature. Starr also highlights America’s Charities reaching $1B in total funds processed to nonprofits and describes how emergency assistance funds provide confidential, tax-free grants for employee hardships and how the organization administers scholarship programs with vetting and fraud checks. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:57 Mission and Services 01:50 Origins in the CFC 04:12 CFC Decline and Drivers 05:53 Is the CFC Ending 09:02 Fees and Participation Basics 09:56 Rebrand Joke and Real Stakes 11:42 Why Payroll Giving Matters 13:39 Billion Dollar Milestone 16:56 Emergency Assistance Funds 18:02 How EAFs Work 19:45 Privacy and Employer Benefits 20:41 Who Should Offer EAFs 21:00 Who Uses Emergency Funds 22:15 Retention And Community Impact 24:56 Direct Giving Versus GoFundMe 26:29 Life After The CFC 29:03 Expanding Corporate Philanthropy 29:50 Scholarship Program Walkthrough 33:17 Pricing And Review Workflow 35:13 Fraud Checks In The AI Era 37:17 Billion Dollar Milestone Wrap