The California State Employees Charitable Campaign (CSECC) was established in 1957 to provide a single charitable fundraising drive in the State community, and is an employee benefit for those who would like to donate to charity through the convenience of payroll deduction. 2009 marks the 53rd year of the CSECC, providing California State employees the opportunity to support charitable organizations they feel passionate about, for as little as $2 per month. The California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (VCGCB) provides oversight of the CSECC, and the enabling regulations for the campaign are found in the California Administrative Code. Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger has been the campaign chair for the past two years.

Although the CSECC is commonly referred to as if it were a single entity, it actually encompasses 31 regional campaigns throughout the state. In 2007 these campaigns solicited more than 280,000 California State employees through the CSECC. Thanks to the generosity of State employees, thousands of nonprofits are currently being supported by more than $8.7 million pledged that year.

During the fall, each state employee is given a payroll deduction pledge form and access to the Donor Resource Guide, which lists some of the participating nonprofits. The VCGCB screens these nonprofits to ensure their eligibility but does not endorse them in any way. State employees may also choose to donate to any 501(c)(3) nonprofit, even if it is not listed in the Donor Resource Guide by utilizing the “Write-In Organization” section of the CSECC pledge form.

Annually the VCGCB approves a number of nonprofits to coordinate each workplace giving campaign in the 31 regions. These organizations are known as Principal Combined Fund Drive (PCFD) organizations, and are traditionally local United Ways. The VCGCB authorizes these PCFD’s to deduct the administrative and fundraising costs incurred while managing the campaign.

United Way of San Luis Obispo County is the PCFD in SLO County. With over 20 State agencies, there are almost 9,000 State employees working at some of the largest entities in California such as Atascadero State Hospital, Cal Poly State University, and the California Men’s Colony. SLO County State employees increased their campaign in 2007 by over $20,000, pledging a grand total of $187,992.40. Of that, $49,650.50 was designated to United Way of SLO County and $138,341.90 was designated to numerous other nonprofit charities. United Way maintains an overhead of 6% to facilitate the campaign, process pledge forms and assist campaigners and employees with the CSECC; an additional 5% covers the administrative fees for the VCGCB, the State Controller Office and United Way of the California Capital Region (Sacramento).

2009 Participating Agencies:

For more information on the California State Employees Charitable Campaign visit www.csecc.org or www.boc.ca.gov/csecc.