Audit Finds Questionable Spending by Federal-Workers’ Charity Drive

An audit by the Office of Personnel Management has identified more than $1-million in questionable or misplaced spending by the Combined Federal Campaigns of the National Capital Area, thought to be the world’s largest workplace charity drive, The Washington Post reports.

The 2007-10 review directly questions $308,820 in costs charged to the campaign, including overcharges for food and travel, and says about $764,000 more that was spent on items such as conferences, design and marketing work, and events “could have been put to better use.”

Global Impact, the nonprofit organization that manages the federal workplace fundraising effort, has agreed to repay the $308,820, though it plans to appeal the reimbursement, and take corrective steps on other spending.

Renee Acosta, Global Impact’s president, said the federal drive raised $260-million while spending $15-million during the audit period and has “managed this campaign very strictly according to regulations.” She termed the audit’s findings “a question of interpretation of the regulations.”