Frequently Asked Questions


Q: What are the administrative costs of the MCC?
A: The Office of the Secretary of State oversees the campaign's administrative costs, which are under 11% for the 2004 campaign. These costs are for printing and designing campaign materials, training and supervising volunteers, and processing and auditing contributions. Because MCC's overhead is so low compared to other fundraising campaigns, more of every dollar you pledge goes a long way toward helping others.

Q: How are donors recognized?

A:When you donate an annual gift at the Leadership level, you may choose to be recognized on the Leadership page of our web site. The Leadership levels are: the Living by Giving Society (1% of your annual income up to $49,999), Bronze ($500 - $999), Silver ($1000 - $1,499), Gold ($1,500 - $1,999), Platinum ($2,000 and up).

Q: How much money did the MCC raise last year?

A: In 2004, the Maryland Charity Campaign raised $3,784,562.

Q: Who administers the MCC?

A: The Governor and Lt. Governor are the Co-Chairs of the campaign. The Secretary of State administers the campaign for the Governor, and the Charitable Organizations Division of the Office of the Secretary of State is responsible for carrying out the duties specified in the Executive Order.

The United Way of Central Maryland is under contract to the Secretary of State's Office to plan and implement the campaign in a manner consistent with the Executive Order. Some of the services provided by UWCM are to train Leaders On Loan and Coordinators, to provide necessary printed materials including the Agency Directory and pledge cards, plan the "Kickoffs" and "Thank You" events and distribute designated funds to the certified agencies.

The Governor selects an Assistant Chairperson and an Assistant Chairperson Designee. In 2005, the Assistant Chairperson is Secretary Victor L. Hoskins. Next year's Assistant Chairperson has not been announced.

Q: What is a Federation?

A: A federation is a group of voluntary charitable human, health and welfare agencies established to supply common fundraising, administrative and management services to its members. If you wish to designate all, or a portion of your contribution to a federation, please record that federation's corresponding code number.

Q: Why does my credit card gift to the MCC show up on my bill as United Way of Central Maryland (UWCM)?

A: UWCM manages the MCC under a contract with the Office of the Secretary of State. UWCM is the primary processor with a credit card company so that we can offer the option of giving by credit card to several campaigns we manage. Your gift is credited to a separate account for the MCC but only the primary processor can be listed on credit card bills. If your gift is over $250, you will also receive a letter by January 31 confirming the amount, as required by law.

Q: How does a charity become part of the MCC?

A: The Charitable Organizations Division of the Secretary of State's Office administers and reviews all the MCC applications. All applications must meet the requirements of the Executive Order to be approved for participation in the MCC.

In order to be eligible for designation as a "participating agency" in the 2005 campaign, a charitable organization must have:

  1. Certified full compliance with federal, state, and local laws.
  2. Been operating under valid Articles of Incorporation (or other organizing instruments), and By-laws (or other governing instruments).
  3. Had a current, valid 501 c(3) designation from Internal Revenue Service, and be eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions under section 170 of the IRS code.
  4. Submitted a copy of IRS Form 990 for the most recently completed fiscal year; or if not required to file an IRS Form 990, a financial report form COF-85, provided by the Secretary of State, and signed and certified by its Chief Executive Officer.
  5. Stated and certified the percentage of total revenue from the proceeding fiscal year that was spent on management and fundraising activities.
  6. Submitted a statement demonstrating that its expenses for these purposes were reasonable under all the circumstances in its case, if the percentage of revenue spent by a charitable organization on management and fundraising under item 5 exceeded 25%.
  7. Submitted a copy of the current operating budget signed and certified by the Chief Executive Officer.
  8. Demonstrated that it has provided significant services to Maryland residents or those in need of such services in other countries for two years prior to January 1, 2005.
  9. Provided evidence of financial support from Maryland residents within the past five years if the organization is providing services in other countries.
  10. Certified that all funds from the campaign will be used solely for the provision of services to residents of Maryland, or people in other countries, including reasonable administrative costs of those programs.
  11. Had a majority of its governing body serve without compensation.
  12. Provided its annual financial report to the public upon request.
  13. Submitted an application and proper attachments to the Secretary of State's Office by January 23, 2005.
MCC applications were mailed to charitable organizations in November, 2004. The deadline to receive for 2005 applications is January 23, 2005. Failure to comply with the filing deadline results in denial to participate in the MCC.

Charitable Organizations that submitted an incomplete application were sent an initial denial letter and given ten days from the date of the letter to submit the required materials. Failure to do so will have resulted in a final denial from participation in the Campaign.

Applicants approved for participation received a letter certifying their eligibility. The Kick-offs will be held in September, 2005. The payroll department begins deducting funds for 2005 campaign in January 2006. Checks to the funds from the 2005 campaign will be sent to the participating charities during the second, third and fourth quarters of 2006.

Q: Why should I contribute to the MCC?

  1. The MCC provides you with the opportunity to reach out and touch the lives of those in need; to sustain local, state, national and international health, educational, environmental and human service organizations; and to make a meaningful contribution to your community.
  2. The MCC asks once: State employees and retirees may contribute to charitable organizations in an orderly and uniform process through one annual campaign.
  3. The MCC is targeted: You choose the amount and the charity or charities to receive your gift.
  4. The MCC is accountable: All charities participating in the MCC have been pre-screened to insure that they are fiscally sound and that they perform the services stated.
  5. The MCC is tax deductible: You get a record of your payroll deduction every payday.
  6. The MCC is easy: You choose between regular payroll deduction and/or a one-time gift by cash, check or credit card.
  7. The MCC is effective: 89-90%% of your designated contribution goes to the charity or charities stated. Our administrative fee is small compared to other non-profits. We are working hard to reduce it further.
  8. Your contribution is "matched": A percent of each undesignated (or general pool) contribution will also go to your charity of choice, based upon the designated contributions the charity receives. These could be considered matching funds and increases the power of your contribution.
  9. The MCC makes a difference: The community-at-large can identify the commitment of State employees, knowing that they are improving the quality of life for all Marylanders.

Q: Does the MCC set a quota on contributions to larger charities or redirect contributions to smaller charities?

A: Recently, several people have asked whether the Maryland Charity Campaign sets a quota on contributions to larger charities or redirects contributions to smaller charities. The Office of the Secretary of State oversees the MCC and sets strict regulations. There are no pre-set quotas for contributions to larger charities. All contributions designated to a particular charity go to that charity.

The only contributions put in a MCC general fund are those where a contributor fails to name a charity. For instance, some employees do not identify a charity code on their pledge forms. When this happens, the total amount of undesignated contributions is distributed to all charities in the booklet based on the percentage of designated contributions each charity receives during the campaign. Another way of putting this is, if the Maryland Charity Campaign raised 3 million dollars from designated funds and the American Red Cross received 10% of that designated 3 million, then the American Red Cross would receive 10% of the undesignated dollars.

All collected donations less administrative costs (under 11% in 2004) are fully paid to charities. As explained above, the charities also receive a portion of the undesignated fund.

After the campaign ends in December, the MCC sends a notification letter by end of March to each agency informing them how much they can expect to receive that year. The agency also receives a donor listing of everyone who requested to have their names sent to the charities they supported. MCC payments are sent monthly to the charities.

2005 Maryland Charity Campaign