Rules Committee backs temporary narrowing of city'employee charities list after complaints

The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Nov. 28 to forward to the full board a resolution that would temporarily narrow the list of federations in the city's Combined Charities Drive after staff reported complaints that some participating charities "appear to be anti LGBTQ groups." Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann, the item sponsor, said the city paused the campaign in October after receiving employee complaints and proposed a relaunch with a shorter list focused on Bay Area service providers.

Sophie Hayward, director of legislation and public affairs in the City Administrator's Office, told the committee that Administrative Code section 16.93 requires the city to hold an annual joint fundraising drive — "There's no may in there" — and that the criteria for federations were written in 1988 and updated in 1997. Hayward said the city launched the campaign Oct. 1 and "paused the campaign on October 12 after receiving complaints from city employees." She said about 10% of city employees participate and that the drive raised roughly $1.2 million last year, figures she presented to explain the program's scale and city resources involved.

The resolution before the committee would shorten the published list of participating charities by limiting published federations to organizations whose member charities are Bay Area‑based and to make clear that funds raised through the campaign be spent on services in the Bay Area. Hayward said employees would still be able to "write in the name of any 501(c)(3) nonprofit" through the donor choice option.

Hayward said the recommended short list would reduce the number of participating federations from four to three, retaining Creating Healthy Communities, America's Best Local Charities and EarthShare and removing a federation that focuses largely on international activity. She also said federations have proposed requiring participating charities to sign a nondiscrimination pledge as a further filter.

Supervisors debated longer-term options, including amending the administrative code by ordinance to impose clearer participation criteria; narrowing the list to city‑associated funds such as Give to SF; or, as a more sweeping alternative, ending the program. Chair Aaron Peskin asked staff to supply data on program costs and suggested surveying participating employees to gauge demand before making major code changes.

Supervisor Mandelmann moved to forward the resolution to the full board with a positive recommendation. Clerk Victor Young called the roll and the motion "passed without objection." The committee did not receive any public comment on the item.

The full Board is expected to consider the resolution at its next meeting; staff indicated payroll deductions might start slightly later this year to give the controller time to set up changes.