What is the Denver Employees’ Combined Campaign (DECC)?
In 1988 Denver Mayor Federico Pena signed an executive order creating the Denver Employees' Combined Campaign (DECC), to provide City workers a “responsive and convenient system of charitable giving through payroll deductions.” The first DECC campaign raised $281,618 and served 144 charities. Today over $9 million has been raised and over 400 charities are served.
The mission of the DECC is to carry out the policy of the City and County of Denver to encourage and facilitate donations by its officers and employees to diverse organizations that benefit the community in chartitable ways. The DECC strives to promote and support philanthropy by providing a cost-effective and employee-focused way for Denver city employees to donate to various local charities. They can do so by payroll deduction, cash, check or credit card. Donations to the DECC are voluntary, confidential and tax-deductible. Pledges made to the DECC during the campaign season (September 1st to November 30th) support eligible local non-profit organizations that provide programs benefitting health and human services, education, social change, the arts, the environment and animal welfare.
Denver employees may designate their donations to one or more charities or groups of charities known as federations. An advisory committee, made up of representatives from Denver city agencies, set and enforce the campaign guidelines, called bylaws. The advisory committee reviews the 10 federations who sponsor the more than 400 charities in the campaign to determine if they are fiscally responsible and provide the services they say they do.
Mayor Hickenlooper and the DECC committee has designated to Community Health Charities of Colorado for management of the DECC. If you have any comments or questions, please contact the office at 720-214-0314 or e-mail inquiries to Martha Chamberlin, Director at mchamberlin@healthcharitiesco.org.