Fundraising/Gift Acceptance during Lapse of Appropriation

Even if EPA experiences a lapse of appropriations, employees are still subject to the ethics laws and regulations, including fundraising, misuse of position and gift acceptance.

Basic Rules

• Do not accept gifts given because of your official position (including that you’re furloughed) or from a prohibited source, which is any entity that does business with EPA, seeks to do business with EPA or is regulated by EPA, unless a gift exception applies. See 5 CFR 2635.204.
• The most common gift exception for gifts from outside sources is $20 or less, but --
  • Never accept cash or cash-equivalent cards (e.g., debit cards, VISA gift card); and
  • Political appointees cannot accept gifts of any amount from a federally registered lobbyist.
• Do not use nor allow the use of your EPA or federal government affiliation to solicit contributions, including on any crowdsourcing platforms.

Gift Acceptance

Offers of free meals or discounts offered to all federal workers or the general public

You may accept an offer of free meals, discounts or other support to federal workers during a government shutdown. Provided that the offer is extended to all federal employees, you may accept it as a benefit available to a class consisting of all Government employees or all uniformed military personnel, even if the offer is restricted by geography. If necessary, you may also provide your EPA credentials to demonstrate that you are indeed a federal employee. In this limited instance, providing that identification is not deemed a misuse of your federal position.

Gifts other than cash, offered as an individual gesture of goodwill

Career employees may accept gifts so long as all of the following conditions are met: (1) the offer is unsolicited, (2) its value is $20 or less, (3) the offered gift is not cash or a cash equivalent (such as a VISA or MasterCard gift card), and (4) you do not accept more than $50 from the same donor in a calendar year. But political appointees cannot use this exception to accept a gift from a federally registered lobbyist.

Examples

EXAMPLE: You may accept an unsolicited offer to provide or pay for your lunch as long as the total bill is $20 or less. You can’t accept $20 for a $30 tab and pay the $10 yourself.

EXAMPLE: The members of the EPA Alumni Association, a non-profit organization not directly associated with EPA, offer to provide employees with $20 gift cards (but not cash equivalent cards). You may accept the card.

Concerns about crowdsourcing because you’re not getting paid right now

Be careful before seeking donations, whether you ask directly or someone else asks on your behalf.

Neither you nor anyone acting on your behalf (including a spouse or family member or friend) may solicit any gift for your based on your federal employment status, including the fact that you’re furloughed. Any fundraising campaign should not include your agency, title, or status as a federal employee. You can’t generally accept gifts from prohibited sources, such as contractors or anyone who does business with EPA. You will have to identify and reject any such prohibited donations. You may, though, accept donations from friends or relatives when it is clear that the donations accepted are based on that friendship or family relationship.

Any offers of assistance may be accepted only if: (1) the assistance is offered to a broad class of government employees that does not discriminate based on responsibility, rank, or rate of pay (such as all furloughed federal employees), and (2) the campaign organizer is not a prohibited source. Check with an ethics official for a definitive answer based on your specific facts.

For other references, see OGE Legal Advisory 19-01, “Ethics Guidance for Employees in Non-Pay Status During a Lapse in Appropriations” (2/15/09) and OGE Legal Advisory 20-07, “Answers to Frequently Asked Questions for Employees Engaged in Crowdsourced Fundraising” (10/6/20). You may also watch "DOI DEO Crowdfunding Ethics" from our friends at Interior’s Ethics Office about crowdsourced fundraising.