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When some Combined Federal Campaign donors said they wanted to make their donations using credit cards, Cincinnati CFC director Marcus Glasgow was skeptical.

“But then people said they could get airline miles through their credit cards because of CFC donations, and that’s something I can understand,” Glasgow said.

Many CFC campaigns are stepping up their online offerings this year, expanding the ways donors can pay for their contributions and offering them new ways to find compatible charities. CFC donations traditionally are made through payroll deductions, but donors are welcoming the opportunity to shop online and earn rewards points by paying with plastic.

Campaigns now are making payroll deduction options more visible online, hoping to increase donations during an economic downturn. John Clausen, director of the Greater Indiana CFC, said his campaign started piloting an e-pledge effort that accepted credit and debit cards in 2007. The region’s federal offices will be eligible for e-pledge this year, and he’s hoping 40 percent of the campaign’s donations will be made online through credit cards or payroll deduction. Younger people are more comfortable shopping online and prefer to donate at their leisure, he said.

“They don’t think it’s anything different than purchasing from eBay or Amazon,” he said.

The National Capital Area CFC, the nation’s largest, is also offering credit, debit and electronic bank transfers, also known as e-checks, online. The option of credit and debit payments first debuted in 2006 with the CFC Overseas campaign. It was successful enough to be expanded to all agencies this year, said Wendy Beach, director of communications for Global Impact, which oversees the National Capital Area CFC.

Payroll deductions are also being offered for many agencies, she said. Beach said the National Capital Area CFC (CFCNCA) is also promoting improved charity searches on its Web site, www.cfcnca.org.

Potential donors can find the charities they seek by searching for key word, ZIP code and administrative costs, among other criteria. It’s much easier to look at charities online than flipping through the 152-page catalog of more than 4,000 charities, she said.

“Donors prefer going online and around-the-clock access. It’s still about the personal touch, but it’s an additional option to give donors a charity search,” she said.

CFCNCA Executive Brad Trullinger said the online tools have a “21st century feeling” and helped him persuade an under-30 Office of Personnel Management employee to take a closer look at CFC’s charities. “Others are concerned about getting their catalogs to find charities, but he said no, he’d rather go online,” said Trullinger, a managing officer at the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The improved online searchability also allowed CFCs to print far fewer catalogs. The CFCNCA will print 250,000 catalogs, compared with last year’s 400,000, for a savings of more than $100,000, Beach said. The Greater Indiana CFC will print 10,000 catalogs, 1,000 fewer than last year, for the 60-county area.

“It costs 75 cents per book, so that means we can save $800 this year,” Clausen said. “We don’t rely on the books so much as directing people to our Web site.”

In Cincinnati, Glasgow said new media tools are likely to be more appealing to younger employees. “We’ve have a bad track record attracting younger donors because we’re not up with the times,” he said. He’s using Facebook and Twitter to promote CFC meetings and training activities.

Directors hope the changes will keep revenues steady during a sour economy. While the National Capital Area CFC has set a goal of $64 million, $1.3 million more than 2008, other CFCs aren’t so optimistic. The Greater Indiana CFC raised $1.275 million last year, and it has lowered its goal to $1.2 million this year because of the economy. One Postal Service plant in Fort Wayne that brought in $26,000 last year has since closed, leaving Clausen wondering if employees will be able to donate as they have previously.

“I think that may be a challenging goal for us. It may be that kind of year,” he said. Glasgow agreed. He’s hoping his Cincinnati CFC can match last year’s total of $1.25 million. “‘Flat’ is the new ‘up.’ We’re hoping we can just make that,” he said.