LeaveTransfer.orgDonate annual leave to a colleague in crisis through the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program
When a medical emergency outlasts a coworker’s paid leave, the paycheck stops at the worst possible moment — and colleagues who would help in a heartbeat often never hear about it. LeaveTransfer.org makes the need visible: you pledge hours of your own annual leave, and your agency’s HR office completes the transfer on official OPM forms, the same way it always has.
Like a GoFundMe — except colleagues give hours, not dollars
No money changes hands between colleagues — donors give hours, not dollars. Think of it as GoFundMe for federal employees: colleagues donate hours of their accrued annual leave to a coworker whose paid time has run out during a medical or family emergency.
LeaveTransfer.org is where the story gets told and the pledges get gathered — the donation itself is never processed here. Every transfer is completed by your own agency’s HR office, on official OPM forms.
Built to be shared
Will anyone actually see a campaign? The honest answer is distribution. Donors can’t give if they never hear about the need — so every campaign here is built to travel.
A real, public link
Drop it in a federal-employee Facebook group, the family group chat, or a text to a coworker.
A share card, not a bare URL
On social media the link unfurls into a rich preview — photo, title, and the story behind the ask.
An email worth forwarding
Send the campaign to your team and let colleagues pass it along.
A campaign your union can feature
A union local can put a member’s campaign in front of its whole membership.
None of that is possible when the request lives only on an internal list half the building never opens.
How do you empathize with a name on a list?
At many agencies, a leave-transfer request reaches coworkers as exactly that — a name on a list, a line in an all-staff email. Medical-privacy rules mean HR typically can’t share why someone needs help, and that’s how it should be. But it’s hard to give a week of your annual leave to a name. What those rules can’t do is let the person speak for themselves. Here, they can.
You decide what to share. A campaign never requires disclosing a diagnosis — the medical details stay where they belong, in the confidential application your agency’s HR office already reviewed. Some people share a lot. Some share only that they’re caring for a parent and running out of leave. Either is enough for a colleague to say: I can spare eight hours.
The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program — we just extend its reach
The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) is a federal program that lets a federal employee donate accrued annual leave directly to a colleague who is facing a personal or family medical emergency and has exhausted their own paid leave. It isn’t new, and it isn’t ours: Congress created it in the Federal Employees Leave Sharing Act of 1988, and nearly every federal agency is required to run one (5 CFR 630.903). Participation is always voluntary — no one, supervisor or peer, may pressure you over a donation. If you’re a federal civilian employee covered by title 5, this program already belongs to you.
That’s the part we don’t touch. LeaveTransfer.org doesn’t replace the program and never handles your leave balance — we extend its reach beyond one office, so a donor three floors, or three states, away can find out that someone needs help. The actual transfer is always processed by your own agency. For the plain-English rules — who qualifies, donation limits, taxes — see our guide to VLTP rules and limits.
Campaigns started by verified union representatives carry a “Created by a verified union representative” check marker — a sign that a union local has put its name behind the request.
How to donate annual leave through the VLTP
A colleague applies — and a campaign goes up
The employee — or, if they’re unable to apply themselves, a personal representative acting for them — applies to their own agency with OPM Form 630 to become an approved leave recipient. Then they (or a coworker or union leader alongside them) create a campaign here, telling as much of their story as they choose. See our guide to becoming a leave recipient.
You pledge hours — no account required
Pledging takes a work email ending in .gov or .mil — no account, no password, about a minute of your time. Only accrued annual leave can be pledged; sick leave can never be donated. See how donating works.
Your agency makes it official
A pledge is a commitment, not the transfer itself. You complete the donation through your own HR office: OPM Form 630-A if you work at the recipient’s agency. Colleagues at other agencies may be able to donate too, using Form 630-B, when the recipient’s agency accepts outside donations. See the OPM forms, explained.
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Who runs LeaveTransfer.org?
LeaveTransfer.org is an independent, privately owned platform built for one purpose: making the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program easier to use. We are not a government website or affiliated with OPM or any federal agency, and we never handle leave balances or process transfers — those happen through your agency’s official HR channels. If you’re weighing whether to trust a non-.gov site, that’s the right instinct. Read exactly what we do — and don’t do — on our About page.
Sign in or create an account
Use any email you'll keep long-term access to — a personal address works well. If you don't have an account, this creates one. You'll verify your federal work email separately before starting a campaign.