Grants for search and rescue organizations

160 search and rescue squads received at least $272,594 in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 178 grants made from 156 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 156 foundations, 90% made just a single grant to rescue orgs, and 1% made grants to four or more rescue orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$272,594
Total grant dollars given to search and rescue organizations
178
Number of grants made annually to search and rescue organizations
156
Number of grantmakers funding search and rescue organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to search and rescue organizations

Foundations that support search and rescue squads

Out of all grants made to search and rescue organizations, 77% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 23% of the dollar-value of grants to rescue orgs. Foundations funding rescue orgs also made grants to food banks, multiservice human service organizations, animal shelters, and historical societies.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
121
Medium
 
17
Large
 
18
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation type Number of grantmakers
Community
 
2
Private
 
127
Corporate
 
15
Other
 
12

Grants made

Grants made to rescue orgs Number of grantmakers
1
 
141
2-3
 
13
4-10
 
2
11+
 
0

Top 10 foundations supporting search and rescue squads

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to rescue orgs Number of grants made to rescue orgs Median grant size
Puget Sound Energy Foundation DE Metro 1.0% 5 $2,500
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.0% 5 $40
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.0% 3 $600
The Fraternal Order of Eagles Foundation OH National 0.5% 2 $5,000
United Fund of Surry NC Metro 2.0% 2 $3,500
United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area MT State 1.9% 2 $2,081
United Way of Florence County SC Metro 0.4% 2 $1,721
Mutual of America Foundation NY National 0.1% 2 $750
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.0% 2 $625
The Charles and Margaret Levin Family Foundation MD Metro 0.3% 2 $625

Search and rescue squads grantees

Search and rescue organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 4% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 3% of all rescue orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
178
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
0

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,000
$500k-$1M
 
$875
$1M-$5M
 
$250
>$5M
 
$2,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
Colorado
 
34
Maryland
 
20
New Jersey
 
18
New York
 
15
Other
 
91

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
19
Washington DC
 
18
Trenton
 
10
Montgomery
 
5
Other
 
64

Top 25 grants made to search and rescue organizations

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Aguilas Del Desierto $5,000 For Core Operating Support To Reduce Accidents and Deaths Among Migrants in the Mountains, Deserts, and Rural Areas of California By Convening Search Teams and Providing Direct Services. California Wellness Foundation
Friends of Rockland $5,000 Exempt Purpose MassMutual Foundation
Mountain Rescue Aspen $5,000 For the Use of the Donee Organization The Aresty Family Foundation
Marin County Sheriff's Dept Search and Rescue Unit $5,000 Scholarship Awards Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership (CVNL)
Mountain Rescue Aspen $5,000 Environment Shenandoah Foundation
Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue $5,000 In Furtherance of Section 501(c)(3) Charitable Purpose Raintree Foundation
Washington State Sar Planning Unit $5,000 Probability-Based Search Planning Software Puget Sound Energy Foundation
Wolfpack Search and Recovery $5,000 Community Development The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC)
Escambia Search and Rescue $5,000 Search & Rescue Services The Huisking Foundation
Zaka Search and Rescue $5,000 General Support Nathaniel Foundation
Mountain Rescue Aspen $5,000 General & Unrestricted The Broder Family Foundation
Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad (BCCRS) $5,000 General Wilczynski Foundation
Zaka Rescue and Recovery $5,000 Charity Alexander Charitable Foundation U / A / D 12 / 18 / 2000
Mountain Rescue Aspen $5,000 Charity Barbara and Franklin Carson Family Foundation
Pennsylvania Canine Search and Rescue $5,000 General Support Anne B Sweigart Charitable Foundation
Mountain Rescue Aspen $5,000 General Operating Pamela Bakken Foundation Ma
Sheriffs Posse of Sun City West $5,000 For the General Purposes Or Other Charitable Purposes of the Organization. Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
St John Rescue $5,000 General Support Longview Foundation
Ouray Mountain Rescue Team $5,000 Purchase A New Rescue Jeep Western Colorado Community Foundation (WCCF)
Park County Search and Rescue $5,000 Program & Operating The Summit Foundation
Anchorage Search Team $5,000 Equipment/supplies The Fraternal Order of Eagles Foundation
Churchill County NV Search and Rescue $5,000 Equipment/supplies The Fraternal Order of Eagles Foundation
Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team $5,000 General Operating Support Trailsend Foundation
Delta County Search and Rescue $5,000 Support Cox Family Foundation
Mountain Rescue Aspen $4,500 Charity Ellerbeck Family Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Search and rescue organizations" category for this page is determined by the "M23: Search and Rescue Squads, Services" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.