Grants for volunteer fire departments

Name: Top 25 grants made to volunteer firefighters companies
Creator: Cause IQ
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

1,297 volunteer firefighters companies received at least $1.4 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 1,025 grants made from 670 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $520. Of these 670 foundations, 82% made just a single grant to volunteer fire orgs, and 3% made grants to four or more volunteer fire orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.

$1,351,646

Total grant dollars given to volunteer fire departments

1,025

Number of grants made annually to volunteer fire departments

670

Number of grantmakers funding volunteer fire departments

$520

Median grant size to volunteer fire departments

Foundations that support volunteer firefighters companies

Out of all grants made to volunteer fire departments, 84% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 17% of the dollar-value of grants to volunteer fire orgs. Foundations funding volunteer fire orgs also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, food banks, historical societies, and scholarship organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation size	Number of grantmakers
Small	566
Medium	56
Large	48

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	20
Private	576
Corporate	43
Other	31

Grants made

Grants made to volunteer fire orgs	Number of grantmakers
1	551
2-3	94
4-10	19
11+	6

Top 10 foundations supporting volunteer firefighters companies

Grantmaker	State	Geographic focus	Percent of grant dollars to volunteer fire orgs	Number of grants made to volunteer fire orgs	Median grant size
Westrock Foundation	GA	National	0.2%	78	$21
Texas Farm Bureau Agriculture Research and Education Foundation	TX	State	51.3%	20	$1,775
Land O'Lakes Foundation	MN	National	0.2%	18	$500
Alliant Energy Foundation	WI	State	0.2%	14	$414
Chubb Charitable Foundation	PA	National	0.0%	14	$50
Scott Electric Foundation	PA	Metro	2.7%	12	$4,500
Anne B Sweigart Charitable Foundation	PA	Metro	6.4%	10	$2,000
Dubuque Racing Association	IA	Metro	3.0%	9	$3,500
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)	NJ	National	0.0%	9	$500
David A Bramble Foundation	MD	Metro	5.9%	8	$1,000

See all grantmaking to volunteer fire departments

Volunteer firefighters companies grantees

Volunteer fire departments with more than $5 million in total revenues received 0% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 0% of all volunteer fire orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant	Number of grants
<$10k	1,025
$10k-$25k	0
$25k-$100k	0
$100k+	0

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

State of grantee	Number of grants
Pennsylvania	201
New York	142
New Jersey	99
Virginia	88
Other	495

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee	Number of grants
New York City	165
Philadelphia	62
Richmond	36
Pittsburgh	29
Other	453

Top 25 grants made to volunteer fire departments

Grantee	Grant size	Purpose	Grantmaker
Mendocino Vol Fire Dept	$5,000	Annual Grant for General Operating Support	Community Foundation of Mendocino County
Lakefield Fire Department Relief As	$5,000	Washer / Dryer for Turnout Gear	Jackson Health Care Foundation
NorthMoreland Township Volunteer Fire Co	$5,000	Annual Fund Support	The Luzerne Foundation
West End Fire and Rescue	$5,000	To Help Further the Charitable Cause	G Leonard Fogelsonger Foundation
Indiana Township Fire Department	$5,000	Bunker Gear	Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Marcus Fire Department	$5,000	Scba Tank Replacement	Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Indianola Fire Department Association	$5,000	For Grant Distribution - Lucas 3 Device (Program-Based; Human Services)	Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Trafalgar Volunteer Firemen	$5,000	To Further the Exempt Purpose of the Organization	Johnson County Community Foundation
West Pulaski Volunteer Fire Dept in	$5,000	For Safety Equipment and Other Pressing Needs To Support and Improve the Fire Fighting Capabilities of the Volunteer Fire Fighters.	Arkansas Community Foundation
Potosi Volunteer Fire Dept	$5,000	Program Support	Community Foundation of Abilene
Hummels Wharf Fire Company Incorporated	$5,000	Firefighter Cancer Prevention Project	Central Susquehanna Community Foundation
Reliance Fire No 1 of Berwick Pennsylvania	$5,000	Organization Support	Central Susquehanna Community Foundation
South Lee County Volunteer Fire Dept	$5,000	General Assistance	Family Office Foundation
Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	General Support	The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation
Lewisburg Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	General Support	The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation
Old Forge Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	Rescue Truck Fund	Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties
Wildland Firefighter Foundation	$5,000	General Support	Barbara and Carl D Arnold JR Foundation
Tidioute Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	Recipient of A Foundation Grant.	Community Foundation of Warren County
Citizens Hose Company 1	$5,000	This Grant Was Provided To Replace Outdated and End-Of-Life Communications Equipment, Including Radio Equipment That Is Not Able To Be Repaired Or Maintained in A Cost-Effective Manner. the Goal Was To Improve Safety of the Community By Providing Funds for This Purchase.	McKeesport Hospital Foundation
Olney Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	Assistance	Travis H and Gladys Edwards Charitable Foundation
Blazing Arrow Hook and Ladder	$5,000	Program Assistance	Albemarle Foundation
The Saegertown Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	General Fund	Lang Family Foundation
Howard County Volunteer Fire Department	$5,000	On Behalf of the Delek Refining Big Spring Fund for Hope Committee	Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)
Keene Valley Hose and Ladder Company	$5,000	For Covid-19 Response	Adirondack Foundation
Keene Valley Hose and Ladder Company	$5,000	For Keene Valley Hose and Ladder Company's Covid-19 Response	Adirondack Foundation

See all grants to volunteer fire departments

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 "Volunteer fire departments" category for this page is determined by the "M24: Fire Prevention, Protection, Control" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.