Grants for volunteer fire departments

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 animal shelters, food banks, multiservice human service organizations, christian organizations, and scholarship organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber 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 typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
20
Private
 
576
Corporate
 
43
Other
 
31

Grants made

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

Top 10 foundations supporting volunteer firefighters companies

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to volunteer fire orgsNumber of grants made to volunteer fire orgsMedian grant size
Westrock FoundationGANational0.2%78$21
Texas Farm Bureau Agriculture Research and Education FoundationTXState51.3%20$1,775
Land O'Lakes FoundationMNNational0.2%18$500
Alliant Energy FoundationWIState0.2%14$414
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.0%14$50
Scott Electric FoundationPAMetro2.7%12$4,500
Anne B Sweigart Charitable FoundationPAMetro6.4%10$2,000
Dubuque Racing AssociationIAMetro3.0%9$3,500
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%9$500
David A Bramble FoundationMDMetro5.9%8$1,000

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 grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
1,025
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
0

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

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

Grantee metros

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

Top 25 grants made to volunteer fire departments

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Mendocino Vol Fire Dept$5,000Annual Grant for General Operating SupportCommunity Foundation of Mendocino County
Lakefield Fire Department Relief As$5,000Washer / Dryer for Turnout GearJackson Health Care Foundation
NorthMoreland Township Volunteer Fire Co$5,000Annual Fund SupportThe Luzerne Foundation
West End Fire and Rescue$5,000To Help Further the Charitable CauseG Leonard Fogelsonger Foundation
Indiana Township Fire Department$5,000Bunker GearCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Marcus Fire Department$5,000Scba Tank ReplacementCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Indianola Fire Department Association$5,000For Grant Distribution - Lucas 3 Device (Program-Based; Human Services)Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Trafalgar Volunteer Firemen$5,000To Further the Exempt Purpose of the OrganizationJohnson County Community Foundation
West Pulaski Volunteer Fire Dept in$5,000For 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$5,000Program SupportCommunity Foundation of Abilene
Hummels Wharf Fire Company Incorporated$5,000Firefighter Cancer Prevention ProjectCentral Susquehanna Community Foundation
Reliance Fire No 1 of Berwick Pennsylvania$5,000Organization SupportCentral Susquehanna Community Foundation
South Lee County Volunteer Fire Dept$5,000General AssistanceFamily Office Foundation
Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department$5,000General SupportThe Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation
Lewisburg Volunteer Fire Department$5,000General SupportThe Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation
Old Forge Volunteer Fire Department$5,000Rescue Truck FundCommunity Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties
Wildland Firefighter Foundation$5,000General SupportBarbara and Carl D Arnold JR Foundation
Tidioute Volunteer Fire Department$5,000Recipient of A Foundation Grant.Community Foundation of Warren County
Citizens Hose Company 1$5,000This 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$5,000AssistanceTravis H and Gladys Edwards Charitable Foundation
Blazing Arrow Hook and Ladder$5,000Program AssistanceAlbemarle Foundation
The Saegertown Volunteer Fire Department$5,000General FundLang Family Foundation
Howard County Volunteer Fire Department$5,000On Behalf of the Delek Refining Big Spring Fund for Hope CommitteeCommunity Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)
Keene Valley Hose and Ladder Company$5,000For Covid-19 ResponseAdirondack Foundation
Keene Valley Hose and Ladder Company$5,000For Keene Valley Hose and Ladder Company's Covid-19 ResponseAdirondack 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 "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.