Non Federal Grants

[FireSpotter]

Does anyone ever go out for ANY grants that are not Federal Grants or related specifically for fire departments? IE: The Safe Neighborhood Hero Grant given by Wal-Mart/SAMS.

[batt403]

Does anyone ever go out for ANY grants that are not Federal Grants or related specifically for fire departments? IE: The Safe Neighborhood Hero Grant given by Wal-Mart/SAMS.

There are a few threads that mention these grants. With Brian, Kurt and others discussing them in detail. I tried to find them real quick but........no luck.

[Tonyg26]

non federal grants

try these:

https://www.myhometownhelper.com

Michelin tire Co. - look at corporate sight fo Operation America Driving Safely

State farm Insurance

allstate insurance

www.ussmokeless.com - operation ranger

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Fireman's Fund is another one. There are thousands of private/corporate foundations that will give to FDs if asked, it's just finding them that's the fun part. Convincing them that you need the money is another since they don't have much of an idea about public service agencies. Some have the stance that citizens pay taxes so what do we need more money than that for?

Don't overlook corporate donation matching programs. Most will match 100% of what employees donate to non-profit agencies up to a certain $$ figure per donation or annually. Each is different. Mine will match up to $5k I believe, so a collection of donations from employees turns into $10k. Go All In and Double Up.

[Tonyg26]

non fed grants

All in and double up??? Someone is in CRUISE mode !!!!!!

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Just found out Vince Neil is doing a poker cruise out of Miami sometime next year, called the Motley Cruise.

Also heard they're coming to Houston for a show with Aerosmith. Need to start on the mullet. Won't that be special, long hair in the back and receding hair line up front.

[Barney47]

Just received notification from our local Wal-Mart that we will be receiving $2000 from the Safe Neighborhoods Grant. We were the only agency to apply!!! We received probably $5000 from Wal-Mart in the past 3 years!

[k3twpfire]

We received a firstresponder.org grant when TUMS was sponsoring it.

[ravenclaw]

We also received a grant from the TUMs First Responder program. I don't think they were able to pick up another sponser yet. It is not even listed on their web site anymore. Try some of the national chain businesses like Wal mart, We got one from JC Penny as well as Wal Mart. Mc Donalds made a nice contribution to our safety/prevention program.

[ktb9780]

There are lots of corporate and private foundations who will fund " community oriented" projects for fire departments, rescue squads and the like. The simple fact is, there is more money in these grants ( $68 billion per year) than the federal programs. Can we access all of them? No, we can't but, corporate America has been opening the door up a little wider since 9/11 and those that take the time to research, and are not afraid to be said "no" to sometimes, are finding that their efforts are paying off.

Now these are typically not the "big" money grants like AFG but, $1000 here, $5000 there adds up and takes care of a lot of items eating away at your budgets.

Dig hard on the corporate websites for these larger companies and look at their areas that discuss " community"," what we support" and "charitable giving". You just might be surprised at what is actually available to you if you take the time to look, read closely and ask questions. Sure many will say "no" but, many may also say "yes".

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

To expand on what Kurt said (which is right on) your own community holds the potential for more $$ than AFG has in all 6 years put together. Anyone that works for a major company usually gets matched donations, and they normally don't have to be in the area served by the company. Friends, relatives, anyone can put together a donation for a cause and have it matched. And always keep the local government up to date on your funding needs. They may not have the money right now, but just in case they do you want to be right, reminding them of the needs. The importance in reminding that you have the need is slightly psychological: you're not just asking because they have money, and they can't claim that since you've been asking since before they had money. That way they can't be defensive about it.

Same reason you should always have a list of what you need available in case someone asks. We all have personal lists of wants/needs that we know exactly what we'd do if we got $5k to spend (flat screen TV...) but when it comes to our FDs we don't have a clue, or it isn't on paper. Everyone in the department should know what is needed and how much it costs so that when Rockefeller comes walking in the station with a checkbook you can point to the list. If you hem and haw about what you'd use the money for, that says you don't really need it. Same with local government: if they find a few extra in the budget, they know what you need and why and might just give it up without having to beg for it.

[FireSpotter]

Thank you everyone and congratulations Barney47!

[Catch22]

Just received notification from our local Wal-Mart that we will be receiving $2000 from the Safe Neighborhoods Grant. We were the only agency to apply!!! We received probably $5000 from Wal-Mart in the past 3 years!

I have a feeling we may end up the same way (I've GOT to remember to get that in today ). It seems like hardly anyone around here knows anything about a lot of the grant programs out there, let alone this one.

[Catch22]

Here's a question I've got for you Yoda's of the grant world. How much is too much to request for "corporate giving" grants? I've been playing around and doing some searching today on various corporations, insurance in particular, and found a number of applications. I must say, every insurance company website I went to had an app for corporate giving and a category for "Community health and safety." Just wouldn't want to ask for so much I took myself out of consideration.

[ktb9780]

If you look around hard enough on their websites you can usually find their last IRS990 form or their "yearky report". Look towards the end of that form and see who they funded and for how much. Take the numbers add them, divide by number of grants given and you have an idea of how much they usually fund. Often times also they post that they fund projects between X & Y amounts or that they do not fund projects under a certain amount. You might also look for "examples" of projects they funded which they somtimes post. You scratched the surface here on looking for the funding sources, now you have to dig a little deeper to get down to brass tacks with them. Keep at it!