Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation
Champions for Burn Survivors, Fire Fighters, and Safe Communities
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation (PFFWCF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Our work is at the heart of every community across Wisconsin. Where there is a burn survivor trying to navigate life beyond their injuries, you’ll find us. Where there is an event to honor a fallen fire fighter or raise funds for the family left behind, you’ll find us. Where there is a group of kids eager to learn how they can help keep their family and their home safe, we’ll be there. We’re proud leaders of a coalition of champions across the state – including partner organizations, industry professionals and the public – who work every day to help keep our burn survivors, fire fighters and communities healthy, safe and strong. Problem Statement: Preventable Deaths, Injuries, and Property Loss exist in Wisconsin.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Burn Survivor Support Program
- Burn Survivor Support Program – supports burn survivors of all ages and in all stages of recovery.
o Summer Camp for Burn Injured Youth – a free summer camp for kids ages 7 to 17 with life altering burn injuries.
o Winter Leadership Retreat for Young Adult Burn Survivors – a weekend retreat for burn survivors ages 18 to 25 that builds life skills and promotes emotional healing.
o Support and Coordination with Wisconsin Burn Centers; Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Regional Burn Center, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin Burn Center.
o Burn Survivor Academic Scholarship
o Burn Survivor Grant to attend outside programming.
o Burn Awareness and Prevention Campaigns
Fire Prevention Program
- Fire Prevention Program – promotes fire safety through education and proactive initiatives to reduce risk.
o Fire Safety Newspapers in Education – a Fire Safety Newspaper distributed in 11 Gannett Sunday Newspapers throughout Wisconsin on the Sunday to commence Fire Prevention Week and made available for all 4th – 8th grade students in more than 2,200 schools.
o Wisconsin Smoke Alarm Fire Education (WisSAFE) Coalition – provides in home education while checking and installing smoke alarms.
o Wisconsin Fire Sprinkler Coalition – works to identify and overcome the barriers to the acceptance of fire sprinklers.
Fire Fighter Support Program
- Fire Fighter Support Program – supports fire fighters so they can better serve their communities.
o Disaster Assistance – provides immediate assistance to fire fighters and/or their families at their darkest time and greatest of need.
o Health and Safety – increasing health, wellness, and mental health, while working to decrease the incidence of occupational cancer and suicide in the fire service.
o Support of the PFFW State Honor Guard
o Support of the Wisconsin State Fire Fighters Memorial
Community Support Program
- Community Support Program – reduces risk and enhances the work fire fighters do in their communities both on and off duty.
o Grant Program – makes quarterly grants as determined by the PFFWCF Board of Directors.
Where we work
Awards
Bringing Safety Home Award 2022
National Fire Protection Association
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Burn Survivor Support Program
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total Facebook Reach As of 12/13/2022 YTD Reach is 338,308 and Followers is 7696
Total dollars received in contributions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of coalition meetings
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Fire Prevention Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
MISSION STATEMENT:
The mission of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation is to champion community risk reduction initiatives; promote fire safety and prevention; and deliver meaningful support to burn survivors, fire fighters and communities.
VISION STATEMENT:
The vision of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation is for all those we serve to be healthy, safe and supported in their lives and in their communities.
The PFFWCF’s Programming includes:
Burn Survivor Support Program – supports burn survivors of all ages and in all stages of recovery.
o Summer Camp for Burn Injured Youth – a free summer camp for kids ages 7 to 17 with life altering burn injuries.
o Winter Leadership Retreat for Young Adult Burn Survivors – a weekend retreat for burn survivors ages 18 to 25 that builds life skills and promotes emotional healing.
o Support and Coordination with Wisconsin Burn Centers; Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Regional Burn Center, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin Burn Center.
o Burn Survivor Academic Scholarship
o Burn Survivor Grant to attend outside programming.
o Burn Awareness and Prevention Campaigns
- Fire Prevention Program – promotes fire safety through education and proactive initiatives to reduce risk.
o Fire Safety Newspapers in Education – a Fire Safety Newspaper distributed in 11 Gannett Sunday Newspapers throughout Wisconsin on the Sunday to commence Fire Prevention Week and made available for all 4th – 8th grade students in more than 2,200 schools.
o Wisconsin Smoke Alarm Fire Education (WisSAFE) Coalition – provides in home education while checking and installing smoke alarms.
o Wisconsin Fire Sprinkler Coalition – works to identify and overcome the barriers to the acceptance of fire sprinklers.
- Fire Fighter Support Program – supports fire fighters so they can better serve their communities.
o Disaster Assistance – provides immediate assistance to fire fighters and/or their families at their darkest time and greatest of need.
o Health and Safety – increasing health, wellness, and mental health, while working to decrease the incidence of occupational cancer in the fire service.
o Support of the PFFW State Honor Guard
o Support of the Wisconsin State Fire Fighters Memorial
- Community Support Program – reduces risk and enhances the work fire fighters do in their communities both on and off duty.
o Grant Program – makes quarterly grants as determined by the PFFWCF Board of Directors.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Goal 1: The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation will assess, ensure, and increase inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) involving our programming and services throughout Wisconsin by collecting, analyzing, and utilizing the information and data to guide, measure, and make an impact related to our mission.
Goal 2: The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation will increase communication to and engagement with all stakeholders to establish and maintain well-informed Wisconsin communities and a thriving organization.
Goal 3: The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation will unify our organization so all stakeholders (Board of Directors, Staff, Volunteers, and Supporters), regardless of level, understand how their work contributes to our mission and how our mission impacts people, organizations, and communities.
Goal 4: The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation with strengthen our organizational capacity through; a systematic needs assessment of available time, money, and resources; streamlining processes to create efficiencies; and implementing capacity building solutions where and whenever possible. All while continuing to improve and increase our program offerings and services that have an impact on our mission.
Goal 5: The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation will Improve organizational resilience and sustainability through planning, conducting a needs assessment, and concerted efforts to continue to make an indefinite impact on our mission.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation has experienced staff and partnerships that have implemented, managed, and completed similar smoke alarm check/installation, fire education and home safety inspection programs as part of a comprehensive home fire safety campaigns throughout our state.
Recently, we have shared a lot of success with our partners with the various smoke alarm installation, fire prevention and education programs we have developed, implemented, and completed.
Our experience stems from a 3-prong approach to smoke alarm check/installation, education and home safety inspection programs has been most successful for us. Smoke alarm and fire safety checks are done by appointment all year long. We also canvas target audiences door-to-door offering to perform smoke alarm checks/installations. Lastly, we canvas the immediate neighborhood where a house fire has taken place and offer to perform smoke alarm checks/installations while the devastating effects of fire is right in front of them and the importance of fire prevention is on their minds.
What we are hoping to accomplish with the award of this grant is to enhance our smoke alarm check/installation, fire education and home safety inspection programs throughout the State of Wisconsin. By utilizing smoke alarms powered by non-removable, non-replaceable batteries that power the alarm for a minimum of 10-years and are enclosed within a tamper resistant housing. Thus, providing a long-term solution versus replacing missing and/or dead batteries.
In conjunction, we have a very proactive board and committees that support fire prevention and safety through our other programs (burn survivor, fire safety publications (550,000+ copies printed annually and distributed to 2,100+ schools), and support for fire sprinklers and safety trailers to name a few).
As you can see we have quite a bit of experience and expertise not only in programs that are similar to what we are proposing, but to fire prevention and safety in general.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Burn Survivor Support Program
• Welcomed 53 burn survivors to our 28th annual Summer Camp for Burn Injured Youth or “Burn Camp.”
• Launched our Continuous Camper Communication Commitment to increase engagement with burn survivors.
• Increased our efforts to communicate with burn care providers and facilities to create awareness for our aftercare services in a concerted effort to connect with the 100+ hospitalized pediatric burn patients in Wisconsin each year.
• Convened our Winter Leadership Retreat for Young Adult Burn Survivors in the Wisconsin Dells.
• Supported the UW Burn Center and moved closer to fulfilling our $100,000 commitment to name the family lounge after our organization with proceeds from our Annual Burn Ball in Madison (Save-the-Date 2/4/23).
• Expanded our Burn Survivor Scholarship initiatives.
• Sponsored Burn Campers, staff, and families to attend the Neenah-Menasha Backdraft Bike Tour.
Fire Safety & Prevention Program
• Received record demand for our 25th annual Fire Safety Newspapers in Education program. We printed 500,000+ copies, expanded statewide distribution from 11 to 25 newspapers, and received 130k preorders that we delivered to schools, fire departments, and community organizations (www.pffwcf.org/FireSafety).
• Secured and administered an $89k FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety grant for installing smoke alarms.
• Hosted our 32nd Annual Fire Safety Recognition Luncheon with record attendance in Madison for the first time.
• Promoted fire safety through our Wisconsin Smoke Alarm Fire Education Coalition and WI Fire Sprinkler Coalition.
• Received national recognition from the National Fire Protection Association in the form of their annual Bringing Safety Home Award and two International Association of Fire Fighters Media Awards for our outreach materials.
Fire Fighter Support Program
• Launched our 3rd annual Fire & EMS Mental Health Survey in partnership with Rogers Research Center.
• Developed and started implementation on our Wisconsin Public Safety Mental Health Initiative that aims to improve the mental health of all responders through awareness, peer support, coordinated care, and other support services.
• Launched an initiative to honor and provide services to our fire fighters military veterans.
• Utilized our Disaster Assistance Toolkit to provide more than $200,000 in disaster assistance to fire fighters and their families during times of need.
• Our Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Honor Guard rendered more tribute and honor to our fallen brothers and sisters; assisted departments throughout Wisconsin in their time of need; and properly displayed and showcased respect towards the colors we fly and the proud profession we serve in than ever before (www.pffwhg.org).
• Continued to provide support for and coordination with the Wisconsin Fire and EMS Memorial
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation
Board of directorsas of 02/14/2023
Mr. Mahlon Mitchell
Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin
Term: 2021 - 2024
Mr. Steve Wilding
Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin
Term: 2020 - 2023
Mahlon Mitchell
Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin
Steve Wilding
Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin
Michael Woodzicka
Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin
Michael De Garmo
Racine Fire Department
Matt Simpson
Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial
Dave Bosanko
Retired PFFW
Jim Hirsch
Paul Davis Restoration of South Central Wisconsin
Scott Hall
Milwaukee Fire Department
Cynthia Brun
UW Oshkosh - Fire and Emergency Response Management Program
Emily Rauber
The Trade Hotel
Jason Perkiser
Shawn Lauda
Milwaukee Professional Police Assn [ret.]
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/13/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.