WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION
Compassion Spreads Like Wildfire
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The role of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation is to honor past, present, and future wildland firefighters by helping maintain and grow the national monument established for those who have lost their lives, operate a financial fund providing assistance to the families of fallen and wildland firefighters and to injured firefighters, and partner with private and interagency organizations to educate the public about wildland fires and promote excellence and safety in firefighting. We provide financial assistance, immediate and ongoing emotional support, advocacy, and recognition to fallen and injured wildland firefighters. We present program information and in some instances, onsite crisis support, to government and private fire agencies and other organizations. Survivor family members are forever a part of the Foundation's purpose. We continue to provide emotional support and in some cases financial support many years after a firefighter's death.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Firefighter Down
This program provides immediate assistance to injured and burned wildland firefighters and their families. Support ranges from direct grants, paying for travel expenses, keeping the house financially viable until benefits are received. Most wildland firefighters are injured hundreds or thousands of miles from home, our ability as a non-profit to provide immediate financial assistance and other needs are they arise, is vital and critical to these families.
Family Fire - A Survivor Healing Event
Each spring that includes having the wildland firefighting industry and firefighters on hand to present a healing and recognition program for survivor family members and injured firefighters. Families participate in support groups, learning about the wildland firefighting community and industry, programs for children and teens, and recognition of the lost firefighter at a special memorial program.
52 Club Membership Program
Joining the 52 Club is your “Power of One” opportunity. This Foundation is supported by individuals. We do not receive government money – we are here because hundreds of you choose to support each other. We are simply the funnel of the wildland community to the families of wildland firefighters who are seriously injured or are killed in the line of duty. The 52 Club is your opportunity to help a wildland firefighter and/or their family for one dollar a week.
Wildland Firefighter Recognition - Monument
The Interagency Wildland Firefighter Monument is a place where people can appreciate, celebrate, reflect on, mourn, imagine and enjoy the wildland fire community’s endeavors and outcomes. The monument is a tribute to wildland firefighters and a memorial for our fallen. It is meant to be enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
Family Liaison
Helps provide consistency and support for families who lose a wildland firefighter in the line of duty. Many times the agencies that lose a firefighter have never had to deal with the loss, helping the family through the process, or the impact on peers and survivors. Our expertise from being called upon when a tragedy occurs will provide consistency and ongoing comfort and assistance to the agency assigned liaison and to families as they begin to travel the path of loss, paperwork, and other issues associated with losing a wildland firefighter while on duty.
Where we work
Awards
Hero 2008
CNN
Mother Teresa Caring Award 2010
The Caring Institute
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of families served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Related Program
Firefighter Down
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Since conception of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation in 1999, Thousands of Families have been financially touched.
Total number of client suicides
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Related Program
Firefighter Down
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Suicides have become more of a norm in the first responder world.
Number of death caused by cancer
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Related Program
Firefighter Down
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As technology unfolds we are finding cancer causing issues are a bigger picture than ever thought of before.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our Facebook page is geared toward our families of fallen firefighters where we honor their firefighters.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Related Program
Firefighter Down
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The number of firefighters and families served has steadily grown from year to year. We are able to touch so many lives in so many ways.
Number of wildland firefighters who have access to assistance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Related Program
Firefighter Down
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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?
The Board of Directors and the Wildland Firefighter Foundation is focused on developing realistic goals and objectives designed to guide the Foundation into the future. The following organizational goals have been identified:
1) Ensure the Foundation is fiscally viable to deliver financial assistance to families of fallen and injured firefighters.
2) Build partnerships among the wildland firefighting community to encourage stronger awareness of the Foundation and its services.
3) Continue to recognize and honor past, present, and future wildland firefighters.
4) Deliver programs and services that meet the needs of injured firefighters and fallen firefighter's families.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. Continue to work with our Board of Directors
2. Keep courting Corporate Sponsors
3. Keeping in the face of the wildland community and telling our story
4. Facilitating our surviving family members to continue the networking with each other to further their healing process
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
*Our staff is professional and compassionate in every role they perform.
*Our funding is higher than ever as our reputation is at its peak in the wildland community.
*Our experience over the last 25 years puts us ahead of the game in an injury or fatality situation.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We've become the safety net for the entire wildland community of the United States.
Honoring Internationally will be next... stay tuned!
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve wildland firefighters and their families.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We don’t use any of these practices
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our 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.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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.
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.
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER FOUNDATION
Board of directorsas of 06/27/2022
Ms Vicki Minor
Wildland Firefighter Foundation
Julie Quigley
Firedawgs.net
Mark DeGregorio
Semi Retired Park Services
Todd Abel
Central Arizona Fire
Dale Bosworth
emeritus
Vicki Minor
President/WFF Founder
Dina Pfeifer
Secretary
Burk Minor
Executive Director
Margaret Doherty
Retired USFS
David Crumb
Retired USFS
Curtis Stanley
Retires USFS
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
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
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/27/2022GuideStar 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 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 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.