National Volunteer Fire Council
Supporting Those Who Serve
National Volunteer Fire Council
EIN: 39-1274172
as of September 2023
as of September 18, 2023
Mission
To provide a unified voice for volunteer Fire/EMS organizations. This mission will be accomplished by: Representing the interests of the volunteer Fire/EMS organizations at the U.S. congress and federal agencies; Promoting the interests of the state and local organizations at the national level; Promoting and providing education and training for the volunteer Fire/EMS organizations; Providing representation on national standards setting committees and projects; Gathering information from and disseminating information to the volunteer Fire/EMS organizations
Ruling year
1982
CEO
Ms. Sarah Lee
Main address
712 H Street, NE Suite 1478
Washington, DC 20002 USA
EIN
39-1274172
Nonprofits
Emergency medical services
Public safety
Community improvement
Population served
Adolescents
Adults
Ethnic and racial groups
Students
Emergency responders
NTEE code
Other Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness, and Relief N.E.C. (M99)
Community, Neighborhood Development, Improvement (S20)
Voluntarism Promotion (T40)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Affiliations
Programs and results
Reports and documents
Download annual reports Download other documentsWhat we aim to solve
The NVFC seeks to provide a unified voice for the volunteer fire and emergency services at the national level, provide support for volunteer fire and emergency service organizations, and communicate relevant and timely information necessary for volunteer fire/EMS organizations to operate effectively while keeping personnel and their communities safe.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Fire Corps
Fire Corps is a program that connects resource-constrained fire/EMS departments with community members to assist in non-emergency roles. This allows first responders to focus on training and operational duties while at the same time increasing the department's capacity and services
National Junior Firefighter Program
The NVFC National Junior Firefighter Program serves as an umbrella for junior firefighter programs nationwide to promote youth participation within the fire and emergency services community. The program is a powerful recruitment tool for departments and provides youth with valuable life skills such as teamwork, leadership, responsibility, and commitment.
The National Junior Firefighter Program provides fire/EMS departments with the resources, tools, and information to help develop, grow, enhance, and promote a local junior firefighter program. Youth can use the program to locate a local junior firefighter program, keep track of their hours of service, and find other resources as a youth participant in the fire and emergency services.
Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program
The NVFC launched the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program in 2003 to combat the alarming trend of heart attack being the leading cause of on-duty firefighter fatalities. This is done through education, awareness, and resources. The Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program promotes fitness, nutrition, and health awareness for all members of the fire and emergency services, both volunteer and career.
Volunteer Firefighter Support Fund
Every day, volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel put their lives on the line to protect their communities, but what happens when the tragedy strikes home? Many first responders are impacted each year by disasters such as hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, and others. These men and women dedicate themselves to serving their communities. When their homes and families are affected by tragedy, they rely on the community to give back.
The NVFC Volunteer Firefighter Support Fund provides a stipend of $250 to volunteer first responders whose homes have been impacted by a state- or federally-declared disaster. The stipend helps these firefighters and emergency personnel meet their basic needs in the aftermath of the disaster.
Share the Load
NVFC's Share the Load™ program provides access to critical resources and information to help first responders and their families manage and overcome personal and work-related problems. This includes the Fire/EMS Helpline, which offers free 24-hour assistance with issues such as stress, depression, addiction, PTSD, and more.
Make Me a Firefighter Program
The NVFC's Make Me A Firefighter campaign helps to bridge the volunteer recruitment gap through a national awareness campaign and through a makemeafirefighter.org that connects prospective volunteers with fire and emergency service departments. The campaign also provides local fire and EMS departments tools to implement a successful local recruitment campaign.
PIT Crew Hazmat Training
Through the PIT Crew program, first responders nationwide will receive training and then be able to use the knowledge and skills gained to teach this important information to others in their departments and
communities. The P.I.T. Crew project provides key skills to existing hazmat trainers as well as works to develop new hazmat trainers for the delivery of regional, local, and individual department level trainings. This work will result in the preservation of lives and property.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of training events conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Training events include webinars, training conferences, and local/regional training. It does not include the number of individuals who participated in online training through NVFC's Virtual Classroom
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
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?
The NVFC is focused on improving the physical and mental health and safety of volunteer first responders, assisting fire/EMS departments with both recruiting and retaining volunteers to maintain minimum staffing levels, providing relevant training, increasing diversity, representing the volunteer fire and emergency service in regards to national codes and standards, and fostering the next generation of firefighters. We aim to provide programs, training, and resources that help volunteer fire departments and personnel, while providing a unified voice for the volunteer fire and emergency services at the national level.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The NVFC implements the following strategies to achieve our goals:
Advocacy: The NVFC advocates for the volunteer fire and emergency services on Capitol Hill as well as within standards-making organizations. We monitor legislation and standards, educate our members, and mobilize grassroots advocacy across all 50 states.
Education: The NVFC generates awareness of issues affecting the volunteer fire and emergency services through our outreach and training efforts, putting critical information in the hands of our members and constituents.
Resources: The NVFC provides award-winning programs and resources addressing issues facing the volunteer fire and emergency services such as volunteer recruitment and retention, heart-health, mental health, occupational cancer, and more.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The NVFC’s membership consists of 46 state fire associations and over 30,000 individuals. Our reach spans the country, allowing us to easily collect and disseminate information, serve as the voice of the volunteer at the national level, and function as the key repository of information and resources for emergency service organizations and first responders.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The NVFC has developed and continues to maintain several award-winning programs including the Heart-Healthy Firefighter program, the National Junior Firefighter Program, the first ever national volunteer recruitment effort – the Make Me a Firefighter campaign, and our Share the Load program providing behavioral health support to our nation’s selfless heroes. We have seen the number of line of duty deaths drop over the years, have helped numerous departments implement or improve health and safety initiatives along with recruiting and retaining volunteers, and have been credited with saving lives through our Share the Load program.
We will continue to advocate, educate, and develop and maintain programs and resources to support volunteer first responders.
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
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
Financial documents
Download audited financialsRevenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2022 info
2.60
Months of cash in 2022 info
2.5
Fringe rate in 2022 info
20%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
National Volunteer Fire Council
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
National Volunteer Fire Council
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of National Volunteer Fire Council’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $58,515 | -$52,091 | $46,291 | $360,797 | $170,459 |
| As % of expenses | 2.6% | -2.3% | 2.0% | 15.8% | 6.3% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $56,184 | -$54,846 | $42,505 | $356,430 | $161,714 |
| As % of expenses | 2.5% | -2.4% | 1.8% | 15.6% | 5.9% |
| Revenue composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $2,259,822 | $2,337,420 | $2,146,421 | $2,752,573 | $2,986,158 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | -25.3% | 3.4% | -8.2% | 28.2% | 8.5% |
| Program services revenue | 25.5% | 28.8% | 32.4% | 26.3% | 26.7% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 1.1% | 0.5% |
| Government grants | 51.2% | 43.5% | 39.1% | 42.0% | 47.2% |
| All other grants and contributions | 21.3% | 26.6% | 28.1% | 30.5% | 24.4% |
| Other revenue | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.2% |
| Expense composition info | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $2,260,480 | $2,263,241 | $2,306,840 | $2,282,133 | $2,726,982 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | -23.4% | 0.1% | 1.9% | -1.1% | 19.5% |
| Personnel | 52.6% | 57.2% | 56.9% | 51.5% | 44.7% |
| Professional fees | 25.0% | 26.3% | 23.6% | 27.9% | 32.1% |
| Occupancy | 3.2% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.1% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 0.5% | 0.9% | 6.7% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| All other expenses | 18.8% | 12.2% | 9.5% | 17.0% | 20.0% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $2,262,811 | $2,265,996 | $2,310,626 | $2,286,500 | $2,735,727 |
| One month of savings | $188,373 | $188,603 | $192,237 | $190,178 | $227,249 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $9,425 | $5,316 | $9,787 | $0 | $54,354 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $2,460,609 | $2,459,915 | $2,512,650 | $2,476,678 | $3,017,330 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 1.5 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
| Months of cash and investments | 2.6 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 5.2 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $289,413 | $500,234 | $408,909 | $572,593 | $557,288 |
| Investments | $197,018 | $287,074 | $327,164 | $373,912 | $454,821 |
| Receivables | $403,482 | $301,750 | $219,419 | $441,284 | $663,674 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $65,101 | $70,418 | $80,204 | $80,204 | $67,874 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 84.6% | 82.1% | 76.8% | 82.3% | 11.9% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 22.2% | 21.4% | 25.9% | 15.5% | 24.9% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $738,902 | $684,056 | $726,561 | $1,082,991 | $1,244,705 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $48,715 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $48,715 | $253,376 | $74,735 | $193,694 | $197,606 |
| Total net assets | $787,617 | $937,432 | $801,296 | $1,276,685 | $1,442,311 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
CEO
Ms. Sarah Lee
Sarah Lee joined the NVFC staff in 2005 serving as the Deputy Director/CEO until 2021 when she became the CEO. Sarah oversees all of the organization’s operations, from membership to programs, and loves the sense of community and giving back her position provides.
In addition to a bachelor’s degree, Sarah has a master’s degree in public administration and nonprofit management, is credentialed as a Certified Association Executive through the American Society of Association Executives, and holds a certificate in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Sarah serves as the membership chair with the Purcellville Volunteer Fire Department in Virginia, where she helps with recruitment and retention. In her spare time, Sarah can be found planning her family’s next camping adventure, reading a good book, volunteering at her kids’ schools, or serving as part of a therapy dog team with her dog, Marley.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
National Volunteer Fire Council
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
National Volunteer Fire Council
Highest paid employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
National Volunteer Fire Council
Board of directorsas of 07/20/2023
Board of directors data
Mr. Steve Hirsch
Kansas State Firefighters Association
Term: 2019 -
Dallas Renfrew
State Firefighters' and Firemen's Association of Texas
Paul Acosta
Colorado State Fire Fighters Association
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
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/29/2021GuideStar 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 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 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.
Contractors
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