How do I find funders for a grassroots disaster and safety nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots disaster and safety organizations, currently Washington County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association of Md Inc, Christian Ministry Alliance, Houston County EMS Association Inc. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.

What counts as a grassroots organization here?

Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.

How much grant money goes to grassroots disaster and safety organizations?

$1.0B reached 11,672 grassroots disaster and safety organizations from 10,421 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Causes · Disaster and safety · grassroots

Who funds grassroots disaster and safety organizations

The funders that back grassroots disaster and safety organizations are specialists, not generalists: Washington County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association of Md Inc gives them 442.8× the national rate, with 85% of its grants going here. These are the small organizations the big-institution funders usually miss, so the funders that show up here are the ones worth a small disaster and safety nonprofit's time.

$1.0B

granted

11,672

organizations

10,421

funders

The short version

10,421 funders gave $1.0B to 11,672 grassroots disaster and safety organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Washington County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association of Md Inc, giving 442.8× the national rate to grassroots disaster and safety organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is The Onestar Foundation, at $19M.
The grassroots disaster and safety organization drawing the most is Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group, at $13M.

Funders most focused on grassroots disaster and safety organizations

Not the biggest checks, the most committed: each gives this size and cause an outsized share of its budget against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank.

Washington County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association of Md Inc442.8×$7M · 85% of its giving Christian Ministry Alliance289.5×$2M · 79% of its giving Houston County EMS Association Inc289.3×$2M · 100% of its giving California Fire Safe Council Inc270.2×$9M · 42% of its giving Benson & Edith Ford Fund264.8×$2M · 74% of its giving Operation Lifesaver Inc264.6×$2M · 72% of its giving The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College257.2×$2M · 76% of its giving Coast Guard Foundation Inc239×$1M · 100% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

Real grantmakers giving the most to grassroots disaster and safety organizations (donor-advised and mega-funds excluded).

1The Onestar Foundation$19M 2Volunteer Florida Foundation Inc$16M 3California Fire Safe Council Inc$9M 4Coastal Bend Community Foundation$9M 5Samaritan's Purse$9M 6Center for Disaster Philanthropy Inc$8M 7The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International$7M 8The Sherwood Foundation$7M

Grassroots disaster and safety organizations that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

11,662 other grassroots disaster and safety organizations$945M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots disaster and safety nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots disaster and safety organizations, currently Washington County Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association of Md Inc, Christian Ministry Alliance, Houston County EMS Association Inc. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.
What counts as a grassroots organization here?: Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.
How much grant money goes to grassroots disaster and safety organizations?: $1.0B reached 11,672 grassroots disaster and safety organizations from 10,421 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions

grants reported with no recipient in the public record

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

The endowment market

who holds foundation money, and what just moved

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

By state

where grant money is based, and what stays home

Size is median total revenue; each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear. Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML across recent fiscal years, among (c)(3) funders and recipients resolved by EIN, with the regranting layer netted out. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.