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McDowell County Fire Commission at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

McDowell County Fire Commission

To facilitate the adequate and efficient protection of life and property of the citizens of mcdowell by ensuring that all fire departments are organized and meet the minimum requirements as defined by the north carolina department of insurance rating system

$459k
Granted FY2018
13
Grants FY2018
1
States reached
$94k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2018.

Public Safety & Disaster$794kPublic Benefit$94k
02FY2018 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2018

  • Under $10k2 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $276k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $165k
$28,199
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MCDOWELL COUNTY$94,333
MARION FIRE DEPT$70,497
OLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT$44,881
MCDOWELL COUNTY FIREMANS ASSOCIATIO$40,000
GLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT$35,249
PG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT$35,249
CROOKED CREEK VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT$28,199
WOODLAWN SERVEIR VOLUNTEER FIRE DEP$28,199
DYSARTSVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT$28,199
ASHFORD NORTH COVE VOLUNTEER FIRE D$19,866
SUGAR HILL MONTFORD COVE VFD$16,199
NEBO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT$9,199
HANKINS NORTH FORK VFD$9,099
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–18) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 17%. 0% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 17%MCDOWELL COUNTY: $94k → 16%MARION FIRE DEPT: $70k → 16%Marion Fire Department: $56k → 16%MCDOWELL COUNTY: $50k → 16%MCDOWELL COUNTY FIREMANS ASSOCIATIO: $40k → 16%MCDOWELL COUNTY FIREMANS ASSOCIATION: $40k → 16%GLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $35k → 16%PG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $35k → 16%Ashford North Cove Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%WoodlawnSevier Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%Sugar Hill Montford Cove Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%WOODLAWN SERVEIR VOLUNTEER FIRE DEP: $28k → 16%Hankins North Fork Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%PG Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%Glenwood Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%ASHFORD NORTH COVE VOLUNTEER FIRE D: $20k → 16%SUGAR HILL MONTFORD COVE VFD: $16k → 16%HANKINS NORTH FORK VFD: $9k → 16%DYSARTSVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $28k → 16%Nebo Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%Dysartsville Volunteer Fire Department: $21k → 16%NEBO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $9k → 16%OLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $45k → 16%Old Fort Volunteer Fire Department: $36k → 16%CROOKED CREEK VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $28k → 16%Crooked Creek Volunteer Fire Department: $28k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$888k · 13 repeat orgs$0 to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2018, 0 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
0

Total granted

$888k
$0

Still filing today

69%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2018, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • OF
    OLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $81k · revenue +258%
  • PV
    PG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $63k · revenue +295%
  • GV
    GLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
    9× · 2017–2025 · $63k · revenue +143%

Funded once

    How this is measured

    Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

    04Its field

    Closest unfunded matches

    The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

    1
    Hawtree Volunteer Fire Department Inc

    To provide fire department services for the community of wise, nc and surrounding areas

    Public Safety & Disaster
    2
    Woodlawn-Sevier Voluntary Fire Dept

    To provide fire protection and emergency medical responders to the community in a five mile radius of fire department in woodlawn-seiver area marion mcdowell county nc

    Public Safety & Disaster
    3
    Mcdowell County Fire Commission

    To facilitate the adequate and efficient protection of life and property of the citizens of mcdowell by ensuring that all fire departments are organized and meet the minimum requirements as defined by the north carolina department of…

    Public Safety & Disaster
    4
    Mcdowell Volunteer Fire Company Inc

    Provide fire protection to local residences and businesses

    —
    5
    Cooleemee Volunteer Fire Department

    Provide fire protection services and fire prevention education for the community of cooleemee, nc.

    Public Safety & Disaster
    6
    Duncannon Fire Company No 1 Inc

    Provide Fire Prevention & Protection Services

    —
    7
    Thoroughfare Vol Fire Dept Inc

    Fire protection

    —
    8
    Black Creek Volunteer Fire Department Inc

    Fire protection services

    —
    9
    McKinleyville Volunteer Fire Department Inc

    The McKinleyville Volunteer Fire Department is an organization dedicated to the preservation of life, the prevention of fire, and the protection of property from and during such fires as they may occur in the village of McKinleyville,…

    Public Safety & Disaster
    10
    Nelsonville Volunteer Fire Dept
    Arts & Culture
    11
    East Howellsville Volunteer Fire Department Inc

    Fire & rescue for the east howellsville township in robeson county, nc.

    Public Safety & Disaster
    12
    New Martinsville Volunteer Fire Dept

    To protect property and lives of our community.

    Public Safety & Disaster
    How this is measured
    The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Glenwood Volunteer Fire Department; the most unlike its peers is Nebo Volunteer Fire Department Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
    04the grantee network

    9 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

    Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

    How this is measured

    Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 9 of the 13 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

    Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

    0
    Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
    8
    Early backer (in before they grew)
    9/9
    Grantees still filing
    8/9
    Grew since first funded

    Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

    COUNTY OF MCDOWELL: $144,333 · OtherCOUNTY OF MCDOWELLCITY OF MARION: $126,895 · OtherCITY OF MARIONMCDOWELL COUNTY FIREMANS ASSOCIATIO: $80,000 · OtherMCDOWELL COUNTY FIREMANS ASSOCIATIOWOODLAWN SERVEIR VOLUNTEER FIRE DEP: $56,398 · OtherWOODLAWN SERVEIR VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPSUGAR HILL MONTFORD COVE FIRE DEPT: $44,398 · OtherSUGAR HILL MONTFORD COVE FIRE DEPTOLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $80,869 · Public Safety & DisasterOLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INCPG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $63,448 · Public Safety & DisasterPG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INCGLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: $63,448 · Public Safety & DisasterGLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTTHE CROOKED CREEK TOWNSHIP VFD: $56,398 · Public Safety & DisasterTHE CROOKED CREEK TOWNSHIP VFDDYSARTSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT: $49,348 · Public Safety & DisasterDYSARTSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENTASHFORD-NORTHCOVE VFD: $48,065 · Public Safety & DisasterASHFORD-NORTHCOVE VFDNEBO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $37,398 · Public Safety & DisasterNEBO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INCHANKINS-NORTH FORK FIRE DEPARTMENT: $37,298 · Public Safety & DisasterHANKINS-NORTH FORK FIRE DEPARTMENT
    Other$452,024Public Safety & Disaster$436,272

    Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

    25%50%75%100%$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetOLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $80,869 over 9y, 18% of budgetPG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $63,448 over 9y, 13% of budgetGLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: $63,448 over 9y, 15% of budgetTHE CROOKED CREEK TOWNSHIP VFD: $56,398 over 9y, 12% of budgetSUGAR HILL MONTFORD COVE FIRE DEPT: $44,398 over 9y, 20% of budgetNEBO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $37,398 over 9y, 7.0% of budgetHANKINS-NORTH FORK FIRE DEPARTMENT: $37,298 over 9y, 24% of budget
    Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

    A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

    • Who funds OLD FORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC ↗
    • Who funds PG VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC ↗
    • Who funds GLENWOOD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT ↗
    • Who funds THE CROOKED CREEK TOWNSHIP VFD ↗
    • Who funds DYSARTSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT ↗
    • Who funds ASHFORD-NORTHCOVE VFD ↗
    • Who funds SUGAR HILL MONTFORD COVE FIRE DEPT ↗
    • Who funds NEBO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC ↗
    • Who funds HANKINS-NORTH FORK FIRE DEPARTMENT ↗

    How much its grantees rely on government

    Each dot is one organization McDowell County Fire Commission funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from McDowell County Fire Commission. Bigger dots raise more.

    2025
    ’20’21’22’23’24’25
    no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
      no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
      0get no government money at all
      4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
      0rely on government for over half their income
      ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
      typical government reliance, FY20–25
      How this is measured
      Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

      On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 13 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

      How this is measured
      Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

      Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

      Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $611k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2018, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

      Source object · view filing

      Play a game based on McDowell County Fire Commission’s filings →

      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