California · Nonprofit
CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION
CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 405 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,243,232 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,469,049). 111 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.3M
- Funders on record
- 405
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $20M
What California Fire Foundation does
Mission
The California Fire Foundation (cff) is a public benefit charity that provides assistance to victims of fire and conducts public education campaigns about fire safety and the devastating effects of fire. It recognizes the courage of fire fighters, and the perseverance and sacrifice of fire victims. The california firefighters memorial, located at the state capitol in sacramento, was built and is maintained by cff. It honors fire fighters killed in the line of duty and serves as a public tribute to the heroism of the profession and to the men and women who gave their lives to protect their fellow citizens.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The cff provides information about fire safety and conducts public outreach and education through its public education campaign, "firefighters on your side". This public education campaign teaches members of the public throughout california to prevent and prepare for fires through topics and strategies presented through person-to-person workshops, print and electronic media. The cff holds an annual public memorial ceremony to honor and remember the ultimate sacrifice of fallen fire fighters.
$1,289,682 spentof which $97,350 as grants21% of program spendingThe cff assists victims and families devastated by fire and other major disasters by working closely with local firefighters in their communities. When disaster strikes, firefighters are the first responders and best able to identify unmet needs in their area and help carry out programs to enhance services before, during and after the alarm. The foundation provides emergency assistance and support to families of fallen firefighters and their families.
$4,882,014 spentof which $2,449,071 as grants79% of program spendingThe California Fire Foundation provides scholarships to children of fallen firefighters.
$42,000 spentof which $42,000 as grants1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,213,696.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $2.7M to $10M (+286%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 47 funders, grant income rose $223k → $1.5M.
52 of 405 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 60% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 405 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
67% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 18% · 2019 18% · 2020 20% · 2021 29% · 2022 44% · 2023 59% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
14% of CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 27% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
60% of CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $9.7M that is directly attributable, 57% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $15M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
72%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 5 related entities
- Firefighters Research and Education · exempt
- Ca Professional Firefighters · exempt
- Cpf Independent Expenditure PAC · exempt
- Ca Professional Firefighters PAC · exempt
- Firefighters Print and Design · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION?
- CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 405 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,243,232 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,469,049). 111 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 405 organizations giving $24,243,232 in grants to CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION, 111 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $3,469,049 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 405 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing