Maryland · Nonprofit
NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION
NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION (Maryland) receives grants from 115 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,201,639 to it, the largest being Motorola Solutions Foundation ($2,267,050). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $9.3M
- Funders on record
- 115
- Grants received
- $5.2M
- Net assets
- $12M
What National Fallen Firefighters Foundation does
Mission
To honor america's fallen fire heroes; support their families, colleagues, and organizations; and work to reduce preventable firefighter death and injury.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Family programs provides support for family members, including spouses and life partners, children, parents, and siblings, who need immediate and long-term support after the loss of their loved one. The sudden death of a public safety officer can often be more impactful to their families because of the line of work and the very public and often traumatic nature of the death. Evidence tells us that peer support is of tremendous benefit in helping people work through their grief, and sometimes counseling and clinical services are essential to providing the tools bereaved family members need to adjust and recover after the death of a firefighter. Peer-to-peer support fire hero family networkthe fire hero family network began in 1997 to provide newly bereaved family members with the benefit of connecting with others who understand the loss and have experienced the death of a firefighter. In 2012, the nfff created and piloted a one-day, in-person peer support training which addresses topics including: goals, roles, & responsibilities of peer support; readiness for peer support; resources for fire hero family members who need additional support; verbal & non-verbal communications; and…
$1,876,399 spent25% of program spendingFire service programs - the 16 firefighter life safety initiatives are the cornerstone of the nfff's programming aimed at reducing preventable line-of-duty deaths and injuries in the fire service community. The programs generated from the initiatives promote the integration of health and safety into the policies, procedures, and culture of the nation's career, volunteer, combination and wildland firefighters. The efforts are aimed at addressing the root causes of firefighter fatalities and injuries. Through the initiatives, the nfff develops health and wellness programs, life safety training and officer development to further promote a more safety conscious fire officer. These programs are delivered at no- or low-cost via the nfff's online fire hero training network and/or the nfff advocates program. Additionally, there are specific initiatives that advance community risk reduction efforts to increase safety for firefighters through reducing the number and intensity of fires; supports associated research and pilot projects; and advocates for improved standards for training, protective equipment, and behavioral and physical health programs, particularly those addressing…
$1,670,901 spent22% of program spendingIn may, the foundation hosted the official national tribute to america's heroes honoring 144 firefighters. 79 who died in 2022 and 65 from previous years. The nfff provided lodging, meals, and travel assistance to families. 726 fire hero families attended the memorial weekend. Grief and other counseling sessions were provided for 294 family survivors. 482 honor guard units and 222 fire service family escorts from across the country participated in honoring their fallen brothers and sisters. 113 family survivors from previous years returned to assist with new family registration and new family day activities. More than 5,000 attended the national memorial service.
$1,293,907 spent17% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$2,737,931 spentof which $904,968 as grants$919,621 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,579,138.
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 2021 to 2022, from $14M to $12M (−15%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 38% · 2018 43% · 2019 46% · 2020 41% · 2021 38% · 2022 51% · 2023 34% · 2024 42%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Troy Markel
Board chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 40 funders, grant income rose $138k → $675k.
18 of 115 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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 NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 115 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
NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 60%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
46% 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 NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 44% · 2019 52% · 2020 47% · 2021 42% · 2022 47% · 2023 47% — 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
36% of NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% 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
NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 31 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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.
Government funding NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $39.0M on record.
- Department of Homeland Security$19.7M
- Department of Justice$19.3M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 37 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- First Responder Center for Excellence · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS 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 NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION?
- NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION (Maryland) receives grants from 115 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,201,639 to it, the largest being Motorola Solutions Foundation ($2,267,050). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 115 organizations giving $5,201,639 in grants to NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION, 52 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION?
- Motorola Solutions Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $2,267,050 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 115 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