Grants for Volunteer Fire Departments 2026

If you're a fire chief, treasurer, or board member of a volunteer fire company or rural fire district, this guide covers the grants for volunteer fire departments you can actually apply for, what each one pays, the match you'll owe, and where most small departments lose points. It's written for the department raising the money, not for individual firefighters.

Where Grants for Volunteer Fire Departments Come From: 5 Routes

There are 5 real funding routes for a volunteer department, and they work on different calendars. Picking the right one for each need is most of the job.

Most departments that stay funded combine at least 2 of these. A common pattern is AFG for the big equipment request, a state VFA grant for wildland gear, and a local foundation grant to cover the 5% FEMA match.

FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant: The $291.6 Million Program

AFG is the one federal program built for fire departments, and volunteer companies have a protected share of it. Per the FY 2025 notice, FEMA expected to award $291.6 million across about 1,800 awards under Assistance Listing 97.044. According to FEMA's September 30, 2026 award announcement (opens in a new tab), AFG funding went to more than 1,400 fire departments and EMS agencies, out of $648 million awarded across all three fire grant programs. FEMA's AFG fact sheet (opens in a new tab) says the program has awarded about $9 billion since FY 2001.

The rules that matter most to a volunteer department:

To qualify, you must be a fire department as FEMA defines it: an organization with a formally recognized arrangement with a state or local government to provide fire suppression on a first-due basis to a fixed area. A volunteer department, under 15 U.S.C. 2229, is one whose firefighting personnel don't receive compensation. If your company has no written agreement with the town, township or fire district it protects, fix that before anything else, because without it you aren't eligible.

How AFG scores you. According to FEMA's fact sheet, every application is first pre-scored by computer against the funding priorities, and the pre-score is half your total score. Narratives aren't read at that stage. The top-ranked applications then go to at least 3 fire service peer reviewers, whose score is the other half. A brilliant narrative can't rescue a request that ranks low on priorities, so match your request to the high-priority items in the notice before you write a word.

The micro grant choice is the best route for most small departments. If you ask for $75,000 or less in total, you compete only against other micro grant requests in the same activity, and FEMA aims to fund at least 25% of each department type's allocation as micro grants. A volunteer company asking for 8 sets of turnout gear and a set of hydraulic rescue tools usually belongs here.

SAFER and Fire Prevention and Safety: The Other 2 FEMA Programs

FEMA runs 2 more fire grants, and both are worth knowing even if they won't be your first application. According to FEMA, the FY 2025 round sent $324 million in SAFER awards to nearly 200 recipients and $32.4 million in Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) awards to more than 60 recipients.

• SAFER pays to increase or maintain the number of trained front-line firefighters. FEMA's SAFER page (opens in a new tab) says funding goes directly to fire departments and to volunteer firefighter interest organizations. Its Recruitment and Retention category is the one that fits volunteer departments: marketing, physicals, training stipends, and other costs of bringing in and keeping volunteers. Statewide firefighter associations often apply on behalf of many local companies, so ask yours before you write a stand-alone application.
• FP&S funds fire prevention projects such as smoke alarm installation, community risk reduction and code enforcement, plus firefighter safety research. Volunteer departments rarely need it, but a department with an active prevention program can apply.

The honest downside of SAFER for volunteers: awards are fewer and larger than AFG awards, and the paperwork is heavier. Nearly 200 awards nationwide means most volunteer companies are better served by joining a regional or statewide application than by applying alone.

Volunteer Fire Assistance: Up to $25,000 Through Your State Forester

The USDA Forest Service funds Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA), sometimes called rural fire capacity grants, and passes the money through state forestry agencies to departments protecting rural communities. In New Mexico, according to the state's Volunteer Fire Assistance grant page (opens in a new tab), departments serving rural communities of fewer than 10,000 people can receive up to $25,000 a year for wildland fire equipment, organizing and training for wildland response, and prevention work, with a 10% match from state or local funds.

Other states set their own caps, match rates and deadlines, so look up your state forestry agency's VFA page. A few practical points:

• It's wildland-focused. VFA buys brush truck equipment, wildland PPE, hand tools, hose and radios. Structural turnout gear usually belongs in an AFG request instead.
• The application is short. State VFA applications are a few pages, compared with a full AFG application. That makes it the best first grant for a department that's never written one.
• Deadlines are annual and easy to miss. Many states open one round a year, and the notice goes out through the state forester's mailing list. Get on it.

USDA Community Facilities: Stations and Trucks in Towns Under 20,000

For a new station, a station renovation, or a fire truck, USDA Rural Development's Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program (opens in a new tab) is often the better route than AFG. It serves rural areas of 20,000 residents or fewer and lists fire and rescue facilities among eligible projects. Public bodies, nonprofits and federally recognized tribes can apply.

The grant share runs on a sliding scale of 75%, 55%, 35% or 15% of the project cost, set by your community's population and median household income compared with the state's nonmetropolitan median. The smallest, lowest-income towns get the highest share. The rest is usually covered by a low-interest Community Facilities direct loan. Grantsights' USDA Community Facilities guide explains the tiers and the loan side in detail.

The trap: grant money in this program is limited and most of the dollars go out as loans. A department expecting a 75% grant on a $600,000 engine should talk to its state Rural Development office before it budgets, because the realistic answer is often a loan with a smaller grant attached.

Which Foundations Fund Volunteer Fire Departments: What 990-PF Filings Show

Private foundations are a main source of money for volunteer fire companies, especially for the gear and the local match that federal programs won't cover. Every private foundation has to list the grants it paid on IRS Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), so their giving to fire departments is public.

Grantsights tags those grants by cause. Fire companies fall in the community and civic group, alongside civic clubs, veterans groups and historical societies, so the counts below are the pool you're fishing in, not fire grants alone. These are Grantsights analysis figures from 990-PF records pulled October 29, 2026, counted by the state where the recipient is located:

Fire service shows up by name in the stated purposes. In Pennsylvania, 30 grants in the community records listed their purpose as support for fire services. In Iowa, 71 grants named fire and emergency rescue services as their purpose.

Real grants from those filings show what foundations will pay for:

• The JT-Minnie Maude Charitable Trust gave Hurt Volunteer Fire Department in Hurt, Virginia $40,000 for 17 sets of turnout gear in tax year 2025 (filings (opens in a new tab)).
• The Steinhart Foundation gave Dunbar Volunteer Fire Department in Nebraska $30,324 for an extraction tool set (filings (opens in a new tab)).
• The Mary E. Babcock Foundation gave the Johnstown Fire Department in Ohio $57,825 to buy devices that perform CPR (filings (opens in a new tab)).
• The CW and Dorothy G Love Foundation gave Clio Rural Fire Department in South Carolina $45,000 for firefighting equipment (filings (opens in a new tab)).
• The AKC Fund gave Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department in Connecticut $53,000 for general support and construction of a new firehouse (filings (opens in a new tab)).

Specifically, these are equipment and building grants of $30,000 to $60,000, bigger than the state medians of $1,500 to $6,000, and nearly all came from foundations in the same region as the department. Read that as a strong signal: the best foundation prospects for a fire company are the ones that already give in its county.

Grantsights' community and civic funder list names the foundations that reported grants to fire companies, civic clubs, veterans groups and historical societies on their own 990-PF filings, sorted by state, with the ones that say they accept requests listed first. For each, you'll see its recent grants with recipients and stated purposes, so you can spot the foundations that fund turnout gear in your area before you write. The preview on this page is free. The full community list costs $29 and covers every state; $99 opens every cause list for 12 months. Either comes with a 30-day full refund.

What FEMA Doesn't Tell You About Winning as a Small Department

FEMA's notice explains the rules, but it leaves out several things that decide whether a 20-member volunteer company wins:

1. Your nonprofit status can block foundation money. Many volunteer fire companies are organized as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations rather than 501(c)(3) charities. According to IRS guidance on expenditure responsibility (opens in a new tab), a private foundation that grants to a 501(c)(4) generally has to exercise expenditure responsibility, which means extra reports and oversight. Many small family foundations simply won't do it. If you're a (c)(4), consider asking the town or fire district to receive the grant, or setting up a related 501(c)(3) fire company auxiliary or foundation.
2. The cost share is due even if you can't raise it. The 5% match sounds small until a $400,000 tanker award needs $20,000 in cash you don't have. Line up the match from a foundation, the township, or a fund drive before you apply.
3. Data quality costs points. AFG pre-scoring relies on your answers about call volume, population and equipment age. Departments that guess at these numbers or can't back them with run reports get flagged in technical review.
4. Federal registration takes weeks. You need an active SAM.gov registration and a FEMA GO account before the window opens. Grantsights' SAM.gov registration guide walks through it. Starting this after the notice drops is a common mistake.

Common Mistakes That Sink Volunteer Fire Department Applications

The FY 2025 AFG window was just 5 weeks, from May 19 to June 22, 2026. That short window is behind most failed applications. These are the errors to avoid:

• Asking for everything. A department that bundles gear, a truck and a station roof into one request dilutes its priority score. Split needs across AFG, VFA, Community Facilities and foundations.
• Generic narratives. Peer reviewers read hundreds of requests. A narrative that says "we need new SCBA" without the age of the current units, the NFPA standard they fail, and the calls they respond to won't score well.
• Skipping the micro grant box. Departments asking for $75,000 or less that don't select the micro grant option compete against far bigger requests.
• No plan for the match. FEMA won't fund you without a committed cost share. A letter from your township or a foundation pledge answers that question in advance.
• Writing to a foundation that has never funded fire service. Check a foundation's filings first. If it has given only to its founders' church and alma mater for 10 years, skip it.

A 12-Month Funding Plan for a Volunteer Fire Department

Because AFG opens once a year and state programs run on their own calendars, a simple 12-month plan keeps a department from missing windows:

For more on finding the local foundations in step 2, see Grantsights' guide to how to find foundation grants, and the community foundation grants guide, since county community foundations often run small grant rounds open to fire companies. To search open federal programs beyond fire grants, use the Grantsights grant search.

Related Grants for Volunteer Groups in Your Town

Fire companies often share board members, buildings and donors with other local groups. If your department also maintains a historic firehouse or runs a museum of fire apparatus, the grants for historical societies and grants for museums guides cover the preservation and collections money those projects can draw on. Broader federal disaster and preparedness programs are in Grantsights' FEMA grants guide.

FAQ: Common Questions

What is the biggest grant for volunteer fire departments? FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant. The FY 2025 notice offered $291.6 million, at least 25% of it reserved for volunteer departments, with a 5% match for departments protecting 20,000 people or fewer.

How much does a volunteer fire department have to match for an AFG grant? 5% for jurisdictions of 20,000 residents or fewer, 10% for 20,000 up to 1 million, and 15% above 1 million, per the FY 2025 notice.

Can a volunteer fire department get a grant for a new fire truck? Yes, through AFG Vehicle Acquisition (capped at 25% of AFG funds), USDA Community Facilities in rural areas of 20,000 or fewer, or a local foundation, but vehicles are the most competitive request.

Do private foundations give grants to volunteer fire departments? Yes, usually local family foundations funding gear, tools and buildings. A 501(c)(4) fire company may find fewer willing funders because of expenditure responsibility rules.

When is the next AFG application period? As of October 29, 2026, FEMA hasn't posted an FY 2026 notice. The FY 2025 window ran May 19 to June 22, 2026.

Sources

• FEMA: Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program (opens in a new tab)
• FEMA: Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) (opens in a new tab)
• FEMA: FY 2025 AFG Fact Sheet (May 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• FEMA: FY 2025 AFG Notice of Funding Opportunity (opens in a new tab)
• FEMA: Awards of $648 million to more than 1,600 fire departments (September 30, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• FEMA: Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) (opens in a new tab)
• New Mexico Forestry Division: Volunteer Fire Assistance grant (opens in a new tab)
• USDA Rural Development: Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: IRC Section 4945(h) expenditure responsibility (opens in a new tab)