FAQ
Eligibility & legal structure
Whether your department qualifies, and how its legal form affects grants and donations. General information — not legal advice.
- Does our department's legal structure affect grant eligibility?
- For the major programs, both main structures qualify. Fire departments are usually either a governmental entity (municipal, county, or an independent fire district) or an independent nonprofit — commonly a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) volunteer fire company. AFG, SAFER, FP&S, and USDA Community Facilities all accept governments and 501(c)(3)s. For-profit departments are not eligible. This is general information, not legal advice — confirm your status with counsel and your state association.
- We're a nonprofit fire company — can we apply for AFG?
- Yes. The federal fire grants list both government entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits as eligible applicants. A couple of rules to know: a department that's the same legal entity as its municipality may have the municipality apply on its behalf, and a department under the day-to-day command of a larger agency isn't independently eligible. Whatever your structure, the applying entity needs its own EIN, and its legal name must match SAM.gov exactly.
- Are donations to our department tax-deductible?
- It depends on your structure, and this is general framing rather than tax advice (see IRS Publication 526 and confirm with a professional). Gifts to a 501(c)(3) are generally deductible; gifts to a 501(c)(4) generally are not; gifts to a governmental unit for public purposes are generally deductible. That's exactly why many volunteer companies keep a 501(c)(3) — or a 501(c)(3) auxiliary or foundation — for fundraising.
- What's the match on an AFG grant?
- For a department serving 20,000 people or fewer, it's just 5% — and it has to be cash (in-kind contributions don't count). It rises to 10% for populations up to a million and 15% above that. On a $10,000 project, a rural department's share is about $476.
The legal-structure questions trip up more departments than the grant applications themselves. Get clear on yours once — it affects both eligibility and how you can fundraise. More detail on getting grant-ready.
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