New Year Brings New Opportunity from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program Office

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eagle102/

On Monday, January 3, 2011, the application period opens for the 2010 FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety (FP&S) Grant program. All applications must be received by Friday, February 4, 2011.

What fire prevention education and safety needs and trends exist in your community or region? 

What organizations with interests similar to you could you work with on such a project? 

If your answers to the above questions are strong, you might consider submitting an FP&S application. Like other Assistant to Firefighters (AFG) programs, it's important to remember the following in preparing your application:

1. Avoid the use of brand names or company names in preparing your application. This leaves the impression that your purchase would be a foregone conclusion without following the federal bid requirements of the program.

2. Pay extra careful attention to the answers to your profile questions. These are used to automatically generate a portion of your application score.

3. The most concise and precise your narrative can be the better. Try preparing no more than half of the allowed narrative length.

Full, detailed grant program guidance may be found here.

Example success stories from previous award recipients in this category may be found here.

A list of frequently asked questions for FP&S may be found here.

FlashPoint Fundraising offers hourly fee/fixed cost services for preparing your FP&S grant application. No percentages apply to FlashPoint services. Contact us for a quote on your FP&S needs today.

What One Thing: An Exercise for an Even Better 2011

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrs_logic/

As 2011 approaches, a short exercise can help make your fundraising efforts even better in the coming year:

1. Review your 2011 budget with a focus on planned purchases and expected fundraising activities.

2. What one thing does your department most need in 2011 for a safer and more prepared response to whatever the 911 call brings?

3. How will this one thing result in better training, more thorough response, safer victims or safer members? 

4. How can you enhance communication on the impact of this one thing at your planned community meal or other fundraising activity? 

5. If your one thing hasn't yet been budgeted for in 2011, what fundraising activities could you add to meet this unfunded need?

FlashPoint Fundraising offers a free one hour consultation to help you address these questions. Contact us today to start making your 2011 fundraising even better! 

FlashPoint Fundraising wishes you a safe and personally rewarding 2011. Thanks for all you do!

A Holiday Thank You

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjc4454/

This Christmas holiday week means people everywhere are traveling and looking forward to gathering with loved ones to celebrate. 

For every firefighter, the holidays simply bring additional scenarios to what's always required: the willingness to stop whatever you're doing, drop what had been the current agenda and roll into responding to whatever the 911 call brings. 

Yes, one of the cornerstones of youth fire safety education is also a cornerstone of the spirit of the Fire Service. 


Throughout 2010, every time you and your family stopped and dropped your current agenda to roll in response to the 911 call, you made a forever impact on an massive immediate need. Even in the calls that turned out to be not as much, you were still there, just in case. Thank you!


You will continue to focus on whatever the 911 call brings throughout 2011. Thank you! 

You see your stop, drop and roll response to the 911 call as part of the job. You and your fellow members have trained relentlessly for as many eventualities as possible. For your grateful patients and service recipients, you are the link from their immediate chaos back towards a controlled reality. 


You make our communities stronger through your holiday and year round commitment to stop, drop and roll. Thank you for the forever impact you make in your department and your community!

Study Illustrates the Potential of Holiday Charitable Giving

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/prosto/

The recently released Liberty Mutual 2010 Responsible Giving Survey of 1,000 nationwide adults illustrates future potential for holiday giving to your department. Among the highlights of the survey are:

1. 81% appreciate charitable donations given on their behalf in lieu of a physical gift.

2. 74% would volunteer their time to charity as a gift if they knew others would value this non-traditional giving.

3. 55% believe it is more responsible to make a donation to charity on behalf of someone than to purchase a gift for them.

You may learn more about the Liberty Mutual Responsibility Project here. 

How can you apply these insights to your department?

1. Starting in November, use your existing communication vehicles to make sure those closest to your department know they have the option of making a holiday gift in honor of or in memory of someone. Announce this option at a membership meeting. Provide clear information on how the gift will be used.

2. When you are blessed enough to receive such a gift, provide a physical letter or note of appreciation back to the donor. If the donor would like, provide the same information to the person the gift honors. 

3. Consider how you might use the holiday season to appeal to the community on the forever impact they can have if they become a member of your department. You can find a seven minute recruiting video example from the Greenwich Fire Department here. 

What holiday giving success stories do you have to share from your department? Share them in the comments below.

Women Connected to Your Department: Limitless Potential

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stopdown/

The role of women in most fire departments continues to expand. Congratulations to everyone on this progress!

As an October 2010 study from the University of Indiana Center on Philanthropy illustrates, the role of women in making donations to worthwhile nonprofits like yours offers limitless potential. The study analyzed the giving habits of 8,000 single-headed US households.

A couple highlights of the report: 

1. Across income levels, women give more frequently and at higher amounts to charity than men in similar circumstances. The higher the income level, the higher the gap between female and male donations.

2. Women generally spread out their donation to more charities where men tend to focus on gifts to a smaller total number of nonprofits. 

3.  Community causes are the second highest charitable sector women are more likely to donate to than men.

You may download the entire University of Indiana report at this link.

Other previously-released studies have reinforced the significant impact women have on the giving decisions made by couples. 

What lessons can you apply from this report to your fundraising efforts?

1. Women-headed households are absolutely worthy prospects for increasing your donor base with entry-level gifts for your department's fundraising campaign.

2. Never overlook using the full preferred names of the women in the households who donate to your critical public safety efforts. The listing on a check or the information entered in an online donation form are great places to verify this information. 

3. Your current or previous women donors may be a source of volunteer support for your department. If serving as a member isn't a fit, you may offer a fit for women to help in caring for and staying in touch with your existing donors.

For a more direct commentary on this topic, visit a blog from Tony Martignetti here. 

Looking for assistance in crafting your fundraising message for 2011? Contact FlashPoint Fundraising today to discuss communications services that clearly and concisely demonstrate your department's incredible impact on your community.