Offer help to your fire department
You don't have to join a fire department to help it. If you have a skill, a few hours or something to donate, you can offer it, once or now and then, and the department's volunteer recruiter will get back to you.
What people offer
- A skill for a project: fixing a roof, wiring a light, servicing a generator, building a website or translating a flyer.
- Professional help: bookkeeping, grant writing, legal or accounting advice, photography or graphic design.
- Time at an event: an open house, a pancake breakfast, a fundraiser or a community safety day.
- Donations: materials, equipment or services from a local business. Ask the department first what it can use.
Financial donations
Many volunteer fire departments run on small budgets, so a gift of money often helps as much as a gift of time. A volunteer fire department may be a nonprofit, or a fire district or city department, which is part of local government, and some have a nonprofit volunteer association or foundation that raises money for them.
Under IRS rules, gifts to nonprofit volunteer fire companies, and gifts to a local government used solely for public purposes, can be tax deductible (IRS Publication 526). Ask the department how it takes donations, so your gift goes to the right organization, and ask for a written receipt: the IRS requires one for any single gift of $250 or more.
How offering help works
- Find your local fire department in the directory.
- On its page, under Volunteers Wanted, select Offer Help and tell the department what you can do and when. The Offer Help button works only once the fire department has taken over its page on FireDepartment.net and given us its contact information.
- The department's volunteer recruiter receives your message and contacts you if they can use your help.
If the Offer Help button is grayed out, you can call the fire department directly at the number on its page. Want to help regularly? See support roles.