philanthropy.org | 990 Resource | FAQ Verify yourself
Sign in

Project Fire Buddies

Tax-deductible

Tinley Park, IL501(c)(3)Human Services EIN 84-3955561Revenue $863K in FY2023

On file with the IRSprojectfirebuddies.org7220 W 194th Street, 60487-9211 · Tinley Park, ILTax-exempt since Jan 2020Publicly supported charity — 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)

Claim this org

(tell your story, add context, and more)

What claiming does How does your 990 look to donors? Take the 10-Question Audit

We are firefighters who offer support and give back to children fighting critical illnesses.every critical illness a child is battling is a fight we will give our all to. We strive to ensure that each child we reach will stand with the support of our firefighters and our community. Our first responder volunteers go all out when IT comes to the cause. They show up for the kids during the holidays, running an annual christmas toy drive and bringing halloween candy to kids who are too sick to trick-or- treat. When Project Fire Buddies mobilizes, it's not unusual to see a dozen police officers, firefighters, and a favorite cartoon character jump out of emergency vehicles carrying piles of donated goodies for our Fire Buddies and their family to enjoy. Volunteers also make time to visit their Fire Buddies throughout the year. On a typical visit, they might play a game of catch, help their Fire buddy learn to ride a bike, read them a favorite story, or even take some whipped cream in the eye

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
85¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$37K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2023 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2023
latest Form 990
Fine: the latest return is for FY2023, 3 tax years back; within 3 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Spent on programs
85%
of spending
Looks good: 85% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$37K
to officers and key staff · 7% of spending
Top officer’s pay lower than 94% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 7% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
14 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 13.9 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
4
named funders · $89K
Looks good: 4 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$224K
35% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 35% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
4
of 4 voting members
Looks good: 4 of 4 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$863K
+362% vs prior year
Spent
$538K
To programs
85%
Net assets
$423K
By yearFY2020–FY2023
Revenue
$863K
FY2023▲ +362%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$53K
FY2021$109K
FY2022$187K
FY2023$863K
Net assets
$423K
FY2023▲ +333%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$29K
FY2021$53K
FY2022$98K
FY2023$423K

From the FY2023 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2023. IRS ruling in Jan 2020.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

85 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 85% · $458K Management & general 9% · $48K Fundraising 6% · $32K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

Something off? Claim to add context

Who runs it and what they're paid

4 people listed on the 990; $37K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Kurt Degroot
Chief Exec.
$13,455Pt VII · Sec A
Ryan Ballard
Chief Oper.
$12,707Pt VII · Sec A
$11,212Pt VII · Sec A
Rick Murphy
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Kurt Degroot’s $13K as Chief Exec. is at the 6th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2168 $100K–1M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

See Project Fire Buddies executive salaries →

On this list? Claim this org

Something off? Claim to add context

Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Firefighters support children battling critical illnesses with holiday gifts and community aid.

Questions for Project Fire Buddies

Tap to ask. Project Fire Buddies sees how many people are interested.

Your first name shows with your question. Project Fire Buddies answers here, for everyone.

Provided by the organization

Know this org? Add your story

1 program · $458K · in their own filed words · FY2023
01

We want to provide as much assistance as possible to the families of our fire buddies. Providing gifts, once in a lifetime experiences, or needed medical devices are great ways that we help the families.

$458Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
David Patrick Odonnell FoundationFY2025$85K
Clune Cares Foundation INCFY2025$2K
Heart&soul ThriftFY2025$720
Aldridge Gives FoundationFY2025$500
Total grants receivedfrom 4 funders$89K
See all 4 funders →
Grants paid · 1 grant · $8K · 2023–2023
Unitemized GrantFY2023$7,620

By the numbers

The FY2023 990, line by line.

Download 990
from philanthropy.org
1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$863K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$589K
Other incomeLn 4–11$270K
Investment incomeLn 3$4K
Money outPt IX
$538K
Ln 25
Programscol B$458K
Managementcol C$48K
Fundraisingcol D$32K
Owns and owesPt X
$423K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$625K
Total assetsLn 16$646K
LiabilitiesLn 26$224K
PeoplePt VI, VII
4
listed · VII A
PaidVII A3
Voting boardVI 1a4
IndependentVI 1b4
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$589K
Investment incomeLn 3$4K
Other incomeLn 4–11$270K
Total revenueLn 12$863K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$625K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$625K
Total assetsLn 16$646K
LiabilitiesLn 26$224K
Net assetsLn 32$423K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 53
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aNo
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY23End FY23
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$181K$625K
Total assetsLn 16$186K$646K
LiabilitiesLn 26$88K$224K
Net assetsLn 32$98K$423K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$8K$8K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$37K$14K$19K$5K
Payroll taxesLn 10$3K$2K$286$286
Legal feesLn 11b$1K$1K$140$140
Advertising and promotionLn 12$9K$6K$2K$926
Office expensesLn 13$7K$5K$996$996
OccupancyLn 16$11K$7K$2K$2K
TravelLn 17$25$25
InsuranceLn 23$752$752
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$430K$394K$18K$18K
All other expensesLn 24e$31K$22K$5K$5K
Total functional expensesLn 25$538K$458K$48K$32K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2023 Latest Viewing $863K$538K$325K$423K 990 PDF
FY2022 $187K$98K 990 PDF
FY2021 $109K$53K 990 PDF
FY2020 $53K$29K 990 PDF

More to add? Claim this org

Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $862,898 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $186,870$589,046
I-9 Program service revenue$0
I-10 Investment income$3,773
I-11 Other revenue$270,079
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $186,870$862,898
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$7,620
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefits$40,235
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $142,700$490,184
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $142,700$538,039
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $44,170$324,859
Part VI · Governance 4 of 4 board members independent, 4 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body4
VI-1b Independent voting members4
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyNo
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $862,898 across 6 lines filed
VIII-1a Federated campaigns$589,046
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$589,046
VIII-3 Investment incomeRelated to mission $3,773$3,773
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising events$209,839
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Related to mission $60,240$60,240
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $64,013$862,898
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $538,039 across 11 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $7,620$7,620
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $13,941 · Management $18,912 · Fundraising $4,523$37,376
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $2,287 · Management $286 · Fundraising $286$2,859
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $1,120 · Management $140 · Fundraising $140$1,400
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $6,480 · Management $1,852 · Fundraising $926$9,258
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $4,537 · Management $996 · Fundraising $996$6,529
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $6,780 · Management $2,260 · Fundraising $2,260$11,300
IX-17 TravelManagement $25$25
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $752$752
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $393,575 · Management $18,269 · Fundraising $18,269$430,113
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $21,566 · Management $4,533 · Fundraising $4,708$30,807
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $457,906 · Management $48,025 · Fundraising $32,108$538,039
Part X · Balance sheet $646,437 assets, 10 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $181,058$625,394
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $4,995$21,043
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $186,053$646,437
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expenses$5,124
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $88,396$215,845
X-25 Other liabilities$2,952
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $88,396$223,921
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $97,657$422,516
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $97,657$422,516
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $186,053$646,437
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $422,516 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$862,898
XI-2 Total expenses$538,039
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$324,859
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$97,657
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$422,516

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit

Names, privacy, and removal requests More

The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.

Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.

We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.

Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.

If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.

Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.

If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.

Your org? Add context

Made it to the end? Claim this org

All figures are derived from public IRS Form 990 filings and are presented without evaluation of any organization. philanthropy.org does not rate, score, or rank organizations, including the pay comparisons above.