Africa Fire Mission

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462657782
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5135023323
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$359,851
Expenses
$400,976
Assets
$261,998
Liabilities
$32,205

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To increase the sustainable capacity of fire departments in developing communities through training, empowering, support and encouragement.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025 Africa Fire Mission Reached over 287,000 people through in-person Community Fire Prevention outreach with nearly 300 total training sessions. Provided 50 weekly virtual Firefighter Training Sessions which benefited 4,821 participants. Made 5 in-person First Responder Training trips with 38 instructors, benefiting 1,009 participants. Trained 70 Volunteer Instructors to to train 1,832 community members in Active Bleeding Control and then provide 95 ABC Training Sessions. Collected and prepared for delivery 240,675 in FireFighter PPE, 10 tons of retired equipment form Fire Departments-diverted from landfills, and 1.3 Million of equipment from firefighting equipment manufacturers for Africa. See Sch O

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 50
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 74.1%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.65; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83% of revenue deployed · 74.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $297K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.