First Responders Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
263499345
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2011
Location
Omaha, NE, USA
Phone
4022181234
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,417,321
Expenses
$1,296,882
Assets
$1,952,187
Liabilities
$8,293

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TODD SEARS (PRESIDENT)
  • ALLEN BATSCHELET (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TODD SEARS (PRESIDENT): $126,500 total reported compensation
  • DENISE MOORE (VP OF OPERATIONS & DEVELOPMENT): $107,233 total reported compensation
  • ALLEN BATSCHELET (CEO): $12,360 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

First responders foundation's mission is to serve and honor all our first responders and their families, build appreciation and respect for their work, and enhance public safety.

What it reported doing in 2025

Physical health program: gracie jiu-jitsu omaha offers jiu-jitsu for all ages at all levels. Primarily serving law enforcement officers seeking more humane ways to interact with citizens they encounter. Brazilian jiujitsu is a martial art that uses no striking, instead uses weight and leverage to control and de-escalate a situation. These techniques have resulted in dramatically less injury to either party, significantly reduced use of tasers and service weapons. Allowing community members to train alongside law enforcement officers as a way to demonstrate officers are learning skills to reduce harmful interactions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.51; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.3% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.