Project Fire Buddies

Legal name: Project Fire Buddies Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843955561
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2023
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Tinley Park, IL, United States of America
Phone
872-259-0010
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$862,898
Expenses
$538,039
Assets
$646,437
Liabilities
$223,921

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KURT DEGROOT (CHIEF EXEC.): $13,455 total reported compensation
  • RYAN BALLARD (CHIEF OPER.): $12,707 total reported compensation
  • DANIELLE N ABENDROTH (CHIEF FIN. O): $11,212 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Project Fire Buddies brings joy to kids struggling with critical illnesses. We believe that no child should fight their battle alone.

What it reported doing in 2023

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.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.3%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th 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; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 37.6%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 82.8% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 86.8% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 53.3% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $458K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.