Inside the core of every community are nonprofits.
Transcript:
This podcast was transcribed through a third-party application. Please disregard any misrepresentations.
Brad Caruso:
<silence> Welcome to Civic Warriors, brought to you by Withum. On this podcast, we bring the conversation to you, sharing, engaging stories that motivate and build consensus in the nonprofit community. This podcast is about the innovators, the leaders on the front lines of adversity, guiding lights in the nonprofit industry affecting change. And through their stories, we can all join forces to become civic warriors. Hey, warriors. Welcome to today's episode of Civic Warriors. Brought to you by Withum, I'm your host, Brad Caruso, leader Withium's not-for-profit practice. Today's guest is Angie Carmignani, executive Director of California Fire Foundation. The California Fire Foundation is a not-for-profit 501 C3 organization in California provides emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters, firefighters in the communities they protect. California Fire Foundation has a range of programs that support firefighters, their families and the communities they serve. They offer financial support to California communities preparing for experiencing and recovering from disaster.
Brad Caruso:
CFF also offers funding to fire departments, firefighter associations and organizations whose projects focus on keeping Californians and first responders safe. CFF is dedicated to making sure professional and volunteer firefighters throughout the state are supported when they need it most. And as many of you in the audience know, California has been hard hit by wildfires, which have caused significant displacement, loss of life, loss of property, and significant challenges for many. And CFF has been there directly involved with providing assistance and other much needed support. And it's been a pleasure that we've had the opportunity to connect with them, see the work they're doing, and share more information with you all out there of all the really great work that they're doing. So, with all that said, Angie, welcome to the show.
Angie Carmignani:
Hi! Thank you. I'm excited to be here today.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. And we're excited to have you here and kind of talk a little bit more about what you're doing. You know, many out there in the public certainly are seeing a lot of, uh, information come out and seeing a lot of the, the direct aid that's going in, but, but hearing a lot of the direct work you're doing is gonna be super important for people to hear. I'm really excited to have that out there. So, you know, with that being said, um, and I always like to just start with having, you know, a little bit more background on yourself, Angie, and maybe you can provide a little more information on yourself, how you arrived at the California Fire Foundation and when you arrived at the California Fire Foundation, because I know that you jumped into the fun right away.
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, thank you. So I've been a philanthropist for over 20 years, and, um, I've always worked in our part of the industry that really focuses on the wellness of children and, and families. And in that journey, I actually met Brian Rice, who's also our chairman of the, of our board. And he and I were doing work together with children who had survived their burns and bringing them to a residential summer camp. And that's where I first met Brian Rice. And at the time he was doing amazing great work. And then throughout the years, and that was probably 15 years ago, we stayed in touch and really leaned on each other for what was happening in philanthropy and, uh, the impact it had on the industry and, and what was going on with firefighters and their families and children that were surviving their burns. And so we just stayed connected.
Angie Carmignani:
And then, uh, an opportunity came open at the California Fire Foundation, and Brian and I were talking, and one thing led to another. And here I am today as the executive director, so very proud to represent the work, the mission, the over 37,000 firefighters in the state of California and their families. And that sort of brings us, brings us to date and how, how and when I started, my official first week in the office was January 5th, <laugh>. And as we know, our fires started on January 7th. And by that Thursday of that week, uh, I was on a plane with, with some of my teammates, uh, headed down to LA to start implementing our immediate relief and recovery in the form of what we call our safeguards, which stands for a supplying aid to victims of emergencies. It was a big week to say the least, and it didn't stop. We were down in LA for almost five weeks and then finally got to come home and, um, really dig into the work that now is unfolding even as we speak.
Brad Caruso:
That's awesome. And not awesome, the fires, but great that you got to jump right in. Roll up your sleeves, see firsthand right away. You can share a little bit too with the audience about some of the programs the foundation has. You just shared a little bit about some of the work that you were doing right away, but I know you have several initiatives and it'd be great to share a little more context for our listeners on some of the programs the foundation has.
Angie Carmignani:
Absolutely, absolutely. So all of our initiatives are really based around the firefighter, the communities they serve and live in, and the citizens in those areas. So we're talking the whole state border to border, coast to border. And one of our initiatives is the Sacramento Firefighter Memorial. It's a beautiful park. We're responsible for the construction of it, we're responsible for the maintenance of it. And, um, on those walls, I, I recommend everyone looking, look it up. It's, it is a beautiful memorial and a testament to how our firefighters risk their lives every single day. And our memorial is full of names of firefighters that have died in the line of duty. And it means the world to us that we continue to recognize the validity of their work and what they've signed up for. And I know, I forget, but there's a key piece when firefighters are out there in the depths of the fire, yes, of course, you know, we wanna see all the neighborhoods saved, but we want lives saved, right when we have to choose, they're there to save people, to save lives, first and foremost.
Angie Carmignani:
And so the fact that they put their lives on the line and risk, that is remarkable. And it is our honor to be able to build and fund and maintain this memorial for them and, and in honor of their work and their commitment to us and the communities and their families. So that's one of our initiatives. We also do a lot of education, not only in English, but in multiple languages. We want to make sure that people understand how quick, um, disasters can strike. And we're not just talking fires, we're talking floods. There's so many different types of disasters. There's earthquakes. So when you think of anything that a firefighter responds to on a great scope, on a great level, those are disasters. Right? So we do a lot of education. We have material and content on our website that folks can download, you know, like the, the five minute checklist.
Angie Carmignani:
If you have five minutes to evacuate your house, here's what you wanna be sure to grab. We have also our benevolent fund where we will support and fund memorial services for firefighters in their hometown. Uh, we also have a scholarship program for children of fallen firefighters for college. We have our pipe and drum band, which is very important to us. They really mark every event they go to, majority of which are memorials by the tradition of the firefighter, by hearing the sounds of this man in a, in very specific tune, honors that fallen firefighter. And if the family would like, we send them to the memorial to represent the firefighting community of that fallen firefighter. We also have some different initiatives. I'll, I'll even go out on a limb and say they are kind of fun, very unique to the firefighter, which is our firefighter license plates, which are available, sorry, only to firefighters, but it's, you'll see them around the state of California.
Angie Carmignani:
It has a photo of a firefighter. It's actually the original artwork from the movie Backdraft, the very first original movie Backdraft. And it was something that we worked with directly in asking permission from Ron Howard if we could honor our firefighters with this license plate. And so when the firefighters choose to register their vehicle with this license plate, again, it, it reminds people that they're on the road with you. They're, they're right next to you, they're in your community. Um, but that is something only for firefighters. But I always feel like, let's, let's educate folks. Let's let them know why these fire, why these plates exist. And the funding from that actually helps to maintain our memorial. And, um, while we're on the memorial again, we actually hold a memorial ceremony every October. It's an annual event. It's when we bring together all the families of the fallen firefighters from the past year, and it's at that time that we unveil their names on the wall at the actual memorial site.
Brad Caruso:
I appreciate all that you do for that community. 'cause it, yeah, I think a lot of people don't necessarily realize that their neighbor could be a firefighter, could be involved, could be out there, you know, they, and, and their neighbor could be working in an accounting firm and,
Angie Carmignani:
<laugh>, Right!
Brad Caruso:
And all of a sudden they're out there in the middle of the night and, uh, and doing that. Yeah, I know, you know, even, and I, I told, I told you Angie before this, but, but I'm, I'm a volunteer, uh, firefighter in my town. I live out in New Jersey, and we have a little, little different conditions, but, um, people always find it fascinating when, when I tell them, you know, what I do with my, my side time that I don't get paid for <laugh>. And they're just like, what? Like, you just get up in the middle of the night and go, you know, respond to a water rescue.
Brad Caruso:
It's like, yep, that's actually exactly what we do. And the truth about it, and I'm sure everyone that's in, in the first responder world, um, whether it's police, EMS, fire, you know, and people will say, well, why do you do it? And, and I think most of us are drawn to it 'cause we just have a, a connection to help our community. And we, and we like having that knowledge that we can apply to help in a situation. And, and most of us, I think are in that like, problem solving world. And to your point before of like, you know, people think of firefighters as fighting fires and there's just so much more that, you know, the entire first responder community responds to and, and responds collectively to, uh, as well, which I think is also a great point to make. Um, but you know, over here where I am and we respond to, to, uh, more water rescues than we do fires and, um, it's a, it's a specialized talent and it's something you can't take for granted the same way.
Brad Caruso:
Fire's unpredictable. Water's unpredictable. And so, you know, there's a lot of risk with the job, but also, you know, most people do it because they love it, because they, they appreciate the work, they know that they're helping. Um, and, and you know, conversely to that, it's awesome that organizations like yourself and and many other organizations out there greatly support the fire community. And the first responder community, you know, they come out to see the memorial, they come out to support them, they donate to your causes. Um, it, it's all mutually inclusive to help. And, you know, none of us really do it. 'cause we, we wanna get compensated for it. We do it because we wanna help those around us. And the craziest part, and and I'll stop rambling on, but I always tell people, they're like, well, what's, what's the worst part about it? I'm like, well, the worst part about it is when you have like a natural disaster happening and you're in your house and you know, there's like a flood or something and you go to your wife and kids and say, okay, bye guys. I gotta go, I gotta go help the community. And they're like, you're leaving us. And you're like, yeah, unfortunately. That's the, uh, that's the nature of the job. So, uh, I'll see you all later. You guys can fend for yourself, <laugh>. So people think I'm crazy for saying that, but it's true. <laugh>.
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, it is true. It is so true. And, and only the firefighters know this and their families know this, but you know, we had 17 firefighters lose their home in the LA and Ventura County fires. We had seven lifeguards lose their home. And we do step in, that's another one of our initiatives is, is we do step in and help and assist them as best as we can. They can apply for, um, certain amounts of funding just to, to help get, get the days going. 'cause it's, it's no small feat, you know, when exactly what you described. They leave their home and they go and assist to save someone else's home or another community or people. And sadly, their houses are lost in that. Um, that's, that's hard. That's hard. And yet there they are serving us.
Brad Caruso:
Losing a home, losing a life is, is the worst day of someone's life. And it definitely, uh, you know, it, the support you provide goes a long way to just helping in, in some really basic things that people lose, probably lose sight of, um, in those, in those disasters. So this cause as I just said, is, is definitely near and dear to my heart. And, and I, and I think that the part where the foundation comes in as well. And, and I think your experience, just having significant experience in the, in the not-for-profit community in the fundraising space, can you provide a little more background, a little more information on, on some of the basics about philanthropy and why philanthropy is so important for the firefighter and first responder community?
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, it's such a great question and I love being able to make this connection for folks who aren't in philanthropy per se. So for example, governments, and when I say government, I mean our cities are counties, right? Our representatives, they can only fund so much. That's the honest truth, right? They have budgets, they can only fund so much. And then communities and individual citizens, firefighters on their own, they fund, but they can only fund so much, right? And unfortunately, there's a gap. There's a gap between where our officials aren't able to fund anymore and where our communities aren't able to fund anymore, or individuals. That gap is filled in by nonprofit leaders, by nonprofits and organizations. And if we didn't have nonprofits and organizations, there would be a much larger gap and a loss in what we could bring to our communities, right? What, how we could serve our firefighters and each other as just citizens.
Angie Carmignani:
And so within that gap, we really, as nonprofits sort of get microscopic focused on, okay, how big is this gap and where's it at? And for us, we look at it from the firefighter's perspective. We still have a lot of volunteer firefighters throughout the state of California. And so when they need gear or they're bringing on new hires and they, they need more gear, you know, they can apply to us for that funding by that gear because their county, city township can't afford it. And, and so that's the best way I can help to explain the value in philanthropy when it comes to our firefighters, is there's a gap. And our goal, our mission is to help fill that gap.
Brad Caruso:
And I love that you absolutely bring up great points for giving context. The city or the township or the federal government or all those that provide funding, you know, every jurisdiction has a different funding model. When you're working in a fire department, equipment has a shelf life, equipment gets damaged, and sometimes we end up needing new equipment at different times, but there's rounds of funding that provide that. And, and sometimes that round of funding doesn't fully provide it. Or, you know, in the case of, of now with, you know, a disaster happening, um, you know, you obviously need more people and, and it's not necessarily budgeted for. And so a lot of times that occurs in my department here in, in New Jersey where I am, you know, we're funded by the Board of Fire commissioners, they fund kind of our basic operation, which is, you know, the fire trucks and the, and the major equipment. But no firefighter out there will tell you they don't like to eat. And I can tell you that a lot of our general fundraising goes to food <laugh>.
Angie Carmignani:
Sure, yeah.
Brad Caruso:
And, and, and, and, and the reality is, you know, it's, everybody needs to eat. And that's what keeps a lot of us going. And it also, you know, creates that family environment in the firehouse. But, but just as a very simple example, you know, a lot of our general fundraising is going to some real basic necessities. It might be t-shirts for the new recruits so that they feel connected to the fire department. Like just simple things like that. Like go in an astronomical long way to creating a stronger culture, you know, for those that do give up a lot to keep communities safe and, and keep the communities as safe as they can be. It's, it's great to hear that you're doing that, but also you're kind of drawing that direct connection, you know, that the even small dollars mean it mean a significant amount to us. It it really helps.
Angie Carmignani:
Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and I, and I wanna add, it's, it's no, no jabbed any, any community or or, or county or city, it's, it's just simply the, the way it is, they only have so much, right? And they're stretching it as much as they can. Yeah.
Brad Caruso:
And, and we're all seeing what, what's happening in, in government in general in in the world, in the federal government right now. And, and, you know, even many cases funding's being cut back. So it, it's, you know, to that point, it's unpredictable to some degree. So that, that's why having, having a safety net, um, is important because there are times where budgets can be cut. There are times where you ask for X and get y um, you know, governments do a great job of, of funding departments and definitely put a focus on it. So it, you know, it goes a long way. But then there's, there's other things that are always, always needed. And, and especially in times of significant challenges, disasters, things like that. There typically is a, a significant need for outside funding outside of government funding. So, Angie, one of the ways that we actually connected, we in our Los Angeles office did some fundraising and had a nice in-person check presentation where you came down. Tell us a little bit about why that experience is so important to connect with donors firsthand. And, and I can tell you just from our perspective, it definitely is such a positive just to get, to meet people at the organization. You know, it's one thing to write a check, it's another thing to kind of see the work and, and talk through the work and, and, and experience that.
Angie Carmignani:
Such a great question. And one that I really, you were asking the question and I was smiling from ear to ear because I love making friends just inherently, I love making friends. And when people are investing, whether it's their time, their talents, a product, or their hard earned money, I wanna be a part of their journey. I want them to know me. I want them to know my team. I want them to know that if, if they ever have a question, they simply can pick up a phone and call me. I believe that is a little bit of a lost art in philanthropy because it does take time and it does take money. But you know, Withum could have chosen any nonprofit. There's thousands in California, they could have chosen, and for some reason they chose us. And that means the world to me.
Angie Carmignani:
And I wanna know more about them, about the individuals behind with them. I wanna know why did they choose us? What are we doing that really makes them smile, that drives them? Because then I wanna come back and I wanna report to them, Hey, you guys, look what we've done because of you. I wanna share our finish line moments with them because I go back to they could have chosen anyone and they chose us. Um, and coincidentally, you guys were literally my very first check presentation on being on this job for the California Fire Foundation. And you know, I've, again, I've been doing this for over 20 years. I've been going to presentations and, and, and talking with people about funding. And so to show up there, I still was a little nervous, I was excited. I was like, I'm so excited I get to meet people that chose us.
Angie Carmignani:
And it seems like such a simple thing, but I know we know in our team at CFF, it's not easy to one, continue to be advocates and ask for money, right? It's not easy. It's the hardest part of our job, hardest part. And it's not easy sometimes to actually fund projects. Like you really do wring your hands and split hairs. And so to finally come to the end of the process and say, congratulations and thank you to me, the whole thing is a journey that means the world to me. And, and it comes back to building relationships. Um, we want to build relationships in a, in a many different ways. So yes, with the communities we're serving, boots on the ground, um, who are in the midst of the worst disaster of their lives. And we also wanna do it with our donors. And we want our donors to know that we will do the very best jobs at being the best stewards of your gift that we possibly can. And we may come back to you and say, Hey, we have an idea. What do you think? Because we want you to, to be a part of it, to continue to be a part of what we're doing. That whole relationship means something to us. And yes, it does take time, but it also took you and Withum as donors, time to decide who will we fund? Who will we entrust with our investment?
Brad Caruso:
Without a doubt. And, and I love the advice you give there. I love your enthusiasm towards it too. I think that's another, you know, lost art of just people just being really passionate about their job and passionate about helping others and, and kind of doing their part to do that. And you're a very good ambassador for your organization just in our interactions and, and, uh, just the way that you're very passionate about making sure things are done right, making sure things are transparent, making sure you do develop that connection. It certainly creates a, not just a onetime donor too. It, it creates a, someone that's vested in it. And, you know, as a, you know, as donors, you know, we love hearing about impact and how it's going. Certainly there's, there's a lot of, a lot going on. There's a lot of dollars coming in, there's a lot happening. But, but just having that acknowledgement I think, you know, is, is just wonderful. And, uh, I appreciate you sharing that information too. I think a lot of people can learn from that of just how to approach that, that donor relationship. It definitely goes a long way in not only creating a longer lasting relationship, but being more accountable to the impact that you are making. So, really appreciate that.
Angie Carmignani:
Ah, you're welcome. And you know, there's one thing someone asked me one time, what's the worst part of your job, Angie? And I said, it's not knowing who a donor is that gave to us. There are some donors I could be standing next to at the grocery store, and I wouldn't know, I wouldn't know that they were a donor. I don't like that. I don't, I I wanna know our donors. I, I wanna know why they chose us. I wanna know how I can, um, give them information of our impact so that they know we will always continue to, to try to be great stewards of what they've gifted to us. And that's literally one of the hardest parts of my job, is not knowing who our donors are.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Yeah. No, without a doubt. And I think many of us, um, I know even our business, you know, it's definitely a relationship business and one that we like to maintain those, and it's, it's very important. And, and I get that too. I, we, you know, ever since COVID occurred and, and we went more virtual, you know, I've had a lot of clients I've never met in person, and, and I could literally be standing next to one of them and like, wouldn't recognize them in a crowd, even though you're on the phone with them, you're on Zoom calls all the time, and you know, it, it's hard. And, and it also, like, if I find that out, I'm like, ugh, I feel, I feel so bad about that. Like, why did that happen that way? <laugh>?
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah. And you know, it, it's something to shoot for, but yet we do cover the whole state of California, so it's gonna be really hard, but that doesn't mean we can't try, right? That doesn't mean that we can't make the effort and give it a go.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. So, so on that, on that topic too, and I know you have a lot of great impact that you're making and, and great information to share. And obviously, you know, very recently southern California and you know, really California as a whole has been hit with some of the most devastating wildfires and other natural disasters. Can you tell us how CFF now is kind of handling the aftermath of the wildfires? It's not really in the news anymore, but obviously people are still drastically affected by this and how you're supporting not only firefighters and their families, but the overall community.
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, it's a great question. And it's part of a, you know, I'm gonna say our strategy, and sadly with each disaster we get a little bit better, right? So our, our last major disaster, there's been small ones in between, but our last major was the campfire, which is where we lost the town of paradise. And again, immediately hit the ground running just as we did in LA and Ventura counties. So immediately when disaster strike, our firefighters get called in, we assess the day, they get called in the second day, and usually by the third day we are out behind them in the communities helping. That's our immediate relief and recovery. And now we come back and we look at, okay, what have we raised? And we recreate a whole new budget and the board approves it, and we turn around and we start vetting nonprofits who are boots on the ground in the communities that are deeply affected.
Angie Carmignani:
And we start partnering with them because as much as we'd like to be the experts in everything, we're not, and we can't. But what we can do is what we're really good at. And that's build relationships and build partnerships. And what that looks like to us is, um, if a nonprofit is inside the Palisades area or the Altadena area, and they are doing deep relief and recovery, and we can see their impact, we can see historically how they've impacted their communities. And now they need a little bit of funding to help push it out bigger and farther. Those are the nonprofits we're gonna partner with. And we're not just gonna cut a check. We're actually gonna stay embedded with them throughout their project and beyond, because sadly, we know it's not gonna be the last disaster, and we may need to partner with them again, whether it might be a flood, an earthquake, another fire. And so building these collaborative relationships throughout our communities is part of our strategy and our plan to stay connected to where we have helped fund programs.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. And it seems like partnership is super important in your philosophy at CFF and, and super important into making the most impact. Diving into that, the partnership aspect of it, why, why do you feel that that is so important? And you just kind of said a little bit, but, but memorializing the point a little further, why do you feel it's so important to partner with local organizations that are in those areas to provide the direct aid?
Angie Carmignani:
Because they know their community, they know their community, they're the experts inside the neighborhoods, inside the schools, inside the libraries, inside the park and recs. Inside the core of every community are nonprofits. And um, I'll give you a really good example, at least for me. It was, it was an aha moment, which was, we were in, uh, Pasadena during relief and recovery, and none of us realized that there is a massively large Armenian population so big that English is their second language. And a lot of them didn't speak fluent English. And we were sort of caught off guard. Well, I immediately called the junior college there in Pasadena and I said, Hey, can you help us with translators? We need Armenian and Spanish translators. And they said, absolutely. And right there is the beginning of a beautiful partnership, a beautiful relationship, and not only for that area, but we also learn now when a disaster strikes somewhere else, who are we gonna call the local community college, the local church. We would love to partner with you because we need translators or we need x, whatever it is. And so these community partnerships become invaluable to us and the work we will begin doing at the beginning of a, of a disaster. And what we will continue to do until we feel like, okay, this community is getting their legs back and they're on their way.
Brad Caruso:
Love it. Yeah. And that, and that's such a good example to memorialize the importance of that knowing the community you're really serving and you're bringing a lot of the financial resources, but bringing a lot of that local know-how and, and being able to really connect with the people that are affected is so important to having a real impact. And so that recognition that you have there is super important. And it's wonderful that you're self aware of that and you're able to find other organizations that can help in these scenarios. And you partner with them.
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah. You know, and it's, when we were there, we also learn about other organizations because we're asking people, we're asking the community, where are you getting this from? And one thing we learned, the Pasadena Park and Rec Center had opened up their centers and offered free daycare, but couldn't get the word out quick enough. So we started telling people as we were providing services to them, Hey, just so you know, that is a huge financial liability for that park and rack. But they did it because their community called for it. Their community needed it.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Without a doubt. You kind of bring me to my next point of the education aspect of this. So sometimes when disaster strikes, people don't know where to go. And also people don't know what to do in disasters. A lot of us are fortunate, we don't necessarily experience it, but then when you do experience it, you know, you don't have the experience of experiencing it, if that makes any sense. And from your perspective, how do you as CFF go about educating the community both on the, how to get in contact with you as well as on the actual, you know, real education side? I know one of your programs is providing that, that formal fire and other education. How do you go about doing that?
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, you know, it's that good old fashioned, keep talking about it. We have to keep talking about it. We have to get, you know, better at our social media. We, we think we're doing good. And it's like, Nope, let's keep at it. Let's push harder. Let's find right where the tip of the envelope, you know, falls is in how we're communicating. Because again, we're multi-generational. We've got, you know, we need to get our education out to college kids. Why? Because they're in dorms. They're their own little township inside a campus that at any moment could be part of a disaster. And then it's, it's little kids, it's elementary school kids, because ironically, they're also the ones that are gonna go home and tell their mom and dad, Hey, we need to do this. We need to get ready for this. And so it really is looking at who our demographics are and more. So we think this is our demographic now push out even more because it is bigger than what we think it always is when it comes to education.
Brad Caruso:
Always, always. Um, one of the programs you mentioned earlier, and I'd love it if you can provide a little more detail and then also like, you know, the context of like if disaster strikes, how, how does someone kind of, you know, connect on this topic? But you mentioned earlier about $250 cash cards that you provide. Can you elaborate on that?
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, yeah. So, um, the $250 cash cards are part of our SAVE program. So supplying aids to victims of emergency. And basically what we do with SAVE cards is it could be a disaster, like what we just went through in LA and Ventura counties where we will sort of set up shop, if you would, in part of the community where citizens can reach us easily. And then we will just look up their address and by the fire zones that are outlined we will then decide, okay, yep, you're in the fire zone, your home potentially is completely evacuated or it's a full loss. And so that's how we determine who gets, you know, this cash card when you're dealing with an entire community. But we also offer them through our departments, through our stations, when there's a single house fire. Because, you know, we've heard our firefighters say, we put out this fire, we get everyone out, everyone's alive, animals are alive, everyone's fine.
Angie Carmignani:
But they look at us and go, what do we do now? Where do we go? And the firefighters with all their hearts wanna say someplace, but sometimes they're like, we don't know who, who can you call? And so for the firefighters to be able to hand over this SAVE card is massive to them, right? Is is so important. 'cause it's something that they can give to their citizens. It's a way that they get to connect on their own terms. So the SAVE cards become a really great tool for our firefighters in the field, but also during that emergency. And I know for the LA and Ventura County fires, we gave out 1.8 million and some change in $250 cash cards.
Brad Caruso:
Wow.
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah.
Brad Caruso:
Yeah. Just, just given the audience, you know, kind of, kind of context behind that and just, I mean, just think about that. These are $250 cards and they gave out $1.8 million. It just gives you the magnitude of how many people were affected and how much impact you are having. I mean, you know, people lose sight of, uh, and, and you, and you said that very well. I mean, I, I've been to several fires where you're very fortunate, you're happy, all, you know, life is safe property's not, what do we do, where do we go? And most of the time, all of their belongings were in their house. They don't have shoes. Some people don't have clothes or don't have adequate clothes. You might run outside in pajamas and it's two degrees outside. And so those little things go a very long way in providing a little bit of relief to people. And the fact that you do that, I, I took a note down for myself. I'm gonna bring it back to our department and probably steal your idea, I apologize in advance, but I just love that idea of just providing a little bit of assistance that's just right there and on the spot and can make a difference.
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah. You know, and, and, and again, that this is where our scale from a, from a business perspective came in the, in the park fire, when we lost Paradise, our cash cards were a hundred dollars. And we realized we need to do more. We, we need to talk to our donors and we need to do more. And, and so we were able, um, to increase our cash card, our SAVE card value to 250. And that again, goes back to us having relationships with our donors, us talking with our donors and donors, understanding that yes, we absolutely, we will get out there. We will fulfill our mission, we will do our best job, but we still have a business to run, right? Like we, we still have operational expenses, like getting our team out to disaster areas is one, logistically no small feat. And two, it does cost us.
Angie Carmignani:
And so really having those conversations with donors about, look, here's what we need and here's what it's gonna cost us to do it. Can you help us with this? Do you believe in this? And to sit across the table from a donor and have them say absolutely pure joy, pure joy, because we know that donor understands that yes, we get to do this amazingly good work, but they also understand that we're still a business and we have a business run. We have a board of directors to answer to. We have donors to answer to. We have volunteers and firefighters to answer to. And the only way we can do that really successfully is by running the best business we possibly can.
Brad Caruso:
Without a doubt. And that, and that's a lesson for all not-for-profit organizations. And, and it, it's a complex model. I mean, you serve a lot of different individuals and parties and, and you're serving a lot of people that, that are having, you know, having, having the worst day of their life, having a difficult time. Um, but also, you know, you do have a responsibility as an organization to run lean and to, you know, run your operations well. But running a not-for-profit is not a zero cost game. I mean, there's costs that are incurred to even, you know, in my world just doing accounting and bookkeeping and auditing and all that stuff, to be able to rely upon the organization, spending their money correctly. You need a good accountant, you need an auditor, you need someone to put your tax return, you need all that. And, and generally that's, you know, it's not direct aid, that's administrative costs and it just goes into the bigger picture.
Brad Caruso:
But in order to do that, well, yeah, you have to run all aspects of your business well, and then it does translate to, like you said, the impact. It does translate to the transparency that you have. It does translate to being able to do more or come up with new innovative programs. And the more that you have your back office as you will buttoned up, the more likely you are to have more of an impact. Even though it may seem like you're spending more money, it's necessary. An organization can't run on zero overhead unless it's all volunteer, which is very difficult to do. Well, you've talked a lot, um, about a lot of great things that you do, a lot of the work you do, how you go about philanthropy and fundraising, um, the way that you as an organization are just very innovative, approaching things and, and really handling some very delicate and difficult situations. As you continue to grow, as you continue to respond to more of these natural disasters issues and support that you're providing, you know, how can our listeners help and get involved with CFF? What, what recommendations do you have? You know, what support does CFF need to continue to do the great work that you do?
Angie Carmignani:
Yeah, I think get curious, get really curious about us. Go on our website, follow us on social media. Our comms and marketing folks do a great job at, at sharing our stories and what we're doing. But get curious and look at who we are and are we for you, right? Are we the organization for you? And if we are, fantastic, come on board, get on the bus with us, you'll, we'll, we'll take you on. And if we're not, that's okay. What nonprofit is what speaks to you. But in regards to California Fire Foundation, we are here for the long run. We wanna be here for the long run. Our strategy is based on we're gonna be here for a while and we want people to come along in that journey. And, and we wanna continue to educate them because with the future, with every disaster, with every new need, we learn and we want donors to come along with us.
Angie Carmignani:
And when I say donors, I don't just mean people writing checks. I mean people who are advocating for us, volunteers who are coming out and lending us their time and talents. So everyone across the board. But we want, I would like people to get really curious about us and ask us, Hey, what are you doing? Why are you doing that? And wanna have a conversation with us so they can get to know us. That would be what I would love is for people to wanna get to know us and have a conversation with us, and then join us, join us, however they're able to join us in what we're trying to do.
Brad Caruso:
And with that, Angie, you know, I really appreciate having you on the show. Really appreciate you dedicating your time, uh, bringing the energy. I had a really great conversation with you. Love the information you shared, and certainly really appreciate having you on the show and, and being able to share more about what the foundation is doing. So thank you so much for being here.
Angie Carmignani:
Oh, my pleasure. Thank you so much for inviting me. This was fun.
Brad Caruso:
This was a lot of fun and warriors out there. Thank you for listening. Subscribe to meet us right back here for another episode of Withum Civic Warriors. Thanks everybody. Have a great day.
