Trainings
Virtual Classroom training
The NVFC Virtual Classroom is an online learning center featuring on-demand courses covering a wide range of fire and emergency service topics. Several of these courses are eligible for CEUs.
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Live online training
The NVFC offers a variety of live online training opportunities, including webinars, Roundtable Talks, and Volunteer Voices Live. Find the upcoming schedule here.
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In-person training
The NVFC offers in-person training opportunities as well as presents training sessions at events and conferences across the U.S. View the upcoming schedule here.
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Resources
Social Media Toolkit
Social media is a powerful tool for volunteer fire and EMS departments to connect with their communities, share important safety information, raise funds, and recruit new members. This toolkit and resources are designed to help you enhance your social media strategy, engage your community, and achieve your department’s outreach goals.
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Recruitment & Retention Research
The NVFC has conducted several surveys and focus groups over the years to equip fire and EMS departments with the knowledge needed to address volunteer recruitment and retention challenges and implement research-driven solutions.
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Stay and Exit Surveys
A critical piece of fire or EMS department retention is to know why your members stay and why they leave, and then making adjustments where possible to address barriers or obstacles to retention. An important component to this is to survey your members through Stay and Exit Surveys.
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Resources for Fire and EMS Families
When someone joins the volunteer fire, emergency medical, or rescue services, it impacts the entire family. The NVFC has compiled resources and information to support family members of volunteer responders.
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Volunteer Value Calculators
Use these calculator tools to determine return on investment, retention value, and career versus volunteer comparison for your volunteer fire or EMS department.
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Inform, Educate, and Reduce Risk with Nextdoor
This webinar hosted by Nextdoor provides details on how emergency service departments can utilize the platform for free to inform, alert, recruit, educate, raise funds, and connect with community members.
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What to Expect: A Guide for New Firefighter Families (Second Edition)
This guide is designed for spouses, children, parents, siblings, and significant others of volunteer and paid-on-call responders. Printed copies are available in the NVFC store; order up to 10 copies for just the cost of shipping, while supplies last.
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Spanish Version – What to Expect: A Guide for New Firefighter Families (Second Edition)
This guide is designed for spouses, children, parents, siblings, and significant others of volunteer and paid-on-call responders. Joining the fire service affects the entire family, and having family support is crucial for a responder’s well-being and retention.
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Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat
This documentary takes audiences behind the lines of America’s volunteer fire service community by sharing the stories of volunteer responders as they face challenges and triumphs in their service to others.
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Firefighter Strong
This annual newsletter aims to support volunteer responders and departments by addressing critical health and safety issues, recruitment and retention challenges, and leadership development. Find best practices, resources, tools, and other information to help your department thrive.
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Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services
The U.S. Fire Administration, in partnership with the NVFC, released this manual to help equip volunteer fire and EMS departments with the necessary tools, strategies, and insights to overcome recruitment obstacles and retain their valuable volunteers.
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Fire Service Discrimination & Harassment Toolkit
This resource aims to help both volunteer and career first responders prevent, identify, and respond to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace.
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Ride With Us Episodes and PSAs (Vimeo)
The NVFC partnered with Cottage Lane Productions to produce episodes of the Ride With Us series, which shows the public what it's like to train as a volunteer firefighter. In addition, several PSAs are available to encourage the public to volunteer. You can download the videos to use in your volunteer recruitment initiatives.
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Ride With Us Episodes and PSAs (YouTube)
The NVFC partnered with Cottage Lane Productions to produce episodes of the Ride With Us series, which shows the public what it's like to train as a volunteer firefighter. In addition, several PSAs are available to encourage the public to volunteer. Use these videos in your volunteer recruitment initiatives.
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Recruitment PSAs (Vimeo)
Download a variety of 15-second, 30-second, and 1-minute video PSAs in both English and Spanish to recruit new volunteers to your fire or EMS department. Remember to direct viewers to www.MakeMeAFirefighter.org to find your local opportunity listings.
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Recruitment PSAs (YouTube)
Choose from a variety of 15-second, 30-second, and 1-minute video PSAs in both English and Spanish from this YouTube playlist to recruit new volunteers to your fire or EMS department. Remember to direct viewers to www.MakeMeAFirefighter.org to find your local opportunity listings.
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Make Me A Firefighter Promotional Banner
Departments can download and print this WE'VE GOT A SPOT FOR YOU promotional banner for in-person events to encourage members of your community to become volunteers and visit MakeMeAFirefighter.org.
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Innovative Recruitment Ideas
This one-pager features 10 ideas to help jump-start your fire or EMS department's volunteer recruitment initiatives.
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Psychologically Healthy Fire Departments: Implementation Toolkit
This toolkit is designed to help fire department leaders promote and foster well-being among their members and create healthy, high-performing departments.
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Volunteer Recognition Ideas
This list of recognition ideas provides ways to say thank you to your Fire Corps volunteers and assist with volunteer retention. Many of these ideas can also be adapted to recognize operational volunteers.
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Fire Corps Recruitment and Retention Guide
This guide helps fire and emergency service departments understand volunteerism today and provides ideas and suggestions for recruiting and retaining volunteers for Fire Corps programs to assist with non-operational tasks.
Access Resource »Apply for SAFER Grant Using Make Me A Firefighter
Use these tips to incorporate the Make Me A Firefighter campaign into your department's SAFER application.
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