You won the grant. Now what?
If you just got awarded SAFER or another funding source to boost recruitment in your fire or EMS department, congrats! But don’t let the celebration last too long. The clock is ticking, and now it’s time to actually get results.
At Agency 102, we specialize in public safety marketing and partner with volunteer fire departments, such as Kensington Volunteer Fire Department (KVFD) and Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department (FCVFD), to turn grant dollars into measurable results.
From building fresh websites to launching targeted recruitment campaigns, we’ve helped departments strengthen their outreach and marketing systems.
Our approach is grounded in the real needs and experiences of departments we support, including KVFD’s Grant Coordinator, John Kelly, who shares insights on both his experience working with our team and his advice for other departments navigating the grant process.
Here’s what to do next, step-by-step, to launch a volunteer recruitment campaign that fills your roster, not just your inbox.
Step 1: Get Clear on What the Grant Covers
Start by understanding your scope of work. Not every grant is created equal. Most cover:
- Marketing and advertising
- Events and outreach
- Recruitment staff/consulting support
- Incentive programs and onboarding resources
They don’t usually cover:
- Capital expenses
- Salaries or overtime
Ask yourself:
- What deliverables are expected?
- What’s your timeline to show impact?
- Are there reporting or budget milestones?
“If you’re serious about going for a grant, be ready to show three years of financial and call data, have an accountant in place, and prepare for detailed reporting. It’s not hard, but you’ve got to have your stuff together.”
– John Kelly, Grant Coordinator, Kensington Volunteer Fire Department (KVFD)
Step 2: Map Your Recruitment Funnel
Before we discuss ads or graphics, you need a recruitment funnel: a clear path from “I might be interested” to “I’m showing up to train.”
Most departments overlook this part and go straight to Facebook ads. That’s where campaigns stall out.
At Agency 102, we help volunteer fire departments:
- Define audience segments (youth, parents, mid-career professionals)
- Create messaging for each stage of the funnel
- Build a simple lead-tracking system (even if it’s just a Google Sheet at first)
For example, with KVFD, we defined two priority audiences: college students and working professionals. These audience insights came out of discovery conversations with department leadership and researching Kensington’s unique community demographics.
From there, we developed targeted messaging and outreach strategies that aligned with each group’s motivations, such as students gaining hands-on medical experience or employees giving back outside of their 9 to 5 jobs.
Step 3: Launch a Multi-Channel Campaign (Not Just a Flyer)
You need to meet your audience where they are.
High-performing channels for fire/EMS recruitment:
- Targeted Facebook + Instagram ads
- Short-form video (Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts)
- Postcard mailers to neighborhoods within 5 miles
- Open houses and “ride-along” events
- QR code posters in local hangouts
Depending on your goals and audience, we bring these together into one branded campaign so your message is clear across every touchpoint.Read how we helped Kensington Volunteer Fire Department launch a multi-channel campaign → KVFD Case Study
Step 4: Build or Refresh Your Landing Page
No more sending people to your department homepage.
An optimized landing page focused only on recruitment will:
- Highlight why someone should volunteer or apply
- Include clear expectations (time, training, benefits)
- Make it easy to submit interest (with a form or “text to apply”)
We’ll handle it. From copywriting to design to launch. Our team works closely with your volunteer fire department to craft messaging that speaks directly to your target audience (potential volunteers!) and reflects the unique values and mission of your station. We make sure your page is mobile-friendly, completely on-brand, and built to convert potential recruits.
For KVFD, we optimized the entire landing page experience by clarifying their message, simplifying the layout, and making it easy for users to navigate and take action and apply. We also created audience-specific landing pages for Students and Working Professionals to speak directly to their needs and remove barriers.
Check out what we built for Kensington Volunteer Fire Department → ‘Join KVFD’ Landing Page
We streamlined the application process, clarified different membership paths, and highlighted key benefits of joining, all in one easy-to-navigate page. The result is a cleaner user experience that removes confusion and encourages applications.
Step 5: Follow Up or Lose Them
Once people show interest, many departments forget to follow up, whether that’s due to time or capacity restraints, and lose the volunteer lead entirely.
We help clients:
- Create onboarding content (FAQs, what to bring, what to expect)
- Set up automated confirmation emails and nurture series
- Regularly alert departments of new leads, and provide organized lead reports
“Agency 102 has helped us revamp our website, so now it’s easy for someone to submit an application. I get a notice within minutes that someone applied, and that all happened because they helped us look at our infrastructure and how we were organized.“
John Kelly, Grant Coordinator, Kensington Volunteer Fire Department
Step 6: Track, Report, and Adjust
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. That’s why we include monthly reporting dashboards in every volunteer recruitment campaign. You’ll know:
- How many leads came in
- Where they came from
- What’s converting (and what’s not)
This also helps you keep grant funders happy with clean, simple impact reports.
TL;DR: Here’s What to Do First
| Step | Why It Matters |
| Clarify the grant | Know what you can spend + when |
| Map your funnel | Avoid wasting time and leads |
| Go multi-channel | Meet people where they are |
| Build a landing page | Convert interest into action |
| Follow up quickly | Don’t let leads die |
| Track + report | Improve results + prove ROI |
Ready to improve your volunteer recruitment marketing?
Whether this is your first SAFER grant or your fifth attempt at building a volunteer pipeline, we make sure it’s not wasted.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call with us here. You can also check out our recruitment case studies and our recruitment guide to see how we’ve helped other volunteer fire departments launch fast and fill shifts.
