Update: I have been doing some more research on SAR groups and came across AirBears Volunteer Drone Services. I reached out to them and got a very nice email reply to my questions.
Air Bears
Their email reply is included below:
Hi John,
Thanks for your interest in joining our team. Now lets get to answering your questions:
Membership fees:
The one time $25 charge is a registration fee, and that fee is tax deductible. It goes towards the administrative cost of running our organization. There are no membership dues at all.
Meetings?
Air Bears is a world wide organization. At some point we would love to have an annual convention, but due to the fact that we have yet to find sustainable funding, Those plans will have to wait.
Missions?
Many who join us think that we control who is deployed. We don't. When you join Air Bears your contact info is made available to our network of public safety agencies as a resource available to them in case they need it. They contact you directly.
Drones & Fire Safety?
Back in 2015 the national fire fighting community call the drone "the best fire fighting tool since the hose" They absolutely love them, and many depts around the nation have been using them regularly with much success. The sad part is a lot of smaller municipalities can't afford to integrate them. That's where we come in.
The strength of Air Bears is in our membership. The more we have, the better chance there will be someone close by to help when it's needed.
We look forward to having you on our team, and doing great things with your help.
Air Bears HQ