Colorado Democracy Alliance

Overview

Mission

The Colorado Democracy Alliance is an organization committed to protecting democracy and expanding Colorados civic engagement ecosystem.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided a variety of events for public education and leadership development during 2025. Supported civic engagement learning opportunities and robust discussion among community leaders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 61% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204366413
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Headquarters
Denver, CO, USA
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -24.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $384K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $131K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 annual filings from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Daniel Ramos (Executive Director): $130,833 total reported compensation
  • Jayson Sime (Executive Director): $25,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2025.