Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237161796
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3034336002
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,730,270
Expenses
$4,362,582
Assets
$8,435,995
Liabilities
$2,275,200

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELYCIA COOK (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELYCIA COOK (CEO): $205,375 total reported compensation
  • DANIELLE RAMACCIOTTI (ED - PIKES P): $153,006 total reported compensation
  • POLICA HOUSTON (VP OF PROGRA): $137,502 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of big brothers big sisters of Colorado is to create and support mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

What it reported doing in 2024

Big brothers big sisters of Colorado (bbbsc) delivers high-impact mentoring programs that support youth across the denver metro and pikes peak regions. These programs rely on trained volunteers ("bigs") and are supported by professional bbbsc staff. These volunteer contributions are essential to bbbsc's program operations. In fy2025, volunteers provided 46,416 hours of mentoring and support, valued at 1.8 million. When this volunteer-provided value is considered, program-related expenses represent approximately 77% of total organizational expenditures. During fy2025, bbbsc: -provided one-to-one volunteer mentoring, school-based mentoring, and group-based mentoring experiences to 1,641 youth ages 9-18 across community-based, sports buddies, stars peer mentoring, project aim, and big futures programming. -supported youth academic and developmental outcomes, including: o78% of youth maintaining or improving their grades, omentored youth being 20% more likely to enroll in college, oyouth demonstrating higher confidence and leadership skills, with 94% reporting confidence in achieving their goals. -celebrated high school graduates, many of whom are the first in their families to graduate, and provided post-secondary planning, career exploration, and financial literacy through the big futures wraparound program. -offered orientations, workshops, and ongoing training for volunteer mentors; delivered school-based social-emotional and leadership programming (stars and project aim); and provided resource referrals for families including school supplies, clothing, holiday support, mental- health resources, and community services-ensuring match stability and youth well-being. -created 159 new mentoring matches and maintained an average match length of 3.6 years, demonstrating high relationship quality and retention. -served youth experiencing significant barriers, including those from single-parent households (70%), families receiving income assistance (41%), and youth with an incarcerated parent (15%). Research continues to show that mentoring reduces risky behaviors, increases academic success, and strengthens long-term economic outcomes. Bbbsc remains committed to continuous evaluation and improvement to ensure high-quality, consistent, and culturally responsive services for Colorado youth and families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.93; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.7% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 27 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $205K · 30 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $241K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.