Big City Mountaineers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
650200163
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Arvada, CO, USA
Phone
3032719200
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Recreational l Clubs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,025,995
Expenses
$1,334,106
Assets
$1,327,040
Liabilities
$51,001

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID TAUS (Executive Dir.): $114,457 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Big City Mountaineers provides transformative experiences through connections to nature that strengthen life skills and build community for youth from disinvested communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Big city mountaineers provides free, fully outfitted and professionally led, wilderness mentoring paddling expeditions, backpacking trips, and overnight camps for youth from unfairly marginalized and disinvested communities. Our model removes material and social barriers to participation in outdoor activities. We outfit our students from head to toe to ensure they are warm, dry, and safe. Many of our students do not see themselves in popular representations of outdoor culture so we provide a community of peers with whom they can share these experiences, while surrounding them with caring adult mentors to provide support and encouragement. We strive to increase their understanding of how natural spaces are connected to their lives back home and can serve as a resource for greater personal wellbeing and happiness. Our expeditions provide a safe and supportive environment for youth to develop teamwork, an increased sense of self, an understanding of their place in the world, a passion for lifelong learning, and a commitment to environmental stewardship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 78.1%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.77 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: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -30%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 78.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.