Blue Rising

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862707421
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Superior, CO, USA
Phone
3035882470
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$276,001
Expenses
$272,313
Assets
$29,953
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

People named in this filing

  • JASON ROBINSON (BOARD MEMBER)
  • DESERAI CROW (BOARD CHAIR)
  • DAWN REINFELD (Executive Dir.)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

We believe young people should be able to take healthy risks, explore life and make mistakes safely without life-altering consequences that change their futures. We envision a world where kids can enter adulthood without the emotional scars and trauma that are part of struggliing to recover from a high-potency thc marijuana addiction, have friends or family members die from fentanyl poisoning, and experiencing the anxiety and grief that comes from the ever-present threat of gun violence. This generation of kids is facing new and complex challenges that threaten the trajectory of their lives. The risk landscape has changed. Commonsense policies and programs need to be developed, and adapted to keep up the fast-paced changes.

What it reported doing in 2024

Blue rising held 3 regional nonpartisan lunches covering 5 counties- adams, jefferson, douglas, el paso, and teller. More than 50 elected officials and community leaders participated together with content experts, youth and families. Br briefed and partnered with 10 new organizations, ensuring they understand the correlation to the harms of high-potency thc marijuana, fentanyl poisonings risks and where young people are able to access dangerous drugs through social media. Br worked to ensure that the school of public heath continued receiving funding to support their statewide education campaign. As a direct result of br's previous years' policy efforts to reduce teen access to marijuana, the number of medical marijuana cards for 18-20 year olds has dropped over four years. Blue rising also works to educate policy makers from local to statewide on the issues that are impacting the lives of teens and young adults.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.7%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -19.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 36.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.7% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $272K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.