Child Advocates - Denver Casa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841300565
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3038802266
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Civil Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,240,684
Expenses
$1,307,027
Assets
$1,552,393
Liabilities
$122,747

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN SILVERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BERNADETTE JOHNSON (PRESIDENT)
  • RYAN GENSLER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN SILVERMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $145,721 total reported compensation
  • DANA RINDERKNECHT (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $120,438 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Child advocates - denver casa's mission is to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in denver juvenile court through the services of specially selected and trained community volunteers from a variety of backgrounds.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, denver casa recruited, trained and supported 50 new volunteers that were assigned to cases. The majority of those volunteers were paired with a youth or a sibling group who have an open dependency and neglect case in denver juvenile court. In total, 254 children were provided advocacy by 188 casa volunteers. 30 youth participated in the older youth program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 69.3%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: -5.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74% of revenue deployed · 69.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $906K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.