Circular Colorado Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873437643
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Broomfield, CO, USA
Phone
9703449869
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Recycling Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$569,418
Expenses
$573,410
Assets
$40,291
Liabilities
$6,157

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENIFER FREEMAN (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURIE JOHNSON (PresidentCEO): $143,751 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Develop and implement tangible, actionable and measurable projects that support the creation of a circular economy in Colorado and the region.

What it reported doing in 2024

Circular Economy Development Center: the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has contracted Circular Colorado to establish and run their Circular Economy Development Center (CEDC), a program to grow existing markets, create new markets, and provide necessary infrastructure, systems, logistics and marketing to create a sustainable circular economy for recycled commodities in Colorado. This is a 5-year contract that began on July 1, 2023 and ends on June 30, 2028.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 62.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 83.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 92.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $529K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $144K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.