Colorado Digital Learning Solutions

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473107215
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Broomfield, CO, USA
Phone
3039173922
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,241,947
Expenses
$2,652,254
Assets
$735,581
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ed Vandertook (Board President)

People named in this filing

  • Ed Vandertook (Board President)
  • Michelle Murphy (Board Member)
  • Leon Hanhardt (Board Vice-Chairperson)

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

Colorado Digital Learning Solutions (CDLS) supports Colorado schools/school districts by providing supplemental online coursework to meet unique student needs. CDLS supports schools and districts by providing coursework in content areas typically not available to them such as world language, advanced science & math, and career and technical education courses. CLDS also helps school districts fill teacher shortages by providing online courses and a certified teacher until a teacher can be found.

What it reported doing in 2024

Maintained and improved online learning management system (LMS) and registration system (Genius), including updating course content and assessments, adding interactive tools/projects, and developing unique course options based on school/school district's needs. Activities included: (1) Teaching and supporting over 250 courses; (2) Updating courses and adding courses as needed; (3) Increasing support structures for students with special needs (such as Text Help); and (4) Developing additional learning and support resources for site coordinators, parents, and students. This program service area represents the 'typical' upgrades in the online learning system. During the 2024-2025 year, CDLS supported 2,493 unique students with 7,381 enrollments from 126 Colorado school districts. Fall 2024 enrollments were 80% over the pre-COVID 2019-2020 school year. Yearly pass rate was 89% in Fall 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 67% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

SUPPORTED - 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: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -29% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -36.5% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -13.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.