Colorado Forum Fund

Legal name: Colorado Forum Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
263952995
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
303.825.1211
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Population Studies

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,277,067
Expenses
$388,008
Assets
$1,782,700
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • gail klapper (president)

People named in this filing

  • DAVID YOUNGGREN (chair of board)
  • gail klapper (president)
  • MARK SMITH (DIRECTOR)

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

The Colorado Forum Fund supports philanthropic and educational projects aligned with the Colorado Forum's mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Colorado Informed is a nonpartisan Civic Information Project which strives to educate Coloradans on objective truths. This innovative platform serves as an independent, centralized hub for proven research and facts. We empower individuals, organizations, and communities with the information they need to make informed decisions about some of the most important issues facing Coloradans. line 4d, program service ------------------------- The CFF education project is currently partnering with three Colorado school districts-Pueblo District 70, Mesa District 51, and Genoa-Hugo-to support transformative educational change. Each district is working with its board and community to identify a critical issue and develop an innovative, sustainable solution to enhance student learning. The goal is to create a model that can inspire systemic change across Colorado's entire K- 12 education system. inspire systemic change across Colorado's entire K- 12 education system.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 42
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 90
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 26.4%; rating input score 26
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 69.6%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.59; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 51.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 77.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 14 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 26.4% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $317K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.