Colorado Gives Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 510157964
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Arvada, CO, United States
- Phone
- (720) 898-5900
- Rating
- 90
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $115,244,032
- Expenses
- $107,023,561
- Assets
- $527,119,626
- Liabilities
- $68,029,530
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
26 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KELLY S DUNKIN (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- KELLY S DUNKIN (PRESIDENT & CEO): $446,210 total reported compensation
- KENNETH R KIRWIN (COO AND CFO): $340,812 total reported compensation
- JENNIFER ROBINSON (VP BUSINESS SYSTEMS AND IN): $287,705 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We connect people, ideas and nonprofits. We created Colorado Gives Day and ColoradoGives.org to make it easy for nonprofits to fundraise and for donors to give. Colorado Gives Foundation launched ColoradoGives.org nearly two decades ago to make it easy for people to support the causes and nonprofits they care about through online giving. Since 2007, donors have contributed more than $807 million to Colorado nonprofits through the platform. We believe giving should be easy, but we also know it can be overwhelming to decide where and how to give. That’s why ColoradoGives.org connects donors and nonprofits year-round, helping you support the causes that matter most to you. ****Discover + Donate.
What it reported doing in 2024
We have been connecting donors and Colorado nonprofits since 1975. We are the community foundation serving jefferson county, Colorado (jeffco) dedicated to improving the lives of people in jeffco. We also work statewide to build the capacity of nonprofits and donors via coloradogives.org, nonprofit endowments and donor advised funds. Coloradogives.org powers Colorado gives day making it easy to donate year-round to nonprofits. We also partner with nonprofits serving jeffco with grantmaking and other philanthropic tools. Together we strive to build resilient, connected, and thriving communities. Our work is rooted in active listening and a committment to a community that is accessible to all.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 95
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 97
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 95.8%; rating input score 96
- Fundraising efficiency: $59.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 94.2%; rating input score 94; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 7.1%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.93; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 97.6% of revenue deployed · 95.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $102.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $446K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2218 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2205 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.