Colorado Nonprofit Legal Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
834419203
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
Phone
7203232720
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonprofit Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,652
Expenses
$44,510
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kathryn Thomas Birckenstaedt (Executive Director and Corporate Counsel)

People named in this filing

  • Kathryn Thomas Birckenstaedt (Executive Director and Corporate Counsel)
  • Michelle Majors (Director and Chair)
  • Madeleine Daly (Director and Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To provide affordable legal services and governance education to nonprofits operating in Colorado.

What it reported doing in 2024

Legal Services. In 2024, CNLC assisted nonprofits by providing legal services to those nonprofits at steeply discounted rates. This resulted in monetary savings for those nonprofits. The savings can go directly to the mission activities of those organizations, increasing the impact they have in their communities. In addition to the direct legal work provided to clients, CNLC held free consultations with nonprofit organizations. Many of the consultations result in the organization being able to avoid legal fees entirely, as CNLC staff are able to answer the questions during the consultation without requiring additional services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 2
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -414.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 63%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -48.2% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -68.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -72.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $30K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.