Colorado Springs Independence Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 841052916
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO, USA
- Phone
- 7194718181
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $16,214,647
- Expenses
- $15,690,439
- Assets
- $24,196,069
- Liabilities
- $2,614,566
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Indy Frazee (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Indy Frazee (CEO): $199,207 total reported compensation
- Christy Cleveland (Caregiver): $144,829 total reported compensation
- Kevin Holder (Caregiver): $141,301 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We work with people with disabilities, their families and the community to create independence so that all may thrive.
What it reported doing in 2025
The Independence Center (IC) is a state- and federally-certified Center for Independent Living (CIL), providing services for individuals who self-identify as having a disability, and want to accomplish personal goals to gain independence. Goals can include securing employment, peer support, transition from nursing facilities to the community, information on technology and tools, obtaining benefits, and classes to improve skills such as budgeting and cooking. The IC also focuses on individual and systems advocacy to provide information to members of the disability community and empower them to self-advocate.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 80
- Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 3.2%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.54; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $13.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $199K · 18 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $210K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.