Colorado Succeeds

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
753221270
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3038930707
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,805,933
Expenses
$4,434,428
Assets
$5,836,237
Liabilities
$39,759

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Scott Laband (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Scott Laband (President): $312,356 total reported compensation
  • Shannon Nicholas (Chief of Staff): $192,328 total reported compensation
  • Ashley Anderson (VP Corporate Relations): $125,177 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Colorado Succeeds is a nonpartisan, business-led organization working to improve education and workforce outcomes. Through policy and advocacy, the organization advances changes intended to improve learner outcomes and strengthen connections between education and employment. Through its employer-led talent strategy work, Colorado Succeeds works with employers and industries to identify shared workforce needs, translate employer demand into talent strategies, and partner with education and training providers to develop or improve solutions responsive to those needs. The organization also supports aligned initiatives designed to expand access to high-quality education, credentials and pathways to economic opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2025

Colorado Succeeds is a nonpartisan, business-led organization working to improve education and workforce outcomes. Through policy and advocacy, the organization advances changes intended to improve learner outcomes and strengthen connections between education and employment. Through its employer-led talent strategy work, Colorado Succeeds works with employers and industries to identify shared workforce needs, translate employer demand into talent strategies, and partner with education and training providers to develop or improve solutions responsive to those needs. The organization also supports aligned initiatives designed to expand access to high-quality education, credentials, and pathways to economic opportunity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 80% 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.
  • 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.3%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $48.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.7%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.3% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $312K · 19 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.