Colors Plus

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824726625
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Fairview Park, OH, USA
Phone
2162008426
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$211,438
Expenses
$316,453
Assets
$214,113
Liabilities
$2,002

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • COLLEEN CRONIN (PRESIDENT)
  • KRISTIN PEPERA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • PETE FINNERTY (PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • COLLEEN CRONIN (PRESIDENT): $43,125 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN PEPERA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $25,317 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA TOMS (TREASURER): $11,235 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to strengthen lgbtq+ youth and families through advocacy, support, education, and celbration. Since 2018, colors+ has been building a brighter future for cuyahoga county's lgbtq+ youth.(continued on schedule o)colors+ offers diverse mental, emotional, and social support services for lgbtq+ youth as young as 3 and up through age 19, with every program designed and administered by a trained specialist. We believe that support the entire family means better support for each kid, so we offer peer support opportunities for parents/guardians. Colors+ offfers professional consulting and training services, focused on direct service professions that regularly interact with lgbtq+ youth. Accumulated value of volunteer hours: $26,084.10.

What it reported doing in 2024

Connections drop-in: 77 youth served. Connections is our foundational program, built to honor the pressing need for peer support among lgbtq+ youth. Connections is a drop-in program, hosted on weekday afternoons as an open space so that youth can attend after school and while maintaining other school and social activities. This program focuses on emotional, social, and mental wellness skills: we offer judgement-free skill building, personal connection and coaching, self-care practices, and the opportunity to develop peer relationships in a safe and validating environment. Game nights: 25 youth served. This program allows youth to engage in play and practice socializing skills with (continued on schedule o) peers.art therapy groups: 54 youth served. Youth are able to express themselves creatively, connecct with other youth, and build healthy coping skills. Family yoga:25 youth and family members served. This program allows youth to be involved with gentle body movements and build physical and mental stength and awareness. Camp p.o.w.e.r: 10 youth served. Camp p.o.w.e.r provided youth with physical activity challenges as well as mental health activities to build confidence, perseverance, self-esteem, and resilience to face all of life's challenges. We also provide trainings to over 600 community members and organizations and attended networking events and provided educational information to over 20,000 people at networking events.trainings: 626 individuals served.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -49.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 48.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $233K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.