Community Enterprise Development Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453064996
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Aurora, CO, USA
Phone
3035698165
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Financial Counseling

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,536,762
Expenses
$2,529,434
Assets
$12,562,293
Liabilities
$8,801,787

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEXANDRIA WISE (Executive Dir.): $177,817 total reported compensation
  • ANTHONY PELZ (DIRECTOR OF LENDING): $158,389 total reported compensation
  • DIANA PADGETT (DIRECTOR OF FINANC): $138,197 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Community enterprise development services' mission is to support the american dream of financial self-sufficiency, by assisting refugees, immigrants, and those from underserved communities in metro denver who desire to own or strengthen businesses, develop assets, and empower themselves financially.

What it reported doing in 2024

CEDS Finance empowers small business entrepreneursparticularly low-income owners with few other alternativesby providing access to patient capital and personalized business consulting. It's a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) since 2015, targeting low-income populations and qualified investment areas.In FY25, CEDS Finance advanced its mission by deploying $3.5 million across 108 loans and murabahas to underserved entrepreneurs that created or retained 254 jobs. The organization achieved a 15% improvement in approval efficiency due to enhanced pre-screening. CEDS Finance maintained strong portfolio performance with a net charge-off ratio of 0.2% (well below the 2.8% benchmark) while growing its portfolio by 16.8% to $5.7 million. Key operational enhancements included expanding software efficiencies with two new modules that speed up monthly reporting and improve data accuracy, as well as launching a new online payment portal. The portal has demonstrated early success with 42% of clients are repeat usersdemonstrating early demand for improved repayment flexibility. These improvements strengthen efficiency and impact, enabling a smaller investment team to sustain deployment levels while increasing service accessibility for low-income and immigrant business owners.CEDS Finance provided 3,243 hours of free technical assistance for small business owners, and hosted or attended 58 community events that generated nearly 200 completed loan applications.By breaking down barriers to capital with culturally responsive products and services in 16 languages, CEDS Finance is creating a more effective financial system where every entrepreneur has the resources to thrive.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -64.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.97; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $178K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.