Cortez Center Inc Dba Cortez Cultural Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 742503370
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Cortez, CO, USA
- Phone
- 9705651151
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $130,766
- Expenses
- $135,273
- Assets
- $351,483
- Liabilities
- $26,091
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Susan Lisak (Executive Director)
- Sherry Owen-Siekmann (President)
- Diane Cherbak (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Susan Lisak (Executive Director): $31,912 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Cortez Cultural Center is to provide programs that enrich the lives of our community and its visitors by increasing cultural awareness, promoting the arts, and educating about the area's history, diversity and natural environment.
What it reported doing in 2025
Native American DancesOur Native American Dance program is our signature program, which showcases local indigenous dancers, drummers, and singers who share their traditional stories and songs with the community in the Centers outdoor plaza and dancing circle. For over 27 years, we have presented this nightly program throughout the Summer, June - August, where the traditional dances and songs have been passed down through four generations of performers. Audience members are encouraged to participate with the performers in the Circle Dance and engage directly with the dancers after each performance.The Native American Dances are an hour-long performance that happen five nights per week for an 8-12 week period.Over 2,000 audience members of all ages attended 60 performances in 2025.38 Ute and Din singers, dancers, drummers, and storytellers from four generations ranging from 3 to 78 years old, performed with one another and their audiences.The Native American Dance program is free to the audience, but the performers are paid an honorarium for each and every performance through grant funding.Visitors to the area make it a point to attend our Native American Dances and, as the tourism Director for Montezuma County once said, Visitors to our area usually come for Mesa Verde National Park and/or Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. Then they go to the Native American Dances at the Cultural Center. Then they come inside the Center and get to meet our Cultural Specialist, get information and answers to their questions, and view our exhibits.
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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 55.3%; rating input score 55
- Program expense ratio: 57.1%; rating input score 57
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.4%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.6; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 55.3% of revenue deployed · 57.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $77K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.