Denver Architecture Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841175093
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3033901653
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$531,868
Expenses
$427,797
Assets
$286,086
Liabilities
$10,687

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Margaret Touborg Jebsen (Exec Director): $122,701 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 Denver Architecture Foundation (DAF) inspires people to explore our dynamic city, experience the importance of design to our quality of life and envision an exceptional future for Denver.

What it reported doing in 2025

Program Service Accomplishments 2025 Denver Architecture Foundation In 2025, the Denver Architecture Foundation designed and produced year-round programming to reveal the evolving character of our city and to foster thoughtful dialogue about its future. We offered dozens of educational experiences, including expert-led walking tours, the Beyond the Faade series, lectures and panel discussions, the multi-day Doors Open Denver festival, and robust youth education programming. Our programs connect people to Denvers cultural ecosystem and build understanding on both the history of Denver and where the city is headed. Denver Architecture Foundation further advanced its role as a convener of important conversations by diverse thought leaders with the creation of an annual lecture series, honoring the leadership and contributions of Denver architect and urban planner Alan Golin Gass. During Doors Open Denver in September, we explored the connection between the buildings in the city and the natural world through our theme Architecture and Nature in Harmony. Visitors experienced behind-the-scenes looks of well-known cultural spaces and hidden gems throughout the city through over 120 events and activations across the weekend, including the free Icon Sites where guests were invited to wander through some of Denvers most well-known buildings for self-guided exploration; Insider Tours where attendees dove deeper into the stories of Denvers places and spaces through tours led by experts, and the free On the Boards wherein 23 of Denvers most prominent architecture firms opened their doors to share their offices, drawings, models, and materials with curious explorers. Over 2500 people engaged in Doors Open Denver 2025.Our signature youth initiative, the Cleworth Architectural Legacy (CAL) Project, flourished in 2025. By introducing K8 students to architecture and design thinking through direct engagement with practitioners, DAF nurtures the next generation of diverse thinkers who will shape Denvers future. We concluded the year with an extraordinary vote of confidence in this programs past and its potential: Denver philanthropist Monty Cleworth pledged a $500,000 endowment over five years to ensure CALs long-term vitality and impact.Our commitment to civic engagement and cultural awareness was recognized by an invitation to join the Bloomberg Connects global community of over 1000 cultural organizations increasing access by sharing free information about arts and culture, allowing us to share free information about our city.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $319K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $123K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.