Denver Film Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
840771070
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3035953456
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Film, Video

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,963,139
Expenses
$9,189,362
Assets
$18,458,579
Liabilities
$607,678

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEVIN SMITH (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN SMITH (CEO): $167,706 total reported compensation
  • AMY ALLISON (CAO): $108,687 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 denver film society is to develop opportunities for diverse audiences to discover film through creative, thought-provoking experiences. We strive to cultivate and celebrate film as an art form; to enrich and expand the film-going experience for regional audiences; to provide a showcase for international cinema that would not otherwise be seen in denver; to provide a platform for Colorado and u.s. Independent filmmakers; to promote dialogue about film artists and the public; and to provide unique programming for special audiences. Denver film offers year- round cinematic programming, special events, mini festivals and education programs to its members and the general public, serving more than 200,000 film lovers annually.

What it reported doing in 2025

Denver film festival and mini-festivals: the denver film festival is a two-week festival in early november which screens approximately 260 international films, hosts about 150 filmmaker guests, and takes place at venues around the denver metro area. Focuses within the denver film festival include women+film, cinemaq, cinelatinx, j'adore, the italian showcase, and the sheila k o'brien spotlight on uk cinema. Also included as part of dff are panel discussions, virtual reality, and immersive experiences. Each year, the denver film society hosts mini-festivals women+film, cinemaq, and the Colorado dragon boat film festival (in partnership with Colorado dragon boat), which are film festivals dedicated to the film of females, the lgbtq+ community, and the asian community, respectively. Other partnerships include the denver silent film festial, the sci-fi film festival, film on the rocks, and sunset cinema.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 58% for direct work, and 42% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.3%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $47.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 19th 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: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 42nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 45.8%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.01; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.3% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $168K · 21 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 26 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 24 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.