Visit Denver

Legal name: Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
840382392
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
(800) 233-6837
Rating
50
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$46,293,630
Expenses
$47,067,475
Assets
$62,640,737
Liabilities
$14,392,806

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

Leadership & pay

49 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICHARD SCHARF (PRESIDENT &)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD SCHARF (PRESIDENT &): $900,232 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY RUFFE (EXEC. V.P.-): $452,816 total reported compensation
  • LEONA BENAVIDEZ (SENIOR V.P.-): $423,132 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To bring conventions and leisure visitors to denver for the economic benefit of the city, the community, and our partners.

What it reported doing in 2025

Conventions - responsible for marketing denver as a meeting and convention destination. Also responsible for providing assistance to conventions and meetings coming to denver by acting as a liaison between members, city facilities, and planners. Further, visit denver facilitates any needs the client may have to ensure that the group returns to the city of denver for future meetings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - 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: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: -1.7%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.33; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 39 of 39 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $900K · 49 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $20.1M reported
  • Consistency: 12 of 13 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.