Denver Urban Scholars
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 841280659
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2018
- Forms available
- Form 990 2018, Form 990-PF 2010
- Location
- Denver, CO, USA
- Phone
- 3038887457
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,119,354
- Expenses
- $1,189,314
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PATRICK BYRNE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- PATRICK BYRNE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $101,280 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Denver urban scholars partners with high poverty, high performing schools to unlock the potential of students facing added challenges by creating individual pathways to career and college.denver urban scholars has combined with denver kids, inc. Effective july 1, 2019, into a single organization, which will operate as denver kids, inc. The combined entity will represent nearly 100 years of collective experience with the goal of improving outcomes and opportunties for children and teens by supporting them to make it to and through high school, prepared for what comes next.
What it reported doing in 2018
Denver urban scholars ("dus") has evolved into a unique mentoring agency in denver that intervenes as early as middle school to engage youth in a long-term program to help them succeed through high school and beyond. Dus provides a unique opportunity for underserved youth that is unmatched in the denver metro area. Dus envisions a life of choice and opportunity for every young person. Through its stepping stones middle school, milestones high school and capstones post secondary programs, dus follows a holistic approach that operates within a clinical case management model, in which program managers go beyond simply coordinating needed services. They evaluate and address all aspects of their student's physical and social environments as well as collaborate with families, teachers, and other service providers. Dus has a long relationship with its students, potentially from middle school throughout high school and into post- secondary. Peer mentoring, 1:1 mentoring and group mentoring allow for additional support for students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - 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: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.3%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -6.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -11.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 89.3% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $996K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 24 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2013 to 2018
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.