Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364848287
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Boulder, CO, USA
Phone
3034493774
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$486,318
Expenses
$481,074
Assets
$238,552
Liabilities
$42,398

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH SWIGGER (CEO (THRU NOV))
  • TAMARA DOOR (INTERIM CEO (AS OF DEC))

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH SWIGGER (CEO (THRU NOV)): $161,825 total reported compensation
  • TAMARA DOOR (INTERIM CEO (AS OF DEC)): $18,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Downtown boulder community initiatives is a charitable 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining downtown boulder as the heart and soul of our community. Our staff and volunteers produce over two dozen annual events focused on arts, culture, family entertainment and supporting local business. From fine arts to free concerts on the pearl street mall, dbci events draw nearly 250,000 people downtown every year. We also support other community events that enhance downtown including the boulder international film festival and the pearl street stampedes.

What it reported doing in 2025

Our staff and volunteers produce over two dozen annual events focused on arts, culture, family entertainment, and supporting local business. From fine arts to free concerts on the pearl street mall, dbci events draw nearly 250,000 people downtown every year. We also support other community events that enhance downtown including the boulder international film festival and pearl street stampedes.world singing day-a community sing-along where people of all ages, backgrounds and singing abilities are invited.

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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 97.5%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 97.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $469K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $160K reported
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.