Downtown Cincinnati Improvement District

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311549493
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5136214400
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,463,146
Expenses
$3,393,386
Assets
$561,174
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Brian Banke (Chair)
  • Jon Burger (Vice Chair)
  • Kristi Farris (Secretary - Exit 11/25)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Creating a clean, safe, and welcoming environment downtown.

What it reported doing in 2025

DCID has entered into a Service Agreement with Downtown Cincinnati, LLC, an Ohio limited liability company (DC) exempt from federal income tax under Code Section 501(c)(3), to perform the services related to the revitalization of Cincinnati. Downtown Cincinnati, LLC provides services by: 1. Maintaining and enhancing a clean, safe, and welcoming environment downtown, including the recognized Downtown Ambassador program. 2. Maintaining and enhancing the image, awareness and usage of downtown as a vibrant hub of activity through strategic marketing and communications, including proactive media relations, engaging social media messaging and email marketing, and the production of free Downtown events to drive traffic and increase vibrancy. 3. Advocate for and support business and residential growth downtown through stakeholder services programs and serving as the primary source of downtown data collection and distribution to stakeholders by providing the State of Downtown report.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 94.6%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 94.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $3.2M reported
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.