Downtown Cleveland Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341775903
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2167367799
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,039,850
Expenses
$8,800,441
Assets
$4,335,670
Liabilities
$1,206,735

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL DEEMER (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL DEEMER (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $283,200 total reported compensation
  • AUDREY ANN GERLACH (CHIEF OF STAFF): $130,777 total reported compensation
  • DAVE BLATE (VP FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION): $129,878 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Downtown cleveland alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building a dynamic downtown. It is committed to making downtown cleveland the most compelling place to live, work, play, and visit in the region.dca, working hand in hand with downtown property owners, creates forums for communication and involvement by a diverse group of downtown stakeholders, including local development corporations, city and county governments, civic and arts organizations, residents, young professionals, and business stakeholders. By facilitating the collaboraiton of these groups, downtown cleveland alliance strives to enhance the quality of life in the urban core by implementing initiatives like the clean and safe program, economic development assistance, marketing and special events, advocacy and strategic projects.

What it reported doing in 2024

Holiday lighting ceremony (winterland) - winterland is one of cleveland's most beloved traditions and well attended events. The lights and decorations that are activated during this holiday lighting ceremony create a festive atmosphere in public square and playhouse square to accompany the full schedule of activities that continue downtown throughout the holiday season. Dca has proudly been at the helm of winterland since 1998. The program is both more economical for the alliance and manageable for visitors, while providing a spectacular holiday experience for the greater cleveland community. Winterland attracts an estimated 30,000 visitors downtown each year. We continue to maintain and build our strong partnerships in the public and private sector that make the event possible. The winterland committee we organize works hard to collaborate with venues and vendors to design a downtown experience that will attract local participants, as well as visitors from throughout the region and state. Winterland is a family-oriented initiative that aims to make it easy and appealing for families to spend an entire day and evening downtown.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 87.4%; rating input score 87; 24th 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; 63rd 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.8% of revenue deployed · 91.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $283K · 36 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.9M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.