Dream Makers

Legal name: Dream Makers Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
881301076
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Windsor, CO, US
Phone
4063969210
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$577,602
Expenses
$564,799
Assets
$346,184
Liabilities
$15,700

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Julie Mavis (Ex. Director): $94,327 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We connect the community to the real barriers youth face—and give you the opportunity to step in and make a direct impact. ... Supporting youth as they age out of foster care isn’t just compassionate—it’s strategic. By investing upstream, we help prevent homelessness, trafficking, and other long-term social wounds before they begin.

What it reported doing in 2025

Dream Makers is on a mission to change the lives of youth who age out of foster care by connecting the community to the needs of former foster youth. Fulfilling Dreams is our main program to support youth who are alone and aging out of foster care. Every year, more than 23,000 teenagers age out of the foster care system at 18 years old without a family to help them transition into adulthood. Not only did these youth enter foster care due to experiencing neglect, abuse, or abandonmentbut are now left to fend for themselves during a pivotal point of life. Most of them have virtually no support system to lean on during this crisis and struggle daily to survive. We give professional guidance as we work directly with the youth to find out their dream or barrier that is getting in the way of achieving independence. We ensure that each youth has aged out and use the actual photo of each youth on our website. When a donor fulfills a dream they also write a note of encouragement and hope that is sent directly to that youth. We have heard from the youth that they truly need and appreciate the dream, but the notes of encouragement help them know people care and are cheering them on in this lonely world. Every dream listed on our site represents a life that is worthy of supporting. Our secondary program, Crisis Needs, meets immediate and emergency needs as they are presented to us and as we are able. We started this because most of the youth we serve express having food insecurities and are hungry. Because having your basic needs met should not have to be a dream. Accomplishments for 2025 158 Website Dreams 309 Dreams fulfilled306 Volunteers417 Volunteer hours725 Youth Served$22,678 In kind donations

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $215.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 42.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 35.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 88.6% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $512K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.