Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461020675
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Arvada, CO, USA
Phone
7205882840
Rating
91
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's, Youth Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,146,081
Expenses
$1,602,905
Assets
$1,080,682
Liabilities
$224,118

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANGIE SHEHORN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MAEGAN LOKTEFF (EXECUTIVE DI): $100,036 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Eccla advocates for and strengthens the accessibility, quality, and equity of local services and supports through a responsive statewide system of early childhood councils, to benefit Colorado's young children, their families, and early childhood professionals.

What it reported doing in 2025

The early childhood council leadership alliance (eccla) was initially formed in 1998 as an informal collaboration among early childhood councils to provide support, align efforts, communicate grant management information, share best practices, and provide local input to state policy decisions. Eccla was established in 2013 as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Today, eccla is a state-wide collective impact leader, serving colorados 35 early childhood councils who represent all of colorados 64 counties. Working collaboratively with the local early childhood councils and statewide partners, eccla supports and strengthens colorados early childhood system. As the membership organization for the early childhood councils, eccla provides technical assistance and capacity building, leverages policy and advocacy, scales innovation, improves workforce supports for early childhood professionals, advances collective impact, and facilitates partnerships across the state. Current programs: all programs have a geographic reach across the state of Colorado. --membership resources: serving early childhood councils with capacity building, technical assistance, and professional development. --policy and advocacy: elevating the early childhood workforce, healthy child outcomes, increased access for local families, and policies and investments in the local early childhood system infrastructure. --workforce supports: providing state wide direct support to the early childhood workforce, programs served 351 professionals in 2024. ----t.e.a.c.h. Early childhood Colorado scholarship program: the t.e.a.c.h. Early childhood initiative, a national, evidence-based strategy that creates access to higher education. ----family child care home initiative: grants to support licensed family child care home providers to address health, safety, and quality improvement needs. ----coaching credential scholarship: scholarships to complete the training necessary for obtaining an early childhood coaching credential. The organization is supported primarily by foundation awards and government grants and contracts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 61% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $100.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -39.9%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.