First Southwest Community Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473061703
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Alamosa, CO, USA
Phone
9703751100
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,501,576
Expenses
$1,708,215
Assets
$27,579,056
Liabilities
$25,033,267

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KENT CURTIS (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROSAURA MCDONOUGH (Executive Dir.): $163,940 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

First Southwest Community Fund supports the dedicated entrepreneurial spirit of rural Colorado, by investing in the people, culture and ideas that fuel innovation and financial knowledge in our community, with an emphasis on areas of greatest need.

What it reported doing in 2025

USDA-IRP- Funds received in the form of a loan from the US Department of Agriculture to fund a revolving loan program that encourages economic development by providing funding for small businesses and agricultural producers that may not qualify for conventional loans, support projects that provide infrastructure and technology in rural communities that lead to new business and job creation, and alleviate poverty in low-income communities by providing opportunities for higher wage jobs.

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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.14; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.91; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 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: 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.