Boulder JCC | Jewish Community Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841513140
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jun 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Boulder, CO, United States
Phone
303-998-1900
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Judaism
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$307,972
Expenses
$284,735
Assets
$334,868
Liabilities
$75,271

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JONATHAN LEV (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JONATHAN LEV (PRESIDENT): $321,914 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Boulder JCC is a community organization where people build relationships and learn—a hub for togetherness and vibrant Jewish life—offering programs and services from early childhood through adult education, arts and culture, farm and sustainability, and other supports for the community’s evolving needs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since its founding as an adult jewish educational organization in 1980, menorah/ace: arts, culture, and education at the j has built an outstanding reputation for excellence in cultural arts programming. Our programs foster social and intellectual engagement and enhance an appreciation for the restorative power of the arts. We remain committed to enriching community life by presenting the very best programs in arts, culture, and education, always designed to fulfill ace's mission. Visual arts: there are several opportunities for participants to engage in the visual arts. The messinger gallery hosts 3-4 exhibits annually, featuring mostly local Colorado artists. Additionally, there are many adults art classes. The clay program offers a different 4-5 hours workshop each month. The weaving program provides every student with a loom to use and take home during the program. Other classes include painting, botanical drawing and collage making. There are 20 classes a year and most classes have 10-15 students in each class. Concerts/music: we offer a variety of live musical performances covering different genres 3-4 times a year. Together, these events bring people of all ages and backgrounds to gather and experience music. The musical performances draw between 125-200 people per show. Boulder jewish film festival: a 10-day event, the boulder jewish film festival unites cinema with our community. Hosted at the local art house cinema, each screening includes a discussion on how the film connects jewish life and human experience. We bring in subject matter experts to engage in conversation with our audience. The festival screens 15-20 films drawing a total audience of approximately 2000 ticket holders. Boulder jewish festival: the boulder jewish festival is the longest-running cultural festival in downtown boulder. The festival is a one-day celebration of jewish arts and culture featuring live entertainment, food, community organizations, and activities for all ages. The festival plays a pivotal role in fostering unity, appreciation, and understanding of jewish culture. The festival is celebrating 27 years in boulder and has an average attendance of 10,000 visitors. Education: through lectures, educational opportunities, and shared conversations, we focus on continuously helping the community expand its knowledge for the sake of learning. These programs include lectures or programs on current events, authors talks, and inviting university lecturers to share their areas of expertise. The adult education offerings include 5-10 single lectures or presentations a year that draw between 50- 150 participants. These lectures are also offered in the livestream format, drawing between 30-50 additional people. There is also a series of adult education classes offered in the fall, winter and spring. Four classes are each session with an average of 24 people per class, serving over 100 folks per session. The classes are taught by volunteers who are subject experts and geared to participants 55+.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% 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: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.7%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $370.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 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: 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.5%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 89.7% of revenue deployed · 96.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 1 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $275K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $322K · 3 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.