Sun Valley Community Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474226132
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3038628368
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Neighborhood Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$872,660
Expenses
$955,885
Assets
$780,952
Liabilities
$33,857

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • GLENN HARPER (FOUNDER): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sun valley community center's mission is to support, connect, and empower the sun valley community so that all residents can thrive as the neighborhood grows and transforms. Grounded in five guiding values-nourish, enrich, educate, unite, and employ-we take a holistic approach to meeting the diverse needs of our community. Our work is driven by four core pillars: food access through our no-cost grocery program and food-based initiatives; youth empowerment through cooking classes, athletics, job training, and employment; holistic health through culturally responsive care, mental health support, and wellness programming; and community building through annual events like the viaduct night market, fall harvest fest, and inclusive seasonal celebrations that bring neighbors together.

What it reported doing in 2024

The sun valley viaduct night market is a bold, joyful celebration of west denver's culture, creativity, and community power. Held beneath the colfax viaduct on the edge of the sun valley neighborhood, the market transforms an overlooked industrial corridor into a vibrant, welcoming hub filled with food, music, art, and connection. This flagship community event brings together over 70 local vendors, artists, and small businesses-many of them westside-based-to showcase their work and generate real economic opportunity. With food trucks, artisan goods, live music, dance performances, roller skating, games, and family-friendly activities, the event draws over 3,000 attendees from sun valley and across the denver metro area. Youth enrichment program: the youth enrichment program provides cooking and other enrichment activities for elementary and middle school students in sun valley. In 2024, svcc served 131 duplicated youth through 48 cooking classes, with 41 returning youth. With guidance from an instructor and volunteers, the youth learned techniques, skills, and recipe literacy to cook healthy meals confidently in the kitchen. Westside athletics: westside athletics provides weekly sports performance training sessions for middle and high school students, hosted by a trainer and followed by a meal. These sessions offer youth the chance to develop essential skills such as agility, speed, and strength. In 2024, svcc offered 46 youth weekly training sessions and field trips. This program not only promotes physical fitness but also fosters teamwork and discipline among the participants. Health and wellness center: our health & wellness center, offering free health services to sun valley residents and medicaid recipients, provides a variety of modalities, including auricular acupuncture, chair yoga, aromatherapy, herbal remedies, meditation, and a monthly herbal wellness workshop to enhance overall well-being. Throughout the year, svcc served 683 duplicated individuals through these programs and workshops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd 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; 63rd 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: -9.5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 74% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $707K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.