The Catholic Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472607386
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Greenwood Village, CO, USA
Phone
3034689885
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,310,561
Expenses
$3,828,895
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Deacon Steven Stemper (President)
  • Robert Gross (CEO)
  • Elizabeth Chatterton (Executive Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jennifer Thompson (Executive VP - Development): $188,581 total reported compensation
  • Elizabeth Chatterton (Executive Vice President): $162,383 total reported compensation
  • Mary Kessler (Director - Marketing & Comm.): $144,668 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Fundraising for our customers in such a way to allow donors to experience the joy, power, and grace of giving so that others can encounter jesus christ.

What it reported doing in 2017

Alliance performs fundraising and donation processing services for the non-profit ministries of the archdiocese of denver. These services include event planning and management, marketing, donor communications and management, and grant solicitation. Alliance processed over 30,000 donations to raise over $25 million for eight ministries of the archdiocese of denver including the archbishop's catholic appeal, st john vianney seminary, bishop machebeuf high school, holy family high school, seeds of hope, catholic charities, redemptoris mater missionary seminary and the office of hispanic ministry.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 71% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 53
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.9%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.9%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -100% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.9% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $189K · 14 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $540K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2015 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.