Destination Cleveland
Legal name: The Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 340149652
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Cleveland, OH, USA
- Phone
- 2168756600
- Rating
- 53
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $28,226,993
- Expenses
- $24,290,561
- Assets
- $39,748,440
- Liabilities
- $2,246,191
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
50 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Sharrona Burns (Vice President of Sales and Services Operations)
- Steven Dieringer (Vice President of Finance)
- Jennifer Valencic (Vice President, Destination Engagement)
- Emily Lauer (Vice President of PR & Communications)
- David Gilbert (President and CEO - Leased Employee)
Highest reported compensation
- Gordon Taylor III (Chief Sales Officer): $285,505 total reported compensation
- Hannah Belsito (Chief Experience Officer): $256,441 total reported compensation
- Marie Scalia (Chief Marketing Officer): $231,987 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We are unapologetic promoters of Cleveland. By attracting people and connecting them to experiences that illustrate Cleveland's diversity, creativity, and contagious passion, we stimulate economic growth. Destination Cleveland exists to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality for Greater Cleveland through memorable leisure, convention and business travel experiences. The organization markets the destination to individuals, meeting planners and tour operators to change perceptions and improve the narrative of Cleveland; pursues, books and services meetings, conventions and events; and manages the destination experience by connecting visitors to Cleveland, the industry that serves them and the environment they experience during their visit.
What it reported doing in 2024
Expenses related to pursuing and booking meetings, conventions and events to be hosted in Cleveland. Also includes expenses related to servicing secured events to create memorable and personal experiences that are authentic to Cleveland, which contribute to increasing positive perceptions of Cleveland.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 86% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 0
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 64
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
- Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 13.9%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.64; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 38 of 38 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $21.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $286K · 50 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
- Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.