The Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841398391
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone
7198860088
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,432,704
Expenses
$1,320,621
Assets
$1,070,337
Liabilities
$197,577

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chelsea Gondeck (Current CEO)
  • Hannah Parsons (Interim CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chelsea Gondeck (Current CEO): $145,316 total reported compensation
  • Carrie Simison (Director Communications & PR): $120,200 total reported compensation
  • Hannah Parsons (Interim CEO): $63,912 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Working to ensure that Downtown Colorado Springs serves as the economic, civic, and cultural heart of Colorado Springs.

What it reported doing in 2025

More than 200 businesses and organizations were provided technical assistance, marketing support, and customized orientations, including the distribution of 36 press releases that reached out an estimated audience of nearly 90,000 through trusted local and regional media outlets.Hosted 11 ribbon cuttings to introduce new business to the Downtown community and elevate their visibility, building connections and early momentum.Connected with hundreds of stakeholders through engaging presentations about Downtown- building awareness and enthusiasm among diverse groups from real estate professionals to incoming Colorado College freshmen, civic groups, urban planning students, and K-12 learners.Downtown Partnership staff testified at the state capital in support of construction defects reform legislation and in opposition to proposals that would limit Enterprise Zone tax credits for businesses, while broadly advancing the Chamber & EDC's pro-business, pro-growth agenda.The 28th Annual Downtown Breakfast hosted for the fourth year on the floor at Ed Robson Arena at Colorado College reached full capacity with 700 attendees. Hosted a member forum that gave participants the opportunity to hear directly from City Council District 3 candidates, explore their perspectives on key issues, and ask questions about their vision for Downtown.Through dozens of focus groups, open houses, pop-ups, and community events - both in person and online - collected thousands of community voices to inform the refreshed Elevate Downtown.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th 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; 64th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.4% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $145K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.