Young Americans Center for Financial Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841564926
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
3033212265
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Camps

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,974,642
Expenses
$3,376,499
Assets
$3,759,168
Liabilities
$279,729

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DUSTIN ZVONEK (PRES. & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DUSTIN ZVONEK (PRES. & CEO): $330,764 total reported compensation
  • GADDI LAYDEN (SVP STRATEGY): $178,086 total reported compensation
  • ANNA LEER (VP OF PROGRA): $161,304 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Young americans center for financial education is committed to developing the financial literacy of young people through real-life experiences and hands-on programs purposefully designed to enable them to prosper in our free enterprise system. Since 1989, more than 926,700 youth have benefited from these nonprofit programs that build life skills, work skills, and financial self-sufficiency.

What it reported doing in 2024

Young americans center for financial education also offers a variety of entrepreneurship training programs through our youthbiz division. Serving denver-area youth ages 11 to 18 with targeted focus on those from low-income, underserved schools and neighborhoods, youth learn the foundations of business and entrepreneurship enabling them to identify opportunities and to develop products and services that create value. Youthbiz offers two programs, startup and out-of-the-box. Startup is an entry level program designed to teach youth the basics of entrepreneurship including need identification, prototype development and business pitch. Youthbiz out-of-the-box takes students further into the production and sales cycles with real retail opportunities, such as our youthbiz marketplace. In 2024 youthbiz extended its reach beyond denver, bringing its vibrant marketplace to Colorado's western slopes for the first time in years, serving 3,616 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 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: -13.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $331K · 34 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $632K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.