2019 Annual Report on Charitable Solicitations in Colorado

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2019 Registry data (XLSX)

8. 2019 Charities registry snapshot (December 1, 2019)

Charities

How many charities are registered in Colorado? Number % of Total
Registered charities Number 12,682 % of Total 100%

How many registered charities are 501(c)(3)'s or (c)(4)'s? Number % of Total
501(c)(3) Tax-exempt charities Number 12,086 % of Total 95.3%
501(c)(4) Tax-exempt charities Number 262 % of Total 2.1%

How many registered charities are based in Colorado? Number % of Total
Charities with Colorado principal address Number 7,981 % of Total 62.9%
Charities legally formed in Colorado Number 6,622 % of Total 52.2%

Paid solicitors

How many paid solicitors are registered in Colorado? Number % of Total
Registered paid solicitors Number 96 % of Total 100%

How many registered paid solicitors are based in Colorado? Number % of Total
Paid Solicitors with Colorado principal address Number 16 % of Total 17%
Paid Solicitors legally formed in Colorado Number 16 % of Total 17%

Professional fundraising consultants

How many PFCs are registered in Colorado? Number % of Total
Registered PFCs Number 44 % of Total 100%

How many registered PFCs are based in Colorado? Number % of Total
PFCs with Colorado principal address Number 19 % of Total 43.2%
PFCs legally formed in Colorado Number 19 % of Total 43.2%

The chart shows the number of charities registering with the Secretary of State for the first time.  On average over the past five years, the number of new charities in the registry has increased by 9.7% per year.

Initial registrations grew 8.8% from the previous year

The number of registered charities decreased by 15.2% in the fiscal year ending 6/30/2019.  This drop is not attributable to economic forces, but rather to a new view of what constitutes a registered entity.  Beginning Oct. 1, 2018, all registrations were allowed to expire after one year, with no presumption that the registration must be maintained until affirmatively withdrawn.  Up until that time, organizations whose registrations had been “suspended” for failure to timely renew were still included in the count of registered entities, because many of these would eventually pay their late fees and renew their registrations.  Now organizations who allow their registrations to expire are considered unregistered.

A change in law results in a one-time decline in the number of registered charities.

The total number of solicitation campaigns run by paid solicitors decreased by 13% from 372 in 2018 to 325 in 2019.  On average over the past five years, there have been 408 solicitation campaigns per year.

13% fewer campaigns are being run by paid solicitors in Colorado

This graph shows the overall percentage of donations (gross receipts) raised by paid solicitors that was retained by the charity after paying the expenses of the campaign and the paid solicitor’s fee.  The percent to charity increased significantly beginning in 2015, rising from a five year average of 55% from 2010-2014 to the current level of 85%.  The increase is attributable to two very large donor advised funds that have been conducting solicitation campaigns since 2015 and retain 99% of gross receipts raised (see paid solicitor summary 2019 for details).  When these two campaigns are omitted, the percent-to-charity is 48%.

Charities received 85% of gross receipts from campaigns in 2019

This graph compares the ratio of fundraising expenses to contributions revenue for all registered charities and for registered charities listing a Colorado principal address.  The results show that on average charities raise contributions in an effective manner, with Colorado charities spending slightly more on average than all charities combined.  This could reflect some economies of scale that charities realize when raising funds on a regional or national basis.

Colorado charities spending 8.2 cents to raise $1

This chart looks at how much of a charity’s total spending is devoted to the delivery of program services, which advance the charity’s mission.  These results show that charities spend a large percentage of their funds on program services, with Colorado charities spending slightly less on average than all charities combined.

Spending on charitable programs accounts for 86% of total spending

Additional information on registered entities, best practices guides, nonprofit board member training, registration tutorials, and other helpful resources for donors and charitable organization is available at the Secretary of State’s Charities and Fundraisers website.