Denver’s largest charities spent more on fundraising last year and a smaller share on programs than their national peers, according to a report Monday from Charity Navigator.
“We saw charities in Denver underperforming as compared to other cities,” said Sandra Miniutti, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit watchdog.
The 53 largest charities in Denver spent 78.4 percent of their budgets on charitable programs versus the national median of 80.4 percent. That represents the lowest percentage among the 30 metro areas looked at in Charity Navigator’s 2008 Metro Market Charitable Analysis Study.
Funds aren’t being diverted to administrative expenses as much as to fundraising. Denver charities spent 9.8 percent of their budgets trying to get more money, the highest share among metro areas and significantly above the national median of 7.5 percent.
Nonprofit experts attributed the trend of diminished efficiency to several causes, including tighter consumer budgets, a loss of corporate headquarters and a fierce battle to win donor dollars in the state.
Despite having some of the highest incomes in the country, residents of the state rank among the least generous, said Charley Shimanski, president and chief executive of the Colorado Nonprofit Association.
If Colorado residents gave on par with national averages, it would generate $243 million more for charitable causes, he said.
Compounding that, Denver has a high concentration of nonprofits for its population. High foreclosures and other economic difficulties may be sidelining one-time donors.
“It is a competitive market,” Dana Smith, director of communications at the Mile High United Way, said of efforts to raise funds in Denver.
Based on the United Way’s experience working with 130 charitable organizations, Smith dismissed the notion that Denver nonprofits aren’t doing their best.
“The tax forms don’t tell you everything you need to know,” she said.
Charities in Colorado Springs, where about 40 percent have religious missions, face a different problem. As a group, they have the thinnest financial reserves among the 30 metro areas studied, with only three months of money on hand to handle expenses.
That could leave them vulnerable if a slowing economy crimps donations, as many predict, Charity Navigator cautioned.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
How far does your donated dollar go? According to Charity Navigator, not as far in Colorado as in the rest of the nation. Colorado charities spent nearly 10 percent of their budgets on fundraising, above the national average of 7.5 percent.
A sampling of local charities and how their money is spent, including their “fundraising efficiency,” which is the amount the group spends to raise $1 in charitable contributions:
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
$0.10 Fundraising efficiency
Program expenses: 85.6 percent
Administrative expenses: 11.5 percent
Fundraising expenses: 2.8 percent
Promise Keepers
$0.39 Fundraising efficiency
Program expenses: 71.6 percent
Administrative expenses: 12.8 percent
Fundraising expenses: 15.4 percent
Opera Colorado
$0.18 Fundraising efficiency
Program expenses: 67.4 percent
Administrative expenses: 22.7 percent
Fundraising expenses: 9.7 percent
Special Olympics
$0.25 Fundraising efficiency
Program expenses: 68.5 percent
Administrative expenses: 7.6 percent
Fundraising expenses: 23.7 percent
Morris Animal Foundation
$0.12 Fundraising efficiency
Program expenses: 77.1 percent
Administrative expenses: 8.8 percent
Fundraising expenses: 13.9 percent
Bonfils Blood Center Foundation
$0.18 Fundraising efficiency
Program expenses: 72.5 percent
Administrative expenses: 7.3 percent
Fundraising expenses: 20.1 percent
