Colorado · Nonprofit
American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado
American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (Colorado) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $215,841 to it, the largest being LEDERER FOUNDATION ($84,991). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.2M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $216k
- Net assets
- $5.0M
What American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado does
Mission
To protect, defend, and extend the civil rights and civil liberties of all people in Colorado through litigation, education, and advocacy
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Membership-Annual meetings of members statewide and educational programs, publications, newsletters, annual report, legislative scorecard votes of all legislators on key issues e-mail alerts on legislation
$249,380 spent17% of program spendingLegislature Lobbying-Examination of laws proposed by state legislation as to their effect on civil liberties and constitutional rights attempting to obtain passage of bills enhancing or defeating bills restricting such rights
$1,222,178 spent83% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,471,558.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $1.5M to $2.7M (+78%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Deborah Richardson
Executive Director
Board chair
Beatriz Garcia Waddell
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $32k → $85k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $2.2M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest American Civil Liberties Union Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado raised.
From the IRS filings of American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
53% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 92% · 2019 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 99% · 2023 88% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
0% of American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
63% of American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado's grant income comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- ACLU Foundation of Colorado Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado?
- American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (Colorado) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $215,841 to it, the largest being LEDERER FOUNDATION ($84,991). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $215,841 in grants to American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado?
- LEDERER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $84,991 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 10 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing