Colorado · Nonprofit
COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION
COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION (Colorado) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $641,235 to it, the largest being COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION ($189,323). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $641k
- Net assets
- $16M
What Colorado Chautauqua Association does
Mission
To preserve, perpetuate, and improve the site and spirit of the historic chautauqua by enhancing its community and values through cultural, educational, social and recreational experiences.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Cultural residency: formed in 1901, the Colorado Chautauqua Association is steward of the historic colorado chautauqua. The colorado chautauqua was founded in 1898 and is one of a few surviving permanent campuses from the height of the chautauqua movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The buildings and grounds are national and local treasures, both historically and culturally. The rolling 40-acre campus, nestled in the foothills west of boulder, is designated a national historic landmark and is included on the national register of historic places. The colorado chautauqua is a living, organic village of cottages and lodges where visitors can stay overnight or a season to have historic and cultural experiences.over the ages, the sharing of a meal has forged bonds among people in ways no other social interaction has. The chautauqua dining hall, built in 1898, is open throughout the year to provide residents and guests meals in a beautiful, historic setting. The ambiance of the community dining room and the magnificence of the view from the expansive columned porch combine to make every dining experience a treasured memory.
$5,440,045 spent$6,283,690 earned by the program68% of program spendingCultural and educational programs: exposure to cultural and artistic diversity, and in fact, diversity of thought itself, is characteristic of the chautauqua experience. Chautauqua brings an eclectic mix of diverse music performances and speakers year around. The silent film series brings the best from this historic age with live accompanying music "just like the old days." the lecture series extends an invitation to residents/visitors to explore and debate issues relevant to our lives and community. Other programs include family programs. Also, the colorado music festival (cmf), an unrelated nonprofit organization, holds its annual summer festival at the chautauqua site. Since 1979, cmf has produced a summer classical music series.
$2,535,891 spent$2,929,158 earned by the program32% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,975,936.
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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $10M to $14M (+31%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 13% · 2018 13% · 2019 13% · 2020 28% · 2021 35% · 2022 12% · 2023 14% · 2024 13% · 2025 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
16% of COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (26% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Shelly Benford
CEO
Board chair
Peter Spear
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $15k → $85k.
7 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION’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
COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
55% 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 COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 40% · 2019 41% · 2020 30% · 2021 23% · 2022 39% · 2023 29% — diversifying over time.
“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
44% of COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 74% 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
55% of COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $286k that is directly attributable, 96% of it comes from funders outside Colorado, across 10 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $356k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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.
Against its field
COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 95 unclassified nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 95 unclassified nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $281k on record.
- Department of the Interior$281k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION
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
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Galey Cottage Holding Co LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION: 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 COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION?
- COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION (Colorado) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $641,235 to it, the largest being COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION ($189,323). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $641,235 in grants to COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION?
- COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $189,323 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION 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.
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 23 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