Colorado · Nonprofit
WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION
WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION (Colorado) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $54,476 to it, the largest being IHC HEALTH SERVICES INC ($20,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $141k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $54k
- Net assets
- $433k
What Wheat Ridge Foundation does
Mission
To encourage giving by connecting donors to community needs, building permanent charitable funds, and bringing people together to improve the quality of life throughout wheat ridge. To oversee the disposition of donations made to the city of wheat ridge.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
The wheat ridge community foundation supports education enrichment by maintaining several scholarship funds. The foundation also supports various academic and athletic activities at wheat ridge high school. Scholarship funds maintained by the foundation include the following: bailey scholarship fund - the bailey scholarship fund was established in december of 2012. The bailey scholarship recognizes a graduate of lakewood high school who has made an outstanding contribution to his/her school or community and is pursuing studies toward a medical or public health career. Curtis gilmore life long learning fund - the curtis gilmore life long learning fund was established in 2013 to honor the legacy of curtis gilmore. Primary consideration will be given to wheat ridge high school students. This fund may also be used to support learning initiatives such as tutoring programs or fundraising support for client fund educational programs. Carl cerveny scholarship - the wheat ridge optimists established an annual 2,000 college scholarship in honor of carl cerveny. Carl was a founding member of the wheat ridge optimists in 1957 and was a very active member of the wheat ridge community. The…
$74,108 spentof which $12,450 as grants77% of program spendingThe wheat ridge community foundation supports community enrichment through a variety of programs and projects. Arts & culture programs - as a community attentive to its cultural life, the city of wheat ridge recognizes the importance of art. Art enhances the quality of life in wheat ridge and benefits its citizens and the community at large. The city established the groundwork for an expanded public art program in 2002. The program has enabled the city to implement the acquisition of artwork in interior and exterior locations accessible to the public for city beautification. The funds are administered by the cultural commission. Active adult center fund - the wheat ridge active adult center offers a wide variety of activities for the 50 and up crowd. Participants can choose from numerous exercise classes and a variety of general interest classes. The active adult center also offers an excellent trip program and many wonderful special events throughout the year. Donations are used to fund educational programs, furniture and equipment, and a scholarship program for adults 50 and over for parks and recreation classes, programs and activities. Performance in the park - performance in…
$22,235 spentof which $18,536 as grants23% of program spendingThe wheat ridge community foundation facilitates the collection of donations, distributions of grants and financial support of many community enrichment and education enrichment activities for the wheat ridge community.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $96,343.
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 2023 to 2024, from $371k to $433k (+17%).
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 11% · 2018 11% · 2019 11% · 2020 29% · 2021 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (18% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Vicki Ottoson
Exec dir/tre
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $5k → $109.
4 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 63% 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 WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION’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
WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
99% 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 WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 100% · 2023 92% — 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.
Where its funders are
63% of WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION'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 $20k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Colorado, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $34k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 15,537 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15,537 recreation & sports nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION
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.
Public support
77%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION: 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 WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION?
- WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION (Colorado) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $54,476 to it, the largest being IHC HEALTH SERVICES INC ($20,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $54,476 in grants to WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION?
- IHC HEALTH SERVICES INC is the largest funder on record, with $20,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WHEAT RIDGE FOUNDATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 7 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing