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Colorado Secretary
of State Jena Griswold
www.coloradosos.gov | www.sos.state.co.us

Colorado Secretary of State logo - cube with a C in it

Colorado Secretary
of State Jena Griswold
www.coloradosos.gov

Picture of Secretary of State Jena Griswold

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Colorado Secretary of State logo - cube with a C in it

Colorado
Secretary of State
Jena Griswold

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2015 Annual Report on Charitable Solicitations in Colorado

18. Trend Analysis

SoS home > Charities & fundraisers > 2015 annual report > Table of contents > Trend analysis

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The graph below depicts the growth in registered charities in Colorado over the past decade. As of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, 12,416 charitable organizations were registered to solicit contributions in Colorado (as of November 30, 2015, the number had grown to 12,794).  Growth has averaged approximately 7% over the past three years, and the database is now three times larger than it was in 2006.

Registry growth table
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The total number of solicitation campaigns run annually by paid solicitors.  The number of campaigns increased 12% in 2015.

Solicitation campaigns table
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The percentage of gross receipts (donations) raised by paid solicitors that makes it to the charity as net revenue, after paying the expenses of the campaign and the paid solicitor’s fee.  The percent to charity increased significantly in 2015 as compared to 2014 and previous years, rising from 58% to 81%.  The average percent to charity over the previous nine years has been 51.8%.  The increase is attributable to two very high dollar campaigns that reported 99% and 97% percent of gross receipts to charity.

Ratio of net proceeds to gross proceeds table
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These graphs compare 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.

Ratio of fundraising expenses to contributions revenue
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These charts compare the ratio of program service expenses to total expenses for all charities registered and for all charities listing a Colorado principal address.  The results show that on average charities devote a large percentage of their spending to their programs, with Colorado charities spending slightly less on average than all charities combined.

Ratio of program services to total expenses
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This chart shows the prevalence of various methods of soliciting contributions as reported on 498 solicitation campaign financial reports.  Organizations often use more than one method, in which case all methods are counted in the totals.

Methods of solicitation in 2015
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