Every number here is proof that ECEA is saving its members money, earning them money, and giving Colorado's private child care owners a voice.
This is your September snapshot: who we represent, where we reach, how the partnerships pay off, and how more owners are finding ECEA on their own. We are the workforce behind the workforce, advocating for Colorado's licensed private programs since 1985.
Together We Are Stronger.
Membership Scale
The bigger our footprint, the louder every owner's voice in the room. ECEA now speaks for programs in every corner of the state.
270
Member programs
Licensed private child care programs statewide, plus 9 affiliate partners
26,158
Licensed slots
Licensed capacity represented across member programs
35 of 35
Colorado Senate districts
Member programs in every single state Senate district
62 of 65
House districts
Reaching nearly every state House district, across 29 counties and 65 cities
Membership and Momentum
Owners keep choosing ECEA. New programs joined in nearly every month of 2026, and September kept the momentum going.
8
New programs in September
Owners who decided this month not to do it alone
50
New programs in 2026
Year to date, already matching a full prior year of growth
~6
New programs per month
Steady 2026 join pace across the membership
41
Years of advocacy
Representing Colorado programs since 1985
Member Composition
ECEA represents the full range of Colorado's private child care business: tiny home-based programs, large multi-site centers, for-profit and non-profit, faith-based and secular.
Geographic Reach
Member programs span 29 counties and 65 cities. When ECEA speaks, it speaks for owners in nearly every legislator's backyard.
State Program Integration
Most ECEA members run the state programs that families depend on, which puts ECEA at the center of the conversations that shape them. UPK is Universal Preschool; CCCAP is the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program.
220
Programs accepting CCCAP
About 81% of member programs serve families using child care assistance
81%
CCCAP participation rate
A direct stake in how the assistance program is funded and run
194
Programs offering UPK
About 72% of member programs deliver Universal Preschool seats
72%
UPK participation rate
ECEA members are essential to Colorado's preschool promise
Revenue Sustainability
Predictable dues keep ECEA strong so it can keep fighting for members. Auto-pay provides a steady base, and September brought in healthy gross revenue through the member platform.
180
Programs on auto-pay
Dues that renew automatically each month, no reminders needed
$5,365
Monthly auto-pay dues
Recorded recurring dues each month, roughly $64,000 annualized
$9,083
September gross revenue
Across 171 member payments on the ECEA platform
$8,590
Net position, year to date
Positive net across the ECEA family of organizations
$49,119
Member dues, YTD
Booked dues revenue through the closed months of 2026
$106,220
Total revenue, YTD
All funds across the ECEA family of organizations
$1,827
Top September offer
A single multi-site Plus membership, followed by Pro, Basic, and CareerPlug enrollments
Why this matters: membership is a business decision, not a donation. The CareerPlug partnership alone saved one member school about $40,000 a year in hiring costs. Thirteen programs renewed CareerPlug Pro access in September, turning their dues into real savings.
2026 Retention and Drops
Retention stays strong. Most non-renewals are programs that simply went quiet or national chains with no-association policies, not owners who felt ECEA was not worth it.
4
Programs dropped in September
A quiet month for departures
139
Total drops, 2026 YTD
Against 270 active programs and 50 new joins this year
91
Simply unresponsive
Did not reply at renewal, the largest single category of drops
4
Cited cost or value
Only 4 programs all year, a strong signal the value is landing
The retention story: of every program that left in 2026, just four pointed to cost or value. Thirteen were national chains with a corporate policy against joining any association. The clear next opportunity is re-engaging the programs that went quiet at renewal, since they never said no to ECEA, they simply never answered.
ECEA Members Community Activity
The online ECEA Members community is where owners trade advice and feel less alone. September was its most active month yet.
49
Active members
Up from 7 the prior period
Strong growth7
New community members
Owners joining the conversation
22
Messages and posts
Up from 0 the prior period
Momentum15
Meetup RSVPs
Members showing up for each other in person
Web and Social Presence
Owned traffic, search discovery, and social reach, side by side. This is how new Colorado owners and directors find ECEA, and how the advocacy message travels.
46,992
coloradoecea.org page views
September 2026 total views on the ECEA website
8,051
cochildcare.org page views
September 2026 total views on the Colorado Child Care site
Google Search
Clicks129
Impressions3,210
Average click-through rate4.0%
Average position12.1
Distinct queries238
ecea colorado27 clicks
ecea15 clicks
ecea logo1 click
early childhood education association1 click
Google Business Profile
People who viewed the profile49 +11.4% YoY
Google Maps, mobile16 (33%)
Google Search, mobile13 (27%)
Google Maps, desktop11 (22%)
Google Search, desktop9 (18%)
Profile interactions1
Views7,651 +9%
Engagement636 +66%
Messaging conversations started0
Members reached ECEA through other channels this month; Facebook messaging simply was not one of them.
Branded versus category search: most September clicks came from people already searching for ECEA by name, like "ecea colorado" and "ecea." Category searches from owners and directors who do not yet know ECEA, such as "early childhood education colorado" (36 impressions), "ece jobs" (42 impressions), and "colorado peo" (38 impressions), showed up in results but have not yet turned into clicks. That second group is exactly where the next wave of members comes from, so every bit of category visibility is new reach waiting to be won.
100
Google Search Impact milestone
Google Search clicks in 28 days, recognized September 25, 2026
Google Search Console recognized that coloradoecea.org reached 100 clicks from Google Search in just 28 days. More Colorado child care owners and directors are finding ECEA on their own, which widens the reach of every partnership and every advocacy message ECEA carries to the Capitol.
The board takeaway
ECEA now represents 270 private child care programs and more than 26,000 licensed slots in all 35 Colorado Senate districts, growing steadily, retaining strongly, and increasingly discovered through search. Every metric on this page points the same direction: a stronger ECEA that saves members money, earns them money, saves them time, and gives Colorado's private child care owners a voice that legislators cannot ignore.
