Chicago Fringe Opera

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812861492
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7343580942
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$52,695
Expenses
$32,469
Assets
$42,967
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Catherine O'Shaughnessy (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Catherine O'Shaughnessy (Executive Director)
  • George Cederquist (Producting Artistic Director)
  • Brian Rasmussen (Musical Improv Coach)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Chicago Fringe Opera is dedicated to presenting innovative vocal works with an emphasis on new and contemporary styles, engaging with the Chicago community through intimate and immersive performance experiences, and fostering and empowering local artists. In FY25 (tax year 2024), that included 1 full production, a 12-week class on operatic improvisation, a 1-day festival showcasing operatic crossover, and several special events

What it reported doing in 2024

Op*Erratic - In lieu of a second full production this year, we decided to trial-run a 12-week improv comedy course for opera singers. During that time, they not only learned how to present small-scale improv skits (sung in recitative), they also learned to improvise a full 30-minute opera in the style and structure of Mozart. Sixteen students completed the course, and at the end of the twelve weeks, there were six public showcases at a local pizza parlor reaching about 200 audience members. The course and the showcases were free of charge for both participants and audience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.4%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.4%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.4% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 5 filed program accomplishments · $27K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.