Chicago Opera Theater

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237354963
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3127048414
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,219,740
Expenses
$2,593,165
Assets
$1,310,211
Liabilities
$405,618

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALLEN HEINEMANN (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • LAWRENCE EDELSON (GENERAL DIR.): $164,088 total reported compensation
  • MEAGHAN SMALLWOOD (FORMER DIR. OF DEV.): $104,301 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Chicago Opera Theaters mission is to enrich the lives of those who live, work and play in Chicago by bringing rarely produced and contemporary operas to life, supporting gifted emerging artists, and providing hands-on experiences with opera that entertain, empower creativity, and cultivate a lasting and meaningful connection to the arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Professional artist development: cot is committed to mentoring the next generation of opera artists through the vanguard program for emerging opera composers, an immersive residency that includes participation in cot productions, training with top industry leaders, extensive study of repertoire and vocal writing, direct insight into administrative and other behindthescenes processes, and culminates with the development of a fulllength chamber opera commissioned by cot. Vanguard composers receive a monthly stipend and also receive commission fees for writing new works under the auspices of the program. During the 2024-25 season, 2 composers were supported through the vanguard program, and cot presented the concert premiere of remedios varios, a new opera written by vanguard composer in residence carlos carillo in collaboration with librettist stephanie fleischmann.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 74.4%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.8%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.9% of revenue deployed · 74.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 20 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.