Denver Lyric Opera Guild

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237225165
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Englewood, CO, USA
Phone
3038845035
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$543,443
Expenses
$184,925
Assets
$2,021,598
Liabilities
$3,600

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GAYLE LANDIS (PRESIDENT)
  • KAREN BRUGGENTHIES (VP COMPETITION/PAST PRESIDENT)
  • NORALEE BUSH (PRESIDENT-ELECT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBBIE ROTH (VP MEMBERSHIP): $2,909 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The encouragement and support of young singers and the continuing education of members in the appreciation and knowledge of opera.

What it reported doing in 2024

The guild gives grants to organizations that use the money to provide scholarhships to young opera singers in Colorado. Colorado colleges, universities and opera programs supporting young singers complete grant requests. Grant requests are reviewed by the denver lyric opera guild finance committee. All applicants are exempt organizations. The amount awarded to an individual is dictated by the institution receiving the grant.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 50% for direct work, and 50% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 10
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.5%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 64.5%; rating input score 64; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 66%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.93; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.5% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 12 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $156K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.