Heartbeat Opera Ltd

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474122815
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
6462466307
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,009,653
Expenses
$1,146,545
Assets
$324,518
Liabilities
$128,163

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Jacob Ashworth (Artistic Dir.): $78,200 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Grounded in the belief that excellent opera making should build community and radiate beauty, Heartbeat Opera creates incisive adaptations, revelatory arrangements of classics, and interdisciplinary collaboration. We reckon with the harmful aspects of opera's past and pioneer an equitable and inclusive future for our art form, centered in love.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2025, Heartbeat Opera furthered its mission to reinterpret opera for contemporary audiences through innovative performance, revelatory adaptation, and audience expansion initiatives. During the season, the organization presented 23 performances, selling 5,001 tickets, representing the companys highest-attended and highest-grossing season to date. In October 2024, Heartbeat Opera presented its 9th Annual Drag Opera Extravaganza, SLAYLEM: The Witch Trials, at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. This signature annual program blended drag performance and opera in an accessible theatrical format designed to engage new and diverse audiences.In February 2025, Heartbeat Opera presented a new chamber adaptation of Richard Strausss Salome at The Space at Irondale. The production received significant critical acclaim, including designation as a New York Times Critics Pick, and furthered the organizations reputation for intimate and inventive reinterpretations of canonical opera. In May 2025, Heartbeat Opera presented a new adaptation of Charles Gounods Faust at Baruch Performing Arts Center, continuing the organizations commitment to reimagining operatic masterworks through contemporary staging and reduced orchestration. Additionally, during Fiscal Year 2025, Heartbeat Opera began development of its adaptation of Samuel Barbers Vanessa in preparation for its summer 2025 presentation as the first ever opera at the 70 year old Tony Award Winning Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% 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

STRONG - 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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: -13.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.7% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $936K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.