Kentucky Opera Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
616013111
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Louisville, KY, USA
Phone
5025844500
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,025,529
Expenses
$2,508,218
Assets
$4,334,959
Liabilities
$1,058,569

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BARBARA LYNNE JAMISON (GENERAL DIRECTOR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • BARBARA LYNNE JAMISON (GENERAL DIRECTOR/CEO): $190,168 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Kentucky opera sparks discovery, joy, and connection among communities throughout the commonwealth with the shared experience of opera.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ko produced two mainstage productions at the brown theatre: madama butterfly (november 2025), addressing themes of family insecurity, and this little light of mine (february 2025), ko's first commission since 1988, inspired by civil rights icon fannie lou hamer. This little light of mine was developed with composer chandler carter and librettist diana solomon-glover. Both were supported by ko's awakenings seriesfree community conversations connecting each opera to issues facing kentuckians. These events are now a permanent part of ko's production cycle.ko produced two productions in the Kentucky opera center for cultural health, amahl and the night visitors (december 2024) and pygmalion (april 2025). Amahl featured performers from ko's youth opera program, and pygmalion explored themes of identity and growth while featuring an orchestra of baroque period instruments.the amplify your voice recital series also grew. In october 2024, ko presented the fannie lou hamer birthday recital at the opera center with two black opera singers from louisville. In june 2025, ko expanded its amplify songs of justice juneteenth celebration with support from the kentucky250 and juneteenth jubilee commissions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 56.9%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.6% of revenue deployed · 56.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $135K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.