Light Opera of New Jersey

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
651223761
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Basking Ridge, NJ, USA
Rating
93
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Reported finances

Revenue
$192,838
Expenses
$185,195
Assets
$79,150

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jason Tramm (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • William Corson (Trustee Chairperson)
  • Chris Dzerovych (Trustee Vice Chair)
  • Michael Baruffi (Treasurer)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Educational through production of opera musicals and concerts

What it reported doing in 2025

Production and performance of various outreach programs largely by the Savoy Faire group. These programs were performed at several Assisted Living and nursing home facilities as well as libraries. Over 20 people were involved and it reached audiences over 500. We also sponsored a Stars of Tomorrow Competition for high school students. This vocal competition featuring music from either Opera or Musical Theater gave the students the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience and vie for prizes. Over 40 students were involved and performed to an audience of over 100. We also produced and presented an A Capella Jamboree concert featuring two Barber shop groups and performed to an audience of approximately 150. And finally we produced a concert entitled A Celebration of the Stage with 5 artists performing various operatic musical theater and classical music selections to an audience of over 100.

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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.1%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

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: 4%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.1% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $185K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.