Lyric Opera of Kansas City Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 440626124
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Kansas City, MO, USA
- Phone
- 8164714933
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,548,067
- Expenses
- $6,278,235
- Assets
- $31,534,546
- Liabilities
- $2,127,668
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANTHONY J DURONE (PRESIDENT)
- RICHARD L ENGLISH (VICE PRESIDENT)
- DEBORAH SANDLER (GENERAL DIRECTOR & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DEBORAH SANDLER (GENERAL DIRECTOR & CEO): $251,298 total reported compensation
- JEFFREY S WALKER (CFO): $108,694 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To make lyric opera of Kansas city indispensable to the public through transformational opera experiences and broad service that capture the hearts and minds of our communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education/engagement: in the 2024-2025 season, the lyric brought opera to 12,596 community members, including 6,931 k-12 students. We expanded new year-long residency programs, providing 714 instructional hours in artistic programs to 345 students. Additionally, we toured our new opera for families, "maya and the magic ring," to community spaces where families gather, reaching 2,184 individuals. Other k-12 programs included an in-school tour of "the haberdasher prince;" narrative storytelling workshops; student dress rehearsals; and other masterclasses. Additional community programming included community conversations; opera dives deep presentations; pre-opera talks; and opera to go performances at retirement/assisted living facilities.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 59.8%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 69.9%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 9 of 9 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: 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 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.02; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 59.8% of revenue deployed · 69.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $251K · 21 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $466K reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.