Opera America Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203520577
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127968620
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,390,807
Expenses
$8,319,708
Assets
$31,052,199
Liabilities
$14,683,529

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

Leadership & pay

48 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARC SCORCA THRU 122025 (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • MICHAEL J BOBBITT (PRESIDENT/CEO (START 1/2026))

Highest reported compensation

  • MARC SCORCA THRU 122025 (PRESIDENT/CEO): $379,614 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL COOPERMAN (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER): $185,462 total reported compensation
  • KEVIN SOBCZYK (CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER): $152,556 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Opera america, inc. ("opera america") was founded to: (i) promote growth and expansion of the operatic art form; (ii) foster and improve the education, training and development of operatic composers, singers and allied talent (iii) assist in developing resident professional opera companies through cooperative artistic and management services to its membership; (iv) encourage and assist in the improvement of quality of operatic presentation; and (v) encourage greater appreciation and enjoyment of opera by all segments of society.

What it reported doing in 2024

National opera center - opera america's national opera center is a state-of-the-art rental facility for the opera community and also houses opera america's administrative offices. Custom-built to respond to the industry's need for suitable audition, rehearsal and recording facilities, specially equipped rooms facilitate co-production meetings, design presentations and professional development acitivites, as well as a wide range of artistic work from performances to readings of new works and lectures. State-of-the-art electronic media technology for streaming and video conference overcomes the barrier of geography for this widely dispersed, yet highly collaborative, industry.

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 91% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.6%; rating input score 98; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.73; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.47; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 74% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 41 of 42 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $380K · 48 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 21 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 13 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.