Opera Lafayette
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 522001426
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2025469332
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Music
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,682,298
- Expenses
- $1,321,462
- Assets
- $724,117
- Liabilities
- $72,554
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lisa Mion (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Lisa Mion (Executive Director): $110,000 total reported compensation
- Ryan Brown (Artistic Director): $52,400 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 Lafayette seeks to bring fresh interpretations of rediscovered gems and historical masterpieces from the 17th through 19th centuries to modern audiences. We seek to illuminate the contemporary relevance of the works while simultaneously highlighting their original appeal. Central to the company's mission is building a legacy of the timeless repertoire Opera Lafayette brings back to life with period instruments. This is achieved through an extensive discography, mounting revivals, and inspiring a public appreciation for this repertoire through its audience engagement programs for audiences of all ages.
What it reported doing in 2024
Opera Lafayette recorded the world premiere of Morgiane as part of its ongoing mission to rediscover and create a legacy of lost works. Morgiane is the first known opera by a Black American composer, and its recording represents a significant contribution to the operatic canon and historical understanding of American musical heritage. Opera Lafayette completed an audio recording of the world premiere production of Edmond Dede's Morgiane, the earliest known complete opera by a Black American composer, as part of its mission to rediscover and document overlooked works. The audio recording, made in partnership with OperaCrole, is scheduled for commercial release in January of, 2026, ensuring that this historically significant work enters the recorded operatic canon and remains accessible to artists, scholars, and audiences
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 57
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 54%; rating input score 54
- Program expense ratio: 68.8%; rating input score 69
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th 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: 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: 21.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.3%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 54% of revenue deployed · 68.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $910K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.