Opera Maine
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 010496860
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
- Location
- Portland, ME, USA
- Phone
- 2078797678
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $719,073
- Expenses
- $713,302
- Assets
- $290,969
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Caroline Koelker (Executive Director)
- Arlene Palmer Schwind (President)
- Ann Elderkin (Immediate Past President)
Highest reported compensation
- Caroline Koelker (Executive Director): $69,642 total reported compensation
- Dona D Vaughn (Artistic Director): $23,833 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 Maine is dedicated to providing creative and inspiring opera productions of artistic excellence that attract regional, national, and international audiences
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2025, Opera Maine provided community engagement and educational programs that expanded access to opera and vocal music education across Maine. Through its Opera for All initiative, the organization served more than 1,100 K-12 students at five schools in four counties, prioritizing communities with limited access to arts education. Programs were delivered in partnership with local schools and the University of Southern Maine Vocal Studies Program, combining student-focused arts education with professional development for emerging artists. Additional community programs included the Opera Film Series at OceanView in Falmouth, which reached approximately 250 attendees, as well as community concerts and collaborative events with cultural institutions. Opera Maine also expanded access through free ticket initiatives, including partnerships with VetTix and 1stTix, thereby introducing new audiences to live opera. These programs emphasized accessibility, arts education, and audience development, using music and performance to foster community connection and cultural enrichment.
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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.1%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.8%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.1%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.1% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $581K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 20 people listed
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.