Opera North

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222519789
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lebanon, NH, USA
Phone
6034484141
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,357,555
Expenses
$994,341
Assets
$1,061,740
Liabilities
$38,900

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GARY BROOKS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • S EVAN HAILLE (GENERAL DIRECTOR): $55,845 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 north's mission is to bring together visionary and emerging artists from across the creative spectrum along with our distinguished leaders and artists to create great works of performing arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Renovation of the beaman house at blow-me-down farmduring the past year, opera north made significant progress in phase two of renovations at the beaman house, the future administrative base for the new national park for the arts that we are developing in partnership with the national park service. The work to preserve and rehabilitate the historic blow-me-down farm in cornish is under the direction of architect andrew garthwaite and his architectural firm haynes & garthwaite, with contractor ingram construction. The first phase of garthwaite's work, which was delayed by the federal budgetary shutdown and then the covid-19 pandemic, is currently addressing issues related to the current condition of the building and the preservation of the historic site. In 2023, garthwaite and ingram construction renovating an existing restroom in the main house to create an accessible restroom. In 2024, additional site included repairing the timber sills, painting the exterior, repairing the porches, and repairing the framing, trim, siding, windows and flashing, as needed.phase two was supported, in large part, through grants from the New Hampshire's land and community heritage investment program, the New Hampshire state council on the arts cultural conservation program, and the national trust for historic preservation. Additionally, conversations have begun with representatives from the northern borders regional commission and usda's rural development program about funding for needed infrastructure especially public restroom

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.7%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.8%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.7% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $796K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.