Operalia Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954857653
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Beverly Hills, CA, USA
Phone
3107851710
Rating
43
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,438,432
Expenses
$916,791
Assets
$5,277,142
Liabilities
$43,147

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALVARO DOMINGO (CEO-Treasurer)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALVARO DOMINGO (CEO-Treasurer): $120,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The foundation provides support for opera and aspiring opera singers by funding an annual competition for young artists. The competition is held on a world wide basis, taking place in a major city each year. The 2025 competition took place in bulgaria.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation receives approximately 1,000 applications from aspiring artists each year. The foundation evaluates recordings made by each applicant and then invites the top 40 singers to participate in the competition. The foundation provides grants to allow each applicant to attend the competition which takes place over several days. Ten singers are then chosen for the final round and awards are given to the winners. Success in this competition is often a stepping stone to a successful operatic career.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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

MIXED - Revenue comfortably covers expenses and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 51
  • Accountability: 16
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 21.9%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 79.3%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.76; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.1%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 21.9% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $856K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.