New York · Nonprofit
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC (New York) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,643,354 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($570,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $522k
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $-30505
What American Opera Projects Inc does
Mission
To develop and present new and innovative works of lyric theater, provide a creative home to emerging and established artists, and engage contemporary communities in a transformative operatic experience.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Composes & the Voice - AOP's bi-annual training program, ended its 12th cycle in May 2025 with 10 new fellows, 6 composers and 4 librettists. 6 resident singers joined the program as well as 4 music directors, 2 of which were selected as "associate" music directors mentored by longstanding professionals. The program held workshops in September ahead of 2 performances in May 25 of 5 new short operas, under the banner Party of Five, held in AOPs home base of South Oxford Space in Brooklyn, NY, with over 150+ total attendees.One Drop - adapted from the play Brass Ankle by DuBose Heyward (Porgy and Bess), a new opera adapted and composed by Thomas Cabaniss. AOP produced a public workshop with Bare Opera on November 2 at South Oxford Space, after which the director & composer conducted a Q&A with the audience of 50+ attendees.AOP Plays Arvo Prt - Two performances in February 25 & May 25, in partnership with String Orchestra of Brooklyn, GHOSTLIGHT Chorus and Bang On a Cans Long Play. Featuring 1 soloist, a chorus of 8 singers, and full string orchestra. Total attendees of 200+. The Climate Opera Project - Two of the featured operas, Polar and The Watering Hole, were remounted at…
$404,285 spent$68,217 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $404,285.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $267k to $102k (−62%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 5% · 2018 13% · 2019 4% · 2020 5% · 2021 28% · 2022 34% · 2023 35% · 2024 20% · 2025 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $47k → $108k.
3 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 54% · 2019 57% · 2020 32% · 2021 61% · 2022 31% · 2023 73% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
57% of AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
85% of AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $89k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC is better cushioned than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $370k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$370k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC?
- AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC (New York) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,643,354 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($570,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $1,643,354 in grants to AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $570,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds American Opera Projects →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 19 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing