Colorado · Nonprofit
CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION
CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION (Colorado) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,606,681 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($724,507). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.0M
- Funders on record
- 56
- Grants received
- $4.6M
- Net assets
- $404k
What Central City Opera House Association does
Mission
We honor and sustain the pioneering spirit of our colorado history by continuing to enrich lives and communities through the power of shared performances and preservation of our historic properties.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Operas and other productions - these activities produce well-known opera masterpieces, as well as innovative productions of rediscovered treasures and american works capitalizing on the intimacy of the central city opera house and the natural setting of the rocky mountains. The summer opera festival attracts acclaimed directors, conductors, and artists from around the world. Additionally, shuttle and parking was provided for people to be able to park at the festivals or be transported by specifically hired busses to the festivals. The bonfils-stanton foundation artists training program is for the professional development of young singers.
$3,441,262 spent$984,539 earned by the program53% of program spendingHistoric preservation - ccoha's preservation efforts play a major role in preserving the distinctive heritage of the central city/black hawk national landmark historic district. The ccoha owns and maintains the opera house and 27 victorian-era properties, which provide vital support facilities and housing for the summer festival artists and staff. In 2025, all the properties were granted to its affiliate, central city opera properties, at net book value totaling 1,713,293.
$2,660,613 spentof which $1,713,293 as grants41% of program spendingEducation and community programs - these activities bring opera to a variety of audiences throughout colorado and neighboring states. Special performances, workshops, tours, and other virtual programs are tailored to meet the needs of diverse audiences from all communities.
$268,214 spent$21,132 earned by the program4% of program spendingGrant to central city opera house endowment fund for endowment campaign. Expenses 111,029 including grants of 111,029 revenue 0
$111,029 spentof which $111,029 as grants2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,481,118.
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 2019 to 2020, from $3.5M to $5.0M (+42%).
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 8% · 2018 5% · 2019 5% · 2020 7% · 2021 10% · 2022 8% · 2023 6% · 2024 6% · 2025 14%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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.
Chief executive
Scott Finlay
CEO & presid
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 26 funders, grant income rose $299k → $627k.
17 of 56 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 58% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $8.5M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund). These are real filings, and they are not money CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION raised.
From the IRS filings of CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 56 funders by total. 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
CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
62% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 54% · 2019 25% · 2020 27% · 2021 38% · 2022 36% · 2023 44% — 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
42% of CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
58% of CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.9M that is directly attributable, 80% of it comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION has grown faster than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Cc Opera House Assoc Endowment Fund · exempt
- Central City Opera Properties · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION: 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 CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION?
- CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION (Colorado) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,606,681 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($724,507). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 56 organizations giving $4,606,681 in grants to CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $724,507 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 56 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