Illinois · Nonprofit
CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA
CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,020 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($12,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 61% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $53k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $20k
- Net assets
- $43k
What Chicago Fringe Opera does
Mission
Chicago Fringe Opera is dedicated to presenting innovative vocal works with an emphasis on new and contemporary styles, engaging with the Chicago community through intimate and immersive performance experiences, and fostering and empowering local artists. In FY25 (tax year 2024), that included 1 full production, a 12-week class on operatic improvisation, a 1-day festival showcasing operatic crossover, and several special events
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
"Hindsight" - We collaborated with another opera company (/kor/ productions) to produce the world premiere of "Hindsight" with music by Felix Jarrar and Libretto by Bea Goodwin. The opera was based on a true-crime that took place in Chicago in 1924. This production marked the centennial of that event and involved approximately 15 artists and its 4 performances reached nearly 300 audience members.
$10,000 spent38% of program spendingChicago Live! - Every year, Chicago Fringe Opera takes part in this city-wide event presented at Navy Pier. This year, we presented a 30-min program drawn from our previous projects "Fizz & Ginger", and "The Rosina Project". The event included five artists, and was open-air and available to all people passing through Navy Pier.
$1,400 spent5% of program spendingSounds of Pride - This is our annual Pride-month celebration. It is an intimate concert presenting the music and performances individuals in the Chicago LGBTQ+ community. This year, we showcased 7 artists to an audience of 50.
$1,325 spent5% of program spendingOp*Erratic - In lieu of a second full production this year, we decided to trial-run a 12-week improv comedy course for opera singers. During that time, they not only learned how to present small-scale improv skits (sung in recitative), they also learned to improvise a full 30-minute opera in the style and structure of Mozart. Sixteen students completed the course, and at the end of the twelve weeks, there were six public showcases at a local pizza parlor reaching about 200 audience members. The course and the showcases were free of charge for both participants and audience.
$6,675 spent25% of program spendingOperapalooza! - This one-day event brought together four acts that each showcase opera as it interacts with another genre. These acts were "The Tapestry", "Opera Cowgirls", "The Rosina Project", and "Op*Erratic". Together, they presented operatic takes on rock, country, hip-hop, and improv comedy. There were approximately 45 artists involved and about 80 audience members
$7,132 spent27% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $26,532.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2020 to 2021, from $39k to $50k (+28%).
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: 2022 23%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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
Catherine O'Shaughnessy
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $12k → $39.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 61% 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 CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA’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
CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
61% 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 CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 99% · 2021 99% · 2022 99% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
61% of CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA'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 $8k that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $12k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
99%
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 CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA: 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 CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA?
- CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,020 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($12,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 61% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $20,020 in grants to CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA?
- The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $12,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHICAGO FRINGE OPERA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Chicago Fringe Opera →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 4 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