Illinois · Nonprofit
CHICAGO OPERA THEATER
CHICAGO OPERA THEATER (Illinois) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,982,736 to it, the largest being Fulk Family Foundation Inc ($2,420,000). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 51
- Grants received
- $10.0M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Chicago Opera Theater does
Mission
Chicago Opera Theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Production: since its founding in 1973, in a city where storefront theaters and global icons thrive side by side, Chicago Opera Theater (cot) has grown from a grassroots organization to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. Each season, cot produces a combination of contemporary operas alongside rarely produced works, many of which are chicago premieres. Cot also proactively seeks to amplify the work of artists from historically underrepresented groups, including women and artist of color. During the 2024-25 season, cot produced the chicago premiere of leonora (par) and the world premiere of she who dared (barnes/mouton); as well as a concert honoring the 100th anniversary of the death of puccini.
$1,598,401 spent$215,430 earned by the program83% of program spendingProfessional artist development: cot is committed to mentoring the next generation of opera artists through the vanguard program for emerging opera composers, an immersive residency that includes participation in cot productions, training with top industry leaders, extensive study of repertoire and vocal writing, direct insight into administrative and other behindthescenes processes, and culminates with the development of a fulllength chamber opera commissioned by cot. Vanguard composers receive a monthly stipend and also receive commission fees for writing new works under the auspices of the program. During the 2024-25 season, 2 composers were supported through the vanguard program, and cot presented the concert premiere of remedios varios, a new opera written by vanguard composer in residence carlos carillo in collaboration with librettist stephanie fleischmann.
$168,747 spent9% of program spendingEducation programs: cots opera for all (ofa) is a comprehensive program for chicago public school students. Ofa empowers creativity and fosters collaboration through handson, weekly in class workshops. During ofa sessions, teaching artists guide each classroom through the stages of creating, producing, and performing their own short operas. In addition to libretto writing, composing, painting, singing, dancing, and performing, students are able to attend a professional opera performance at cot. Opera for all is free for all participating schools. During the 2024-25 season, ofa served 580 students in 24 classrooms across the greater chicagoland area.
$161,703 spent8% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,928,851.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2021 to 2022, from $1.8M to $3.2M (+79%).
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: 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 24% · 2022 4% · 2023 2% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of CHICAGO OPERA THEATER’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. 3 of the last 6 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 12 funders to 25 funders, grant income rose $861k → $1.5M.
8 of 51 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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 OPERA THEATER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 51 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
CHICAGO OPERA THEATER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 29% · 2019 44% · 2020 51% · 2021 43% · 2022 28% · 2023 34% — diversifying over time.
“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
55% of CHICAGO OPERA THEATER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
56% of CHICAGO OPERA THEATER's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 OPERA THEATER's funding base is broadening — from 12 funders to 25 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding CHICAGO OPERA THEATER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $195k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$195k
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 CHICAGO OPERA THEATER
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.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
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 OPERA THEATER: 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 OPERA THEATER?
- CHICAGO OPERA THEATER (Illinois) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,982,736 to it, the largest being Fulk Family Foundation Inc ($2,420,000). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHICAGO OPERA THEATER have?
- IRS filings report 51 organizations giving $9,982,736 in grants to CHICAGO OPERA THEATER, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHICAGO OPERA THEATER?
- Fulk Family Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $2,420,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHICAGO OPERA THEATER 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 Opera Theater →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 51 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing