Colorado · Nonprofit
DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD
DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD (Colorado) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $141,800 to it, the largest being GALEN AND ADA BELLE SPENCER FOUNDATION ($60,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $543k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $142k
- Net assets
- $2.0M
What Denver Lyric Opera Guild does
Mission
The encouragement and support of young singers and the continuing education of members in the appreciation and knowledge of opera.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Annual opera competition, including awards to competition finalists. The annual competition for colorado singers occurs each spring. Contestants are those who meet the requirements for admission to the competition. Finalists are determined by individual judges and prize monies are awarded to those who receive the highest ratings from the judges.
$79,040 spentof which $38,500 as grants$7,153 earned by the program51% of program spendingThe guild gives grants to organizations that use the money to provide scholarhships to young opera singers in colorado. Colorado colleges, universities and opera programs supporting young singers complete grant requests. Grant requests are reviewed by the Denver Lyric Opera Guild finance committee. All applicants are exempt organizations. The amount awarded to an individual is dictated by the institution receiving the grant.
$39,800 spentof which $39,800 as grants26% of program spendingOpera on tuesdays provides a luncheon with operatic performances by local opera companies and institutions of higher education that receive our funds.
$29,280 spent$26,205 earned by the program19% of program spendingThe guild hosts a summer party where dinner is served and opera singers provide entertainment between meal courses.
$7,779 spent$9,025 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $155,899.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.6M to $2.0M (+26%).
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.
11% of DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (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
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $10k → $25k.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD’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
DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 92%; 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: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 50% · 2021 50% · 2022 100% · 2023 39% — 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.
Where its funders are
92% of DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD's grant income comes from Colorado 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
DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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
Organizations like DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD
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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
49%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD: 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 DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD?
- DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD (Colorado) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $141,800 to it, the largest being GALEN AND ADA BELLE SPENCER FOUNDATION ($60,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $141,800 in grants to DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD?
- GALEN AND ADA BELLE SPENCER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $60,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DENVER LYRIC OPERA GUILD 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 5 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