Hawaii · Nonprofit
HAWAII OPERA THEATRE
HAWAII OPERA THEATRE (Hawaii) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,046,824 to it, the largest being JOHN R HALLIGAN CHARITABLE FUND ($740,000). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.8M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $7.0M
What Hawaii Opera Theatre does
Mission
Hawai'I opera theatre (hot) believes that different perspectives, cultural histories, life experiences and personal stories enrich the operatic repertoire and have the potential to make meaningful local and worldwide impacts. As a regional company, hot is committed to supporting and engaging creators and music lovers who reflect the diversity of hawai'I.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Opera performances hot's 2024-2025 season included two mainstage productions, one of which was presented at the blaisdell arena and the other at hot's longtime venue, the newly renovated blaisdell concert hall.productions: based on the true story of an undocumented immigrant who survived 81 hours (about 3 and a half days) in a bronx elevator, "stuck elevator", tells the story of a chinese food deliveryman struggling for freedom from debt, human smugglers, loud-mouth coworkers, and the temptations of general tso (october 2024) at the blaisdell arena; "carmen," bizet's smoldering tale of seduction and addiction, filled with some of opera's most beloved melodies (april 2025) at the blaisdell concert hall. Both productions featured the hawaii symphony orchestra and professional cast and creative teams.for the third full season in hot's intimate studio101 space, hot presented eleven eclectic programs (up from six the prior season) that blended opera, art song, vocal jazz and traditional hawaiian music, focusing on local talent in one-hour performances in a cabaret-like setting.
$1,959,020 spent$315,193 earned by the program80% of program spendingEducation programs hot's education department reached over 15,000 students, teachers, and parents across the state of hawaii. Programming included hot's opera express touring show, a family-friendly adaptation of mozarts "the magic flute" visiting schools, libraries and other venues on oahu, hawaii island, and kauai. Hot's residency program went to five schools, four of which are classified as title 1, to create original operas written by students; all residencies culminated in performances for the entire school body and a performance for families and the community.opera for everyone, a program that invited students and teachers to the final dress rehearsal of each mainstage production, complete with orchestra, sets, and costumes, served over 1,200 students. In a collaboration with hawaii youth opera chorus (hyoc), hot's education team assisted in the production of an original opera for performance by children titled "scales," based on the hawaiian story of dragons on maui. This production was the culmination of operatunities, a summer program created by hyoc with hot to teach opera skills to a new generation of performers. Hot's orvis opera studio and orvis young voices studio…
$475,241 spent$22,795 earned by the program20% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,434,261.
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 2024 to 2025, from $9.1M to $11M (+17%).
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 4% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 24% · 2022 9% · 2023 3% · 2024 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
76% of HAWAII OPERA THEATRE’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. 5 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
Andrew Morgan
General director & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $241k → $284k.
5 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 22% 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 HAWAII OPERA THEATRE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 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
HAWAII OPERA THEATRE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 28% · 2019 19% · 2020 24% · 2021 30% · 2022 17% · 2023 30% — 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
43% of HAWAII OPERA THEATRE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 78% 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
HAWAII OPERA THEATRE draws 74% of its grant income from funders outside Hawaii, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $683k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
HAWAII OPERA THEATRE runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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
Government funding HAWAII OPERA THEATRE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $213k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$213k
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 HAWAII OPERA THEATRE
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 Hawaii
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
72%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Hawai'I Opera Plaza LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HAWAII OPERA THEATRE: 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 HAWAII OPERA THEATRE?
- HAWAII OPERA THEATRE (Hawaii) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,046,824 to it, the largest being JOHN R HALLIGAN CHARITABLE FUND ($740,000). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HAWAII OPERA THEATRE have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $3,046,824 in grants to HAWAII OPERA THEATRE, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HAWAII OPERA THEATRE?
- JOHN R HALLIGAN CHARITABLE FUND is the largest funder on record, with $740,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HAWAII OPERA THEATRE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Hawaii. 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 Hawaii Opera Theatre →
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 32 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