Kentucky · Nonprofit
KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC
KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,696,849 to it, the largest being OWSLEY BROWN II FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($1,350,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $4.7M
- Net assets
- $3.3M
What Kentucky Opera Association Inc does
Mission
Kentucky opera sparks discovery, joy, and connection among communities throughout the commonwealth with the shared experience of opera.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Ko produced two mainstage productions at the brown theatre: madama butterfly (november 2025), addressing themes of family insecurity, and this little light of mine (february 2025), ko's first commission since 1988, inspired by civil rights icon fannie lou hamer. This little light of mine was developed with composer chandler carter and librettist diana solomon-glover. Both were supported by ko's awakenings seriesfree community conversations connecting each opera to issues facing kentuckians. These events are now a permanent part of ko's production cycle.ko produced two productions in the kentucky opera center for cultural health, amahl and the night visitors (december 2024) and pygmalion (april 2025). Amahl featured performers from ko's youth opera program, and pygmalion explored themes of identity and growth while featuring an orchestra of baroque period instruments.the amplify your voice recital series also grew. In october 2024, ko presented the fannie lou hamer birthday recital at the opera center with two black opera singers from louisville. In june 2025, ko expanded its amplify songs of justice juneteenth celebration with support from the kentucky250 and juneteenth jubilee…
$954,899 spent$274,635 earned by the program67% of program spendingKo delivered 1,187 arts education experiences across 44 zip codes. Programs included bravo time, overture, student dress rehearsals, and the youth opera project (yop), which performed at the sold-out amplify songs of remembrance in may 2025 and drew a record number of applicants. In response to family feedback, ko introduced shorter-term chorus commitments and one-day intensives.fy2025 also saw the launch of tag-along, offering free childcare during mainstage performancesa rare offering in the opera world and a major step toward accessibility. Ko's pay-what-you-can ticketing initiative resulted in 154 tickets distributedthe most in ko's history.
$64,804 spent$81,080 earned by the program5% of program spendingKo is proud of the deeper connection we've built with our community. The opera center hosted free recitals, rehearsals, and programs that brought opera into daily life. In fy2025, ko welcomed 1,787 new attendees, including 225 from louisville's 11 most distressed zip codesmany experiencing opera for the first time.we are especially proud of yop's transformational impact. As one parent shared:"what verity met that day was a group of kind and enthusiastic musicians... They are the future audiences and patrons of the opera... You have given my child a beautiful and meaningful gift." morgan grubola vonbergparticipants echoed the impact:"kentucky opera youth project has allowed me to sing with a group once my school stopped offering choir.""our students were still talking about how powerful and emotional the story was long after the school day ended that's a real win!" overture teacher, after seeing madama butterflythrough initiatives like tag-along, amplify, and expanded education programs, ko is reducing long-standing barriers to opera and affirming its role as a civic partner and cultural anchor.
$408,263 spent29% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,427,966.
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 $5.6M to $4.3M (−23%).
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 3% · 2018 2% · 2019 3% · 2021 26% · 2022 18% · 2023 6% · 2024 2% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as 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
Barbara Lynne Jamison
General director/CEO
Board chair
Matthew E Hamel
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 10 funders, grant income fell $1.2M → $324k.
7 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 23 of 24 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
KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
43% 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 KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 58% · 2019 83% · 2020 55% · 2021 47% · 2022 78% · 2023 46% — 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
29% of KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC'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
100% of KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC's grant income comes from Kentucky funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M 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
KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $4.7M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $100k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$100k
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 KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC
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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
57% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
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 KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC: 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 KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC?
- KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,696,849 to it, the largest being OWSLEY BROWN II FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($1,350,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $4,696,849 in grants to KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC?
- OWSLEY BROWN II FAMILY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,350,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 Kentucky Opera Association →
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 24 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