Missouri · Nonprofit
LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC
LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC (Missouri) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,445,781 to it, the largest being MURIEL MCBRIEN KAUFFMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION ($4,302,500). 44 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.5M
- Funders on record
- 57
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $29M
What Lyric Opera of Kansas City Inc does
Mission
To make lyric opera of kansas city indispensable to the public through transformational opera experiences and broad service that capture the hearts and minds of our communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Opera productions: lyric opera of kansas city produced four mainstage operas in the 2023-24 season, totaling 13 performances, which reached 14,852 individuals from the greater kansas city area and beyond. We opened the season with a new production of the double bill "cavalleria rusticana and "pagliacci," followed by the beloved golden age musical "the sound of music." in the spring, we presented gounod's lush setting of "romo et juliette, and concluded the season with "journey to valhalla" a semi-staged concert of the best of wagner's ring cycle accompanied by spectacular, newly created digital projections. Additionally, lyric opera released the world premiere recording of the shining on the pentatone label in april 2024 to international acclaim.
$4,492,415 spent$1,468,354 earned by the program89% of program spendingEducation/engagement: in 2023-24, we continued our k-12 education initiative, which included an in-school tour of the lyric's recently commissioned opera, "sketchbook for ollie;" narrative storytelling workshops; in-school residencies; student dress rehearsals; lyric opera preludes; and sessions on careers in the opera world. We launched a family opera initiative that toured our newly commissioned opera, "the haberdasher prince," to community spaces where families gather. Community programming included community conversations that explore the "here and now" implications of opera; opera dives deep presentations that provide insight into operas in our season; pre-opera talks; and opera to go performances at retirement/assisted living facilities. These programs reached 11,821 individuals, including 7,234 youth.
$534,528 spent$28,628 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,026,943.
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 $24M to $29M (+20%).
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 1% · 2020 10% · 2021 16% · 2022 14% · 2023 2% · 2024 3% · 2025 31%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
80% of LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC’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. 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.
Chief executive
Deborah Sandler
General director & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 30 funders, grant income rose $771k → $2.8M.
11 of 57 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 20% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $5.8M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Lyric Opera of Kansas City Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC raised.
From the IRS filings of LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 57 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
LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 30% of grant income and the top three 75%; 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: 2017 78% · 2018 79% · 2019 57% · 2020 63% · 2021 41% · 2022 51% · 2023 41% — 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
39% of LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 77% 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
89% of LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC's grant income comes from Missouri funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $243k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$243k
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 LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY 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 Missouri
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
69%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Lyric Opera of Kansas City Foundation · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Unitrust (1) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY 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 LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC?
- LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC (Missouri) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,445,781 to it, the largest being MURIEL MCBRIEN KAUFFMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION ($4,302,500). 44 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC have?
- IRS filings report 57 organizations giving $14,445,781 in grants to LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC, 44 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC?
- MURIEL MCBRIEN KAUFFMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,302,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LYRIC OPERA OF KANSAS CITY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. 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 57 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