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Washington · Nonprofit

SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION

SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION (Washington) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $9,500 to it, the largest being SEATTLE-SONORAN FOUNDATION ($9,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.6M
Funders on record
1
Grants received
$10k
Net assets
$32M
1/1 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 0%
01What it does

What Seattle Opera Foundation does

Mission

To support seattle opera in pursuing its exempt purpose through contribution support.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Seattle Opera Foundation distributions provide support exclusively to seattle opera, an internal revenue code 501(c)3 public charity. During its 2024/2025 season, seattle opera witnessed continued growth of in-person attendence at mccaw hall, tagney jones hall, and other venues. The opera increased the number of performances significantly from the prior season (32 vs 24), especially for blockbuster shows like the magic flute, tosca, and pagliacci. The season featured four mainstage operas, among them all-time favorites like "pagliacci", "the magic flute", and "tosca", a world premiere "jubilee", and a concert opera of "les troyens" featuring the 60-member seattle opera chorus and the 80-member seattle symphony orchestra.

    $1,361,504 spentof which $1,361,504 as grants
    100% of program spending

  2. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,361,504.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.1M) Expenses 100 ($1.3M) Net assets 100 ($26M)2018 Revenue 111 ($1.2M) Expenses 140 ($1.8M) Net assets 103 ($27M)2019 Revenue 212 ($2.3M) Expenses 141 ($1.8M) Net assets 105 ($27M)2020 Revenue 96 ($1.0M) Expenses 299 ($3.8M) Net assets 92 ($24M)2021 Revenue 142 ($1.5M) Expenses 143 ($1.8M) Net assets 116 ($31M)2022 Revenue 44 ($470k) Expenses 173 ($2.2M) Net assets 96 ($25M)2023 Revenue -18 ($-191256) Expenses 113 ($1.4M) Net assets 104 ($27M)2024 Revenue 231 ($2.5M) Expenses 116 ($1.5M) Net assets 114 ($30M)2025 Revenue 148 ($1.6M) Expenses 117 ($1.5M) Net assets 122 ($32M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (148)Expenses (117)Net assets (122)Peer revenue range

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 $31M (+26%).

$26M
$27M
$27M
$24M
$31M
$25M
$27M
$30M
$32M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

17% of SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$210k
’17
−$608k
’18
$465k
’19
−$2.8M
’20
−$316k
’21
−$1.7M
’22
−$1.6M
’23
$986k
’24
$86k
’25
12
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed998101010101010
Joined·+0+0+4+1+0+1+1+2
No longer listed·01210112
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2019: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $2k → $3k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
total
funders
1
1
1

From the IRS filings of SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION’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.

Where its funders are

100% of SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Washington funders.

WA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
Washington out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin5% · above the median
Months of reserve11.5mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)5% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION

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 Washington

Seattle Opera90%Seattle Symphony Foundation87%Seattle Symphony Orchestra Inc85%Seattle Theatre Group84%Seattle Repertory Theater Foundation82%Seattle Pacific Foundation82%Seattle Public Library Foundation81%Tacoma Opera Association Professional Services81%

Nationally

Seattle Opera90%Seattle Symphony Foundation87%Seattle Symphony Orchestra Inc85%San Diego Symphony Foundation85%Madison Opera Foundation Inc84%The Santa Fe Opera84%Portland Opera Association Inc84%Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera Foundation84%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

91% of spending goes to programs.

Program 91%Management 9%Fundraising 0%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

WA

Part of a family of 3 related entities

  • Seattle Opera · exempt
  • Song & Dance LLC · partnership
  • Charitable Remainder Trust (1) · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION?
SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION (Washington) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $9,500 to it, the largest being SEATTLE-SONORAN FOUNDATION ($9,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 1 organization giving $9,500 in grants to SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION?
SEATTLE-SONORAN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $9,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SEATTLE OPERA FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 1 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