Kansas · Nonprofit
WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC
WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC (Kansas) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $529,298 to it, the largest being ROSS CHARITABLE TRUST ($228,200). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $529k
- Net assets
- $440k
What Wichita Grand Opera Inc does
Mission
To produce opera and opera education programs at the highest artistic level to enrich the cultural lives of kansans; to cultivate an appreciation for opera in the wichita, ks, community and beyond; to provide performance and instructional opportunities for aspiring young artists.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
September 6, 2024 saw the first production in the state of kansas of dvorak's great fairy tale opera, rusalka, performed in its original czech language. For this production, wgo hired one of two opera coaches in america that speak czech as a native language to come and guide the cast and chorus in pronunciation and diction rules. In addition to hiring national singers and directors to come to wichita to perform, wgo also hired local lighting designers, set designers and costume designers to create one of the greatest artistic highlights of the wichita grand opera to date.
$212,898 spent$12,596 earned by the program32% of program spendingOn november 15, 2024, wichita grand opera produced two cantatas of johann sebastian bach for a fundraiser for concordia academy. Wgo engaged local musicians for the orchestra and singers for the production. General/artistic director donated his services for the production, in solidarity with concordia headmaster daniel snyder. The concert took place at holy cross lutheran church, featuring both a sacred cantata as well as a secular cantata (the so-called "coffee cantata"). Wgo hired a local stage director, who produced a dramatic representation of the work, replete with costumes and props, and the success of the performance drew in a large amount of donations for the further development of the concordia academy, in excess of 7,000, after the musicians and artists were paid.
May 17, 2025 saw wgo's production of rossini's iconic cenerentola - the italian re-telling of the cinderella fairy tale - come to life. For this, as has become customary, wgo hired both national and local artists, putting together a wonderful team that highlights both local talent as well as drawing national attention to our stage in bring returning national artists to our arts scene and community. For this, wgo also invited all school-age children and young people under the age of 18 to the performance, free of charge. Sets were rented from virginia opera, and costumes from sarasota, florida. This performance concluded wgo's 24/25 season with hilarity and good will. In doing so, wgo brought a great number of children into the theater, exposing them to classic opera performed in italian, and building upon future generations of opera lovers and supporters of the arts in our community.
$196,520 spent$19,271 earned by the program30% of program spendingAdditional expenses are for other progams provided during the year.
$251,953 spent38% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $661,371.
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 $48k to $436k (+813%).
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 1% · 2020 9% · 2022 34% · 2023 1% · 2024 6% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 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.
Board chair
Peter Salmeron
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 6 funders, grant income rose $69k → $72k.
4 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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: $251k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Wichita Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC raised.
From the IRS filings of WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC’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
WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 79%; 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 74% · 2018 40% · 2019 51% · 2020 92% · 2021 67% · 2022 46% · 2023 45% — 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
42% of WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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 WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC's grant income comes from Kansas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $93k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC 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
Organizations like WICHITA GRAND OPERA 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 Kansas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 WICHITA GRAND OPERA 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 WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC?
- WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC (Kansas) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $529,298 to it, the largest being ROSS CHARITABLE TRUST ($228,200). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $529,298 in grants to WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC?
- ROSS CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $228,200 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WICHITA GRAND OPERA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kansas. 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 13 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