2017-2018 by the Numbers
Income Comparison Analysis
- Contributions from individuals grew slightly, as did our pool of individual donors: from 141 to 148. 2016-2017 was the final year of a 3-year $10,000 pledge from one of our biggest early supporters. We're happy to report that enough of our existing donors raised their giving levels this season to make up for the planned phasing out of that gift.
- Contributions from foundations grew 140% thanks to a new $7,500 grant from the Sam Mazza Foundation, and an increase in giving from the Jernigan Foundation.
- Event income fell slightly from previous seasons.
- Total earned income fell by $17,000 this year. We did not run workshops at AltSchool this year, which accounts for this change. Taking AltSchool income out of the equation, our tuition income held steady at just over $40,000.
Expense Comparison Analysis
- Administrative costs more than doubled this year, due to transitioning our teaching team from contractor to part-time employee status. 100% of the added administrative cost is payroll taxes Little Opera now pays on behalf of our employees.
Scholarships and Tuition Assistance
Little Opera works to transcend divides in the community, and build pivotal long-term relationships across differences in age, race, and family income.
To help us build a diverse student body, we work with teachers from West Portal School to identify low-income children who show an aptitude or drive for the arts, and provide full scholarships or significantly reduced tuition to those families.
As the demographics of the school (and of San Francisco as a whole) have shifted towards a larger percentage of higher-income families, we are finding it increasingly more difficult to enroll the full diversity of students we aim to work with. This is a challenge we are working to address for future seasons.
To help us build a diverse student body, we work with teachers from West Portal School to identify low-income children who show an aptitude or drive for the arts, and provide full scholarships or significantly reduced tuition to those families.
As the demographics of the school (and of San Francisco as a whole) have shifted towards a larger percentage of higher-income families, we are finding it increasingly more difficult to enroll the full diversity of students we aim to work with. This is a challenge we are working to address for future seasons.
Student and Family Demographics
Student Ethnicities
Student Annual Household Income