The newly released Opera Company Governance Report, drawn from data from 78 American and Canadian opera companies, provides a context for company staff and board members to compare their practices to those adopted across North America.

The report covers board size, demographics, structure, roles, meetings, terms, policies, giving and participation — highlights of which are excerpted here.

The benchmarks provided are not intended as prescriptive ideals. No company should aim to hit each average. Rather, the information in the report should serve as a reference to make decisions that are appropriate for each company and its community.

This article was published in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Across the Board, a publication of OPERA America for opera company trustees.