Poor sopranos lacking a patron (7)
I believe the answer is:
sponsor
'patron' is the definition.
(I know that patron can be written as sponsor)
'poor sopranos lacking a' is the wordplay.
'poor' is an anagram indicator.
'lacking' is a deletion indicator.
'sopranos' with 'a' taken out is 'soprnos'.
'soprnos' anagrammed gives 'SPONSOR'.
(Other definitions for sponsor that I've seen before include "Financial backer" , "advertising?" , "One financially supporting an activity" , "Provide finance for" , "Help fund a sporting or artistic event" .)