Health Story Collaborative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463707918
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
6178230044
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$189,319
Expenses
$117,725
Assets
$262,574
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNIE BREWSTER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • ANNIE BREWSTER (PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER HARRIS (BOARD CHAIR)
  • ALEXA BRAGG (BOARD TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

By collecting, honoring and sharing stories of illness and healing, we strive to make the process of navigating illness less isolating and to empower individuals and families facing health challenges. Our belief, supported by research, is that storytelling is healing for both story sharers and listeners. Stories have the power to transform individuals as well as the healthcare system.

What it reported doing in 2025

Creative Meetups: These Creative Meetups are free monthly gatherings where participants have the opportunity to explore their creativity and self-expression. At Health Story Collaborative, we believe that artistic expression of personal stories can help individuals find hope and healing. During the year, we facilitated 24 Creative Meetups serving approximately 40 individuals. Public Presentations: We raise awareness about the therapeutic and healing benefits of storytelling for those facing health challenges. During the year, we reached nearly 1,000 individuals through 10 public presentations and engagements with various organizations and media outlets. Story Library: We maintain a publicly accessible online story library. The library contains more than 250 written stories and 119 audio stories and is accessed by more than 3,000 individuals annually.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 35
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 28.6%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 44.8%; rating input score 45

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 37.8%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.23; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 28.6% of revenue deployed · 44.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $53K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.