New Stories

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
912038316
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011
Location
Spokane, WA, USA
Phone
5099906423
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$777,557
Expenses
$752,530
Assets
$220,064
Liabilities
$38,206

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT L STILGER (CO-DIR/PAST): $46,486 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Newstories works alongside people, communities, and organizations to build capacity for meaningful transformation-especially in times of disruption and uncertainty. Using a practice we call re-storying, we support people in reimagining their lives, relationships, and communities, and in creating the structures and patterns needed to bring those visions to life. Whether sparked by natural disasters, illness, conflict, or systemic breakdowns, this work invites a fundamental shift in how we see ourselves and our world-spanning personal healing, community renewal, and organizational evolution.

What it reported doing in 2024

Newstories offers learning opportunities and consulting services that help individuals, organizations, and communities re-story-gaining clarity about the nature of these times and developing regenerative responses to the ongoing turbulence we face. Through re-storying processes, we support people in growing their adaptive capacity and enhancing leadership at every level of system engagement. In addition to this hands-on work, we actively publish writings and share program-specific insights to further illuminate pathways for transformational change. Including: 1. Illumination and communication: recognizing that storytelling is central to the work of re-storying, we launched a newly designed website and began building robust illumination practices and platforms to support individuals seeking tools, inspiration, and resources for transformational leadership. To guide this next chapter of communications, we welcomed a new communications director to our team. 2. Systems change consulting: we continued our three-year partnership with the Missouri foundation for health to co-create a 20-year food justice initiative in Missouri. To support this work, we developed principles- guided co-creation-a foundational methodology for navigating complex, long-term systems change. This approach offers a model to support people working together toward deep collective transformation. 3. Learning experiences: newstories continued its commitment to online learning, offering seminars and workshops that support participants in re- storying at the personal, organizational, and community levels-equipping them with the tools and mindsets needed for regenerative futures. 4. Transform media: we launched transform media, a new initiative for learning and publishing that amplifies the wisdom of master practitioners from around the world-leaders with decades of experience in community regeneration and transformational change.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.3%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,896.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 50%; rating input score 50; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.2%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.3% of revenue deployed · 71.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $538K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $46K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.