Stories Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473404006
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Anoka, MN, USA
Phone
6129879077
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Protection Against Abuse

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$340,767
Expenses
$373,098
Assets
$427,820
Liabilities
$20,669

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stephanie Page (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Stephanie Page (Executive Director): $66,875 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Stories Foundation exists to empower communities to end the cycle of human trafficking by starting and supporting social enterprises that raise awareness, offer opportunities for economic independence, and fund the fight against human trafficking.

What it reported doing in 2025

General Awareness/Education: Stories Foundation brings general awareness to Minnesota through social media, in person awareness events in partnership with local community groups and through Storyteller Cafe. Stories Foundation educates on what human trafficking is, the root causes of human trafficking, what it looks like locally and what we can do to spot it and prevent it. Stories Foundation was born out of the belief that when people learn about human trafficking and how it affects our communities, they would want to do something to fight against it. We also host quarterly storytelling events that bring awareness at Storyteller Cafe, as well as two yearly awareness events for the community in partnership with local law enforcement and subject matter experts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.5%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.2% of revenue deployed · 78.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $292K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $67K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.