Storyteller Childrens Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770283072
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Phone
8056829285
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,727,508
Expenses
$3,045,159
Assets
$4,778,997
Liabilities
$794,255

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gabriella Garcia (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Gabriella Garcia (Executive Director): $173,218 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Storyteller Childrens Center is a non-profit organization that provides high quality early childhood education for homeless and at risk children, as well as comprehensive support services for their families. These families fall well below the poverty guidelines and are living in shelters, cars or in multiple family environments, and nearly half of Storyteller children have special needs due to their traumatic early life experiences. Storytellers three-pronged approach to school readiness involves the parents, the teachers and the child. Our goals are for children to be prepared to enter Kindergarten ready to learn, their families able to support their childs learning and development, and that our teachers are trained as best in class and able to be effective therapeutic educators. Our seamless integration of all day services includes early childhood education, therapeutic counseling, 2.5 healthy meals a day, and medical screenings for our children; parent educations classes, home visit

What it reported doing in 2024

Comprehensive Developmental Screenings: Completed developmental and social-emotional screenings for 148 students, ensuring early identification of needs and successful referrals to partner agencies for additional support.High Environmental Quality: Maintained high environmental quality in classrooms, with ECERS/ITERS assessments yielding an average score of 6.5 across infant and toddler classrooms, reflecting strong care routines and safe, stimulating environments for children.Strengthened Instructional Support: Achieved an 86% score in Instructional Support on CLASS assessments, demonstrating effective practices in concept development and positive interactions that enhance childrens learning experiences.Positive Parent Feedback: Gained a 95% response rate in parent surveys, with 100% of families expressing satisfaction with program quality, indicating strong trust and appreciation for the services provided.Increased Family Engagement: Improved communication with families through the intentional use of the Learning Genie app, fostering greater parental involvement in children's daily activities and learning.Professional Development: Provided staff with targeted training sessions focused on understanding and addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), helping educators cultivate resilience and empathetic caregiving strategies.Data-Driven Decision Making: Initiated a structured approach to data usage for goal-setting and program direction, ensuring that outcomes from assessments inform future practices and strategies.Enhanced Classroom Environments: Responded to CLASS assessment feedback by implementing strategies to display childrens artwork and writing, and introduced multicultural materials into the classroom setting.Reflective Practice Initiatives: Fostered a culture of reflective practice through staff training, significantly enhancing educators ability to support diverse learning needs and improve educational outcomes.Collaboration with Community Agencies: Strengthened partnerships with community services, facilitating a holistic approach to child development that integrates educational, emotional, and familial support.Goals for the Storyteller Program in the 2025-2026 School YearMaintain High ECERS/ITERS Scores: Aim to enhance environmental quality further by striving for an average ECERS/ITERS score of 7.0 across all classrooms (Infants and toddler classrooms only). Improve CLASS Scores in Key Areas: Continue to build in strategies with staff around Instructional Support and Emotional Support on the CLASS assessments by implementing targeted strategies identified in feedback.Enhance Parent Engagement Programs: Increase parent participation in school events and initiatives through new outreach strategies and offerings tailored to family interests and schedules.Utilize Data for Program Improvement: Establish a bi-annual review process for data collected from evaluations and assessments, with actionable goals developed based on findings.Incorporate Multicultural Resources: Integrate at least five new multicultural resources or materials into the classroom within the first semester to reflect the diversity of the student body.Focus on Social-Emotional and Mental Health Training: Provide at least two trainings focusing on mental health and wellness for staff, enabling educators to better support children who are dealing with adversity.Launch Family Support Workshops (THRIVE Program): Implement at least three family support workshops throughout the year to further educate parents about child development and how to engage in their childs learning journey.Increase Staff Retention Rates: Enhance professional development opportunities and foster a supportive work environment to achieve a higher staff retention rate.Document and Share Success Stories: Regularly document and share success stories and impactful outcomes from programs with staff, parents, and the community to highlight the benefits of the Storyteller Program and

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 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.1% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $173K · 17 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $151K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.