The Story Collider Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 455546873
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2012
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 9179753706
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $461,809
- Expenses
- $618,802
- Assets
- $46,051
- Liabilities
- $15,449
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KRISHNA PAKALA (President)
Highest reported compensation
- ERIN BARKER (Executive Dir.): $97,565 total reported compensation
- ANN MARIE LONSDALE (MANAGING DIR.): $49,860 total reported compensation
- GASTOR ALMONTE (BOARD MEMBER): $4,991 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Story Collider's mission is to reveal the vibrant role that science plays in all of our lives through the art of personal storytelling. Sharing these powerful, hilarious, and heartbreaking stories demonstrates that science is a vibrant and integral part of all of our lives, that everyone has a story to tell about how it has impacted them, and reveals the human experience behind scientific work. The Story Collider shares these stories via our weekly podcast, live and online performances, and offers science communication and storytelling workshops for scientists and educators.
What it reported doing in 2024
Workshops: Provide education and professional development training for adults in storytelling and science communications, including workshops, keynote addresses, panels, and other contracted engagements. Live Shows: Produce live and online storytelling shows sharing true, personal stories about science with general audiences. Podcast: Weekly digital podcast of about 30 minutes that features two true, personal stories about science selected from live shows across the country.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 83% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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
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: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 85
- Sustainability: 9
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -34%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $478K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.