Skip to content

Minnesota · Nonprofit

STORIES FOUNDATION

STORIES FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $340,913 to it, the largest being THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING ($168,775). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$341k
Funders on record
17
Grants received
$341k
Net assets
$407k
4/17 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 39%
01What it does

What Stories Foundation does

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.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. 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.

    $35,906 spent
    12% of program spending
  2. Storyteller Cafe - In April of 2025, Storyteller Cafe officially opened its doors. Storyteller Cafe is a giveback cafe where we sell food products and boutique items as well as host awareness events with the goal of spreading awareness about human trafficking, empowering people to make a difference through purposeful purchasing as a first step, and create opportunities for survivors and those vulnerable through jobs and training. In 2025 we provided 295 hours of employment to survivors of human trafficking through the cafe. Storyteller Cafe served 14,557 drinks, and held 12 community events.

    $251,785 spent$135,165 earned by the program
    86% of program spending
  3. Love, Sophia: The Love, Sophia Project is Stories Foundation's outreach and prevention program that covers emotional vulnerabilities in 14-24 year-olds by providing education about healthy relationships and safe community. All of what we do is geared towards preventing human trafficking. We also served 14 survivors in 2025 through wrap around services.

    $4,552 spent
    2% of program spending
  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $292,243.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($138k) Expenses 100 ($71k) Net assets 100 ($96k)2019 Revenue 49 ($67k) Expenses 143 ($101k) Net assets 65 ($62k)2020 Revenue 122 ($170k) Expenses 144 ($102k) Net assets 135 ($130k)2021 Revenue 342 ($473k) Expenses 175 ($123k) Net assets 501 ($480k)2022 Revenue 197 ($273k) Expenses 373 ($263k) Net assets 488 ($467k)2023 Revenue 212 ($294k) Expenses 372 ($263k) Net assets 530 ($507k)2024 Revenue 179 ($248k) Expenses 451 ($319k) Net assets 456 ($436k)2025 Revenue 246 ($341k) Expenses 529 ($373k) Net assets 426 ($407k)
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (246)Expenses (529)Net assets (426)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $136k to $484k (+256%).

$101k
$68k
$136k
$484k
$476k
$514k
$444k
$428k
'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

60% of STORIES FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (94% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 2,778 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$68k
’18
−$34k
’19
$68k
’20
$350k
’21
$9k
’22
$31k
’23
−$70k
’24
−$32k
’25
5.6
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Stephanie Page

Executive Director

Board chair

Jan Eitzen

Board Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

20212022202320242025
Listed101011119
Joined·+4+3+1+0
No longer listed·4212
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $1k → $114k.

8 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of STORIES FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

STORIES FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

81% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund STORIES FOUNDATION.

50%
largest funder
75%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 77% · 2021 100% · 2022 40% · 2023 44% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

33% of STORIES FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 24% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

76% of STORIES FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $83k that is directly attributable, 57% of it comes from Minnesota funders.

MN
IA
UT
MO
KS

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’19
’20
’22
’23
Minnesota out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $258k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

STORIES FOUNDATION has grown faster than half of the 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−9% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve5.6mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)14% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like STORIES FOUNDATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Minnesota

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

78% of spending goes to programs.

Program 78%Management 16%Fundraising 6%

Governance

9
board members
89%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MN

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STORIES FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds STORIES FOUNDATION?
STORIES FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $340,913 to it, the largest being THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING ($168,775). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does STORIES FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $340,913 in grants to STORIES FOUNDATION, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of STORIES FOUNDATION?
THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING is the largest funder on record, with $168,775 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like STORIES FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Stories →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 17 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing