Colorado · Nonprofit
STORIES ON STAGE
STORIES ON STAGE (Colorado) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $315,363 to it, the largest being COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION ($152,567). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $207k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $315k
- Net assets
- $120k
What Stories on Stage does
Mission
The citizens of the Colorado front range are the focus of our activities. Our intent is inclusive: we present literary stories by writers of diverse cultural groups, read by professional actors of varying backgrounds to an audience that is as broad-based as our community. Also, see previous page Part 1, Line 1
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Stories on Stage presented a season of 9 unique shows with 13 occurrences. Presentations were live. We used 30 actor performers. There were 1789 audience members.
$98,803 spentof which $52,213 as grants$39,262 earned by the program78% of program spendingStories on Stage completed 2 contract performance with 3 occurrences, with 330 audience members, utilizing 7 actors. Performances were in person.
$8,200 spentof which $10,014 as grants$3,300 earned by the program6% of program spendingStories on Stage had 4 unique outreach programs with a total of 9 occurrences with 313 audience members and 9 actors. Programs were virtual and in person.
$20,125 spentof which $9,298 as grants16% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $127,128.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $162k to $228k (+41%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 32% · 2022 44% · 2023 34% · 2024 44% · 2025 25%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of STORIES ON STAGE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Abbe Stutsman
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $22k → $33k.
4 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 83% 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 ON STAGE’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 ON STAGE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
88% 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 ON STAGE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 100% · 2019 57% · 2020 48% · 2021 58% · 2022 70% · 2023 56% — 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 ON STAGE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% give in more than one year at all.
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
83% of STORIES ON STAGE'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 $54k that is directly attributable, 77% of it comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $261k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.
Against its field
STORIES ON STAGE runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like STORIES ON STAGE
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STORIES ON STAGE: 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.
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 ON STAGE?
- STORIES ON STAGE (Colorado) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $315,363 to it, the largest being COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION ($152,567). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does STORIES ON STAGE have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $315,363 in grants to STORIES ON STAGE, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STORIES ON STAGE?
- COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $152,567 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STORIES ON STAGE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 on Stage →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 9 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