California · Nonprofit
THE PLUS ME PROJECT
THE PLUS ME PROJECT (California) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $896,780 to it, the largest being THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION ($190,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.0M
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $897k
- Net assets
- $610k
What The Plus Me Project does
Mission
The Plus Me Project activates the art of personal storytelling to build confidence in middle and high school youth. We believe everyone has a story that matters and since 2013 we have impacted over 100,000 students through out the county of los angeles
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
College essay support programs help students take their discovered stories from our storytellers and writers program and turn them into compelling college personal statements. We also work with students 1:1 to edit and polish their personal insight questions.
$344,239 spent$273,065 earned by the program48% of program spendingStorytellers plus me supports students with discovering the power of their own personal narratives. With the help of our customized my story matters journals, students reflect on the impact of theitr life experiences and are guided through articulating the important characters, settings, events, and lessons from their lives. Every student concludes the workshop by sharing their story and connecting with their peers.
$157,776 spent$125,155 earned by the program22% of program spendingWriters plus me builds upon the work that was completed in our storytelers plus me program. Students continue to reflect on their story, but focus more attention on their writing. With help of our customized my story matters journals, students learn how to further articulate important moments from their lives and draft their stories. Every student concludes the workshop series by completing a drafted piece of their personal narrative.
$50,202 spent$39,822 earned by the program7% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$164,948 spent$130,844 earned by the program23% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $717,165.
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 2021 to 2022, from $270k to $452k (+67%).
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 40% · 2024 39%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
42% of THE PLUS ME PROJECT’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (48% 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
Richard Ortiz-Reyes
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $10k → $173k.
7 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 THE PLUS ME PROJECT’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
THE PLUS ME PROJECT has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
43% 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 THE PLUS ME PROJECT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 98% · 2019 50% · 2020 43% · 2021 27% · 2022 48% · 2023 52% — 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
57% of THE PLUS ME PROJECT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 41% 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
60% of THE PLUS ME PROJECT's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $227k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
THE PLUS ME PROJECT has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE PLUS ME PROJECT
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 THE PLUS ME PROJECT: 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 THE PLUS ME PROJECT?
- THE PLUS ME PROJECT (California) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $896,780 to it, the largest being THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION ($190,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE PLUS ME PROJECT have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $896,780 in grants to THE PLUS ME PROJECT, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE PLUS ME PROJECT?
- THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $190,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE PLUS ME PROJECT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Plus Me Project →
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 29 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing