California · Nonprofit
THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT
THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT (California) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,411,653 to it, the largest being ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC ($1,728,155). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.2M
- Funders on record
- 55
- Grants received
- $6.4M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What The Story of Stuff Project does
Mission
The mission of The Story of Stuff Project is to build a movement to change the way we make, use, and throw away stuff.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Through the community engagement program, Story of Stuff told stories about important environmental and public health issues through a documentary and animated movies, a library of movies, and robust social media engagement with a global network of community members. The organization campaigned to save water for the public good and prevent plastic from trashing the environment. Catalog Choice is a program that provides a free junk mail opt out service that saves environmental resources and helps people simplify their lives.
$1,665,151 spentof which $100,000 as grants$42,923 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,665,151.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2018 to 2019, from $892k to $1.5M (+70%).
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 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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.
Board chair
Annie Leonard
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $538k → $866k.
12 of 55 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 STORY OF STUFF PROJECT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 55 funders by total. 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 STORY OF STUFF PROJECT has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
65% 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 STORY OF STUFF PROJECT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 32% · 2019 39% · 2020 30% · 2021 30% · 2022 29% · 2023 28% — 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
48% of THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT draws 70% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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 STORY OF STUFF PROJECT runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,187 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE STORY OF STUFF 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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Story of Stuff Productions LLC · disregarded
- Story of Stuff Productions LLC · exempt
- Story of Stuff Productions LLC · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE STORY OF STUFF 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 STORY OF STUFF PROJECT?
- THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT (California) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,411,653 to it, the largest being ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC ($1,728,155). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT have?
- IRS filings report 55 organizations giving $6,411,653 in grants to THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT, 30 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE STORY OF STUFF PROJECT?
- ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,728,155 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE STORY OF STUFF 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 55 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