The Open Stories Foundation (OSF) would like to make an official statement regarding its financial policies and procedures.

The mission of the OSF is to promote understanding, healing, growth, and community for people experiencing or impacted by religious transition.

The OSF has always striven to be open in our communications, ethical in our treatment, and responsive to fair and equal compensation for all of our vendors, podcasters, and OSF employees.

Our commitment to financial transparency will never change, as it is core to who we are as an organization. The OSF has released its annual financial statements every year since its inception. We work closely with our tax firm and accountant to provide an accurate and legal report each year and will continue to do so as a 501(c)3 organization. As soon as our financial statements are made available to us by our accountants, they are immediately placed online. We have acted in this way since the beginning, and it will never change.

John Dehlin’s compensation has been set by the OSF Board of Directors, and is based on feedback from an independent HR consultant, his education and experience, his set of responsibilities as CEO, and his tenure and performance leading the organization. John’s base salary is currently set at $82,500 plus basic benefits (e.g., health insurance), and John is eligible for a board-approved annual performance bonus.

Our contracted podcasters are paid in an equitable and sustainable way. Additional statements of support offered by our podcasters are provided below.

For those who have specific concerns, we have a direct email that our OSF Board of Directors can access. A board member will respond to all questions via phone or email. They can be reached at openstoriesboard@gmail.com.

Finally, the OSF Board of Directors, podcasters, and employees respect and support John Dehlin and his efforts to continue the mission of the Open Stories Foundation.

Craig Woodfield, CPA, Board Member, Finance Committee Chair

On behalf of,

OSF Board of Directors

John Dehlin, OSF CEO

Amy Grubbs, OSF Director of Operations

Cody Layton, OSF Project Manager

Statement from Gina Colvin: A Thoughtful Faith Podcast Host

“I love that I get to talk to some brilliant and wonderful human beings who make such a difference in my life and in the life of hundreds of thousands of other people all over the world.

I love that I get to set the creative direction on the A Thoughtful Faith Podcast and that I get to mix things up, try new things, and interview who I like, with only minimal editorial oversight.

I’m grateful that there are people out there who value ATF enough that they donate so that I can be remunerated for my time. But I also love that it is free content and that people with limited means can also listen guilt-free.

With respect to my work with the Open Stories Foundation and John Dehlin – that is my business. But needless to say, I’m pretty intuitive and I don’t draw water from dry wells. If I thought that this wasn’t a decent gig with decent people then I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Statement from Natasha Helfer Parker: Mormon Mental Health Podcast Host

“I have been working with the OSF (even before it was formally organized) for about 7 years. And my experience with the OSF and John have been primarily positive. Like any organization and any personal relationships, there will be disagreements and growing opportunities. I have disagreed and bantered with John plenty over the years like any two professionals working together would – and we have been able to resolve and problem solve successfully and often.

Most of the work people have done has been on a volunteer basis. And as a podcaster myself, I signed on full well knowing that it was going to help me more from a marketing opportunity than being paid per hour spent (that was never part of what I negotiated). Which has been the case.

And financial transparency has always been present and a primary goal of the OSF (I was a board member for several years).”

Statement from Dan Wotherspoon: Mormon Matters Podcast Host

“I’m contracted with Open Stories and have always been treated fairly, and I’ve been impressed with its financial transparency. I’ve never heard of work not being paid for.

Like NPR, Open Stories podcasts don’t charge anything to listen to, and don’t host paid advertising. Like NPR, the podcasts rely on the support of donors who value the content. The model change at the end of 2016 was created with absolute fairness in mind, with monies being paid out per episode download. That way it is blind to gender discrimination. There is fairness to a podcast like mine, which I’ve been hosting for 6 1/2 years, as I have a back catalog of now more than 375 episodes that people still discover and download. Those just starting out must expect their audience (downloads) to grow over time, but there is still a guaranteed minimum amount paid for all active podcasts under the umbrella. I’m really pleased with the board of directors and the forward movement of the Open Stories Foundation. There are a lot of things in the works that I’m pleased to be part of.”