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American Council of Learned Societies at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

American Council of Learned Societies

The advancement of humanistic studies in all fields of learning and the maintenance and strengthening of relations among the national societies devoted to such studies.

$23M
Granted FY2025still arriving
153
Grants FY2025still arriving
36
States reached
$1.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$111MArts & Culture$5.7MCivil Rights$2.9MScience & Tech$2.7MCommunity Improvement$1.8MPublic Benefit$1.7MCrime & Legal$1.7MHuman Services$1.5MOther$0
02FY2025 · 153 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 153 grants below total $17,423,224, the rows itemized in this filing. The $23,436,774 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $6,013,550 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $104k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $575k
  • $50k–250k114 grants · $13M
  • $250k+7 grants · $3.7M
$80,000
Median grant
36
States reached
$217M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC$1,232,000
POMONA COLLEGE$577,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES$546,425
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$452,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO$315,000
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS$311,000
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN$269,933
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN$234,000
DUKE UNIVERSITY$200,000
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO$199,000
HUNTER COLLEGE FOUNDATION$192,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$186,983
AMHERST COLLEGE$182,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$180,000
EMORY UNIVERSITY$173,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UPTOGETHER: $78k → 9%THE AFIYA CENTER: $154k → 14%ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE ATLANTA: $73k → 9%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: $158k → 16%THE AFIYA CENTER: $10k → 14%ARAB COMMUNITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC & SOCIAL SERVICES: $73k → 21%ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE ATLANTA: $71k → 9%New Jersey Institute for Social Justice: $154k → 16%MISSION EDGE: $158k → 11%NORTH CAROLINA JUSTICE CENTER: $80k → 8%NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: $20k → 16%ARAB COMMUNITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC & SOCIAL SERVICES: $71k → 21%YWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $78k → 14%YWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO: $76k → 14%The Innocence Project Inc: $145k → 17%UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES OF NEW YORK INC: $158k → 17%United Neighborhood Houses of New York Inc: $145k → 17%LENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $158k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
WA
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$100M · 206 repeat orgs$20M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +38% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

206 repeat relationships: 91 still active in FY2025, 115 since wound down; 48 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

206
183

Total granted

$100M
$16M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+24%

Still filing today

65%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.9M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsInternationalOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $7.0M · revenue +78%
  • University of Chicago
    9× · 2017–2025 · $4.4M · revenue +56%
  • Northwestern University
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.1M · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • EF
    EEPS Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $458k · 90% of their budget
  • TC
    THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS
    2× · 2018–2021 · $289k · revenue -63%
  • BC
    BENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION
    one grant, 2022 · $204k · revenue +24%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
2
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
3
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
4
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
5
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
6
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
7
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
8
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
9
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
10
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
11
Manhattan University

Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…

Education
12
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Wpi transforms lives, turns knowledge into action to confront global challenges, and revolutionizes stem through distinctive and inclusive education, projects and research. (http://www.wpi.edu/about/mission.html)

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fordham University; the most unlike its peers is Sally and Charlie Cheever Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

318 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 318 of the 452 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
26
Early backer (in before they grew)
316/318
Grantees still filing
229/318
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $6,987,000 · EducationUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INCUniversity of Chicago: $4,416,882 · EducationUniversity of Chicago+74 more: $50,479,299 · Education+74 moreREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA: $2,640,425 · OtherREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIAUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: $2,099,196 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $1,881,227 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY: $1,848,532 · OtherUniversity of Wisconsin Madison: $1,764,492 · OtherRUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY: $1,584,500 · Other+87 more: $29,442,357 · Other+87 moreBROWN UNIVERSITY: $1,575,798 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $476,500 · Community ImprovementPOLICYLINK: $298,703 · Community ImprovementPEOPLE POWERED GLOBAL HUB FOR PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY INC: $228,500 · Community ImprovementINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $154,000 · Community ImprovementNATIONAL CENTER FOR CIVIC INNOVATION IN: $154,000 · Community ImprovementSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $567,426 · Arts & CultureEEPS Foundation: $457,729 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $302,864 · Arts & CultureTRICYCLE FOUNDATION: $245,000 · Arts & CultureZORA'S HOUSE INC: $188,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $168,984 · Arts & CultureCITY BUREAU NFP: $158,000 · Arts & CultureFull Spectrum Features NFP: $158,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $150,000 · Arts & CultureNorthwestern University: $2,105,375 · Recreation & SportsDestiny Arts Center: $154,000 · Recreation & SportsCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $1,235,000 · PhilanthropyFUND FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC: $308,000 · PhilanthropyBEND THE ARC - A JEWISH PARTNERSHIP FOR JUSTICE: $158,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc: $158,000 · PhilanthropyTHE CENTER FOR CULTURAL POWER: $154,000 · PhilanthropySALLY AND CHARLIE CHEEVER FOUNDATION: $154,000 · PhilanthropyCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $397,500 · Civil RightsRESTORE JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $297,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHT: $158,000 · Civil RightsJustice Action Center: $158,000 · Civil RightsCampaign For Southern Equality: $154,000 · Civil RightsASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC INC: $154,000 · Civil RightsMOVEMENT ADVANCEMENT PROJECT: $154,000 · Civil RightsCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $150,000 · Civil Rights
Education$61,883,181Other$41,260,729Community Improvement$2,887,501Arts & Culture$2,396,003Recreation & Sports$2,259,375Philanthropy$2,167,000Civil Rights$1,622,500

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $6,987,000 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $4,416,882 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $2,105,375 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetEmory University: $1,828,683 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPOMONA COLLEGE: $1,776,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $1,762,645 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,662,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Dartmouth College: $1,643,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $1,575,798 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,516,246 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,447,881 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $1,416,776 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $1,397,130 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCORPORATION OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE: $1,379,612 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetWilliams College: $1,302,497 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $1,235,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $1,182,810 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $1,171,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $1,150,202 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $1,148,459 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSWARTHMORE COLLEGE: $1,113,994 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetBRYN MAWR COLLEGE: $1,112,879 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWellesley College: $1,068,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetOberlin College: $984,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetResearch Foundation of the City University of New York: $966,291 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBowdoin College: $959,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CITY COLLEGE FUND: $952,332 over 8y, 3.5% of budgetWESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $927,641 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $920,995 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetWhittier College: $906,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF GRINNELL COLLEGE: $882,168 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $858,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMACALESTER COLLEGE: $817,100 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBARNARD COLLEGE: $773,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetNew York University: $702,375 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $695,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $671,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetVanderbilt University: $627,323 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $617,000 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $599,250 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $578,259 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCARLETON COLLEGE: $569,640 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $567,426 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $554,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Research Foundation for The State University of New York: $524,841 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBRANDEIS UNIVERSITY: $488,895 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $476,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetEEPS Foundation: $457,729 over 1y, 90% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Northwestern University ↗
  • Who funds Emory University ↗
  • Who funds POMONA COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds Trustees of Dartmouth College ↗
  • Who funds BROWN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds The Trustees of Princeton University ↗
  • Who funds CORPORATION OF HAVERFORD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Williams College ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Yale University ↗
  • Who funds SWARTHMORE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BRYN MAWR COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Wellesley College ↗
  • Who funds Oberlin College ↗
  • Who funds Research Foundation of the City University of New York ↗
  • Who funds Bowdoin College ↗
  • Who funds THE CITY COLLEGE FUND ↗
  • Who funds WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds William Marsh Rice University ↗
  • Who funds Whittier College ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

American Chemical Soc…Folds of Honor Founda…National Collegiate A…Howard Hughes Medical…Hispanic Scholarship …The Andrew W Mellon F…The Ford FoundationThe William & Flora H…National Collegiate I…The Henry Luce Founda…World Learning IncThe Trustees of Colum…
American Chemical SocietyDC59.4× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Chemical Society · Folds of Honor Foundation · National Collegiate Athletic Association · Howard Hughes Medical Institute · Hispanic Scholarship Fund · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · The Ford Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance Inc · The Henry Luce Foundation Inc · World Learning Inc · The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization American Council of Learned Societies funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Council of Learned Societies. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • United Way of Massachusetts Bay Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Brandeis University: 9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Smith College: 1% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Middlebury College: 1% of income from government
  • Wesleyan University: 1% of income from government
  • Wellesley College: 1% of income from government
  • Connecticut College: 0% of income from government
  • Trinity College: 0% of income from government
  • Amherst College Trustees: 0% of income from government
  • Bennington College Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 452 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on American Council of Learned Societies’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home