Virginia · Nonprofit
FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS
FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS (Virginia) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,820,729 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($5,710,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $18M
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $5.8M
- Net assets
- $3.5M
What Federation of State Humanities Councils does
Mission
The federation advocates for increased investment in and engagement with the national network of humanities councils. We support, connect, and amplify the work and voices of our members, demonstrating councils' value for communities and their collective impact on civic health and cultural vibrancy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Due to the termination of member humanities councils' national endowment for the humanities (neh) general operating support grants in april 2025 that left members unable to attend, the federation cancelled the 2025 national humanities conference in detroit.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Information exchange - the federation hosts several internal listservs for its membership. Additionally, the federation sends weekly advocacy updates via a member as well as a non-member listserv. Monthly dedicated e-newsletters with information about council and federation activities, ongoing advocacy efforts, as well as partner activities in the wider humanities community go to 1) members and 2) the general public.humanities on the hill (hoh) - the federation's annual advocacy event, which brings humanities council advocates together from across the country to demonstrate the importance of funding for neh and the neh federal/state partnership, is a two-day event that includes a member briefing. The event provides an opportunity for federation members to meet with their congressional representatives, share advocacy best practices, and present a united message about the value of the humanities. Often, congressional representatives and staffers share remarks at the briefing and congressional reception (last held in 2024).
$520,876 spent$21,409 earned by the program4% of program spendingNational humanities conference - established in 1978 by the federation, the national humanities conference (nhc) was originally designed as a resource to bring together the nationwide network of the state and jurisdictional humanities councils and those interested in advancing the work of the public humanities. In 2015, the federation and the national humanities alliance (nha) partnered to make the conference available to both public and academic humanities practitioners to address local and national challenges through the lens of the humanities and to spark innovative collaborations, conversations, and research while broadening the impact and relevance of the humanities in everyday american life. Due to the termination of member humanities councils' operating support grants in april 2025 that left members unable to attend the conference, the federation cancelled the 2025 nhc in detroit.
$248,586 spent2% of program spendingSpecial projects and other programs - these programs promote working with other organizations to support the public humanities and relate to discrete projects, which are carried out within a specified time. In 2025, the federation conducted by the people: conversations beyond 250, a series of community-driven programs created by 51 state and jurisdictional humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. Together, these programs explore 250 years of the nation's cultural life and imagine its shared future. The initiative was developed by the federation and the smithsonian center for folklife and cultural heritage. Also in 2025, following the sudden cancellation of humanities council federal operating grants in april 2025, the federation received $15 million for emergency funding to stabilize all 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils. Through the federation, each humanities council received support for operating expenses in the wake of the neh abruptly terminating all federal grants for the councils.
$14,015,777 spentof which $13,870,254 as grants95% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $14,785,239.
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.
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 $2.1M to $4.0M (+89%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
Eva Caldera
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 3 funders, grant income fell $1.9M → $3k.
2 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% 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 FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS’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
FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 100% · 2019 99% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 94% · 2023 94% — broadly stable.
“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
60% of FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $89k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.
Government funding FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $401k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$210k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$179k
- Smithsonian Institution$12k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS: 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 FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS?
- FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS (Virginia) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,820,729 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($5,710,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $5,820,729 in grants to FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,710,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 8 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