Kentucky · Nonprofit
Kentucky Humanities Council Inc
Kentucky Humanities Council Inc (Kentucky) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,217,348 to it, the largest being FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS ($367,793). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 28
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $8.5M
What Kentucky Humanities Council Inc does
Mission
The kentucky humanities council is dedicated to telling kentucky's story through programs and services that create a legacy of pride in the wealth of kentucky's culture, building civic engagement, and supporting local humanities programs and events.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The kentucky book fair kbf: an annual two-day event, furthers the council's mission by introducing kentucky readers of all ages to authors and books that are relevant to the commonwealth and generating discussions of humanities topics. The council received a grant from the pulitzer prize centennial campfires initiative allowing for the enhancement, expansion and elevation of the kbf, our state's premier literary event. Including students, educators, and members of the general public there were over 7,000 attendees at the kentucky book fair and kbf school days.
$561,031 spentof which $331,884 as grants$166,152 earned by the program55% of program spendingChautauqua and speaker's bureau program: this ongoing program develops historical characters who have had an impact on kentucky's history. The characters travel to all 120 kentucky counties to educate the public about kentucky's history and culture. The characters provide programs for schools, non-profit organizations, and/or communities to further awareness of the humanities. During the fiscal year the council provided over 300 presentations, serving approx. 20,000 attendees.
$252,244 spentof which $94,490 as grants$164,561 earned by the program25% of program spendingPrime time family reading time: this ongoing program addresses inter-generational illiteracy and targets at-risk children and their parents. Each program lasts 6 weeks and uses award-winning humanities based children?s books to help families become life-long readers and learn to talk about life-changing issues. During the fiscal year, we served over 2,000 at risk children and their parents.
$120,377 spentof which $47,536 as grants$112,233 earned by the program12% of program spendingGeneral programs: the council brings together scholars and non-scholars to develop programs which explore and apply the humanities to issues of current public interest. This is accomplished through several programs including a biannual magazine, special events, and small regrants to organizations to support their efforts in furthering humanities. We distributed 50,000 copies of our signature publication kentucky humanities magazine. Special events included kentucky reads: dear ann public discussions, youth innovation in rural america media programs, smithsonian voices and votes traveling exhibition, and mini-grants to fund grassroots programs. The council continued with the media program think humanities, producing approx. 50 podcasts and 1,000 think history. Through special programming we reached over 850,000 people.
$87,419 spentof which $164,108 as grants$202,667 earned by the program9% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,021,071.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $7.4M to $9.3M (+25%).
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: 2020 77% · 2021 73% · 2022 53% · 2023 42% · 2024 66% · 2025 69%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Hope Wilden
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $65k → $202k.
7 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 Kentucky Humanities Council Inc’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
Kentucky Humanities Council Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% 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
69% 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 Kentucky Humanities Council Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 25% · 2019 26% · 2020 40% · 2021 28% · 2022 19% · 2023 75% — growing more concentrated.
“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
50% of Kentucky Humanities Council Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
Kentucky Humanities Council Inc draws 54% of its grant income from funders outside Kentucky, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $397k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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 Kentucky Humanities Council Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $9.8M on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$9.8M
- National Endowment for the Arts$25k
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 Kentucky Humanities Council Inc
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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
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 Kentucky Humanities Council Inc: 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 Kentucky Humanities Council Inc?
- Kentucky Humanities Council Inc (Kentucky) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,217,348 to it, the largest being FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS ($367,793). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Kentucky Humanities Council Inc have?
- IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $1,217,348 in grants to Kentucky Humanities Council Inc, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Kentucky Humanities Council Inc?
- FEDERATION OF STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS is the largest funder on record, with $367,793 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Kentucky Humanities Council Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 2020–2025), and the filings of 28 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