Oregon · Nonprofit
OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES
OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES (Oregon) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,382,611 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($2,923,857). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 77% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.8M
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $4.4M
- Net assets
- $4.7M
What Oregon Council for the Humanities does
Mission
Oregon humanities is an independent nonprofit organization formed in 1978. Oregon humanities connects people and communities through conversation, storytelling, and participatory programs to inspire understanding and collaborative change. (continued on sch. O) the impact of this work is profound: participants listen, question, rethink, and consider more deeply and, as a result, act from a place of knowledge, compassion, connectedness, and personal responsibility. Oregon humanities is an independent nonprofit organization formed in 1978. Oregon humanities is an independent affiliate of the national endowment for the humanities (neh) and is supported by grants from neh and gifts from individuals and foundations throughout oregon.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Public programs include the following:the conversation project: the conversation project brings oregonians together to talk -- across differences, beliefs, and backgrounds -- about important issues and ideas. Nonprofits, community groups, and businesses apply to host programs on the topics relevant to their communities. Conversations are led by facilitators who are trained to connect the topic to the local community and to challenge participants to think in new ways. (continued on schedule o)public programs include the following:consider this: consider this is a series of on-stage conversations that happen in portland and in cities around the state. The series brings people together in theaters, pubs, cafes, and other venues around oregon.so much together: so much together is a series of workshops celebrating the abundance of collaborative and imaginative work happining in oregon and throughout the pacific northwest. These workshops blend presentation, conversation, and activities to build understanding of how great work is shaping lives and the land in our region. Facilitation training: oregon humanities trains groups of people around the state and the nation to lead challenging…
$567,802 spent$68,465 earned by the program36% of program spendingPublications: oregon humanities magazine is devoted to exploring important and timely ideas from a variety of perspectives -- especially those that have been ignored, generalized, or oppressed -- and to stimulating reflection and public conversation. The magazine is published three times a year and reaches nearly 14,000 subscribers with its online content reaching thousands more. Curriculum based on magazine stories is produced and distributed to oregon high school teachers.
$538,613 spent34% of program spendingGrants -- include the following:oregon humanities funds public programs that get people together to think and talk about challenging issues and ideas. Oregon humanities offers public program grants between $1,000 and $10,000, once a year. Additionally, responsible program grants of up to $1,000 support programs created by oregon nonprofits and federally recognized tribes in response to timely issues and events; they are awarded on a rolling basis.
$405,586 spentof which $50,000 as grants26% of program spendingEducation programs -- include the following: humanity in perspective is a free college humanities course for adults who do not have a college degree and who face barriers to accessing educational opportunities. The course is offered as a two-semester college-credit course in portland in partnership with bard college and portland state university. Oregon humanities also partners with other nonprofits to offer reading, writing, and discussion programs to humanity in perspective graduates and community members.
$68,299 spent4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,580,300.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2020 to 2021, from $2.6M to $3.4M (+33%).
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: 2019 47% · 2020 57% · 2021 25% · 2022 62% · 2023 52% · 2024 60% · 2025 53%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 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.
Chief executive
Adam Davis
Executive director
Board chair
Kerani Mitchell
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 7 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $235k → $471k.
8 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 77% 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 OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES’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
OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES leans on a few funders — its largest provides 67% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
84% 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 OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 61% · 2018 65% · 2019 79% · 2020 74% · 2021 87% · 2022 59% · 2023 86% — 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
42% of OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 76% 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
77% of OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $994k that is directly attributable, 65% of it comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $9.6M on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$9.6M
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 OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% 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 OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES: 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 OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES?
- OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES (Oregon) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,382,611 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($2,923,857). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 77% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $4,382,611 in grants to OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES?
- THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,923,857 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OREGON COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 2019–2025), and the filings of 17 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