Vermont · Nonprofit
VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL
VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL (Vermont) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,864,158 to it, the largest being THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($930,002). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $2.9M
- Net assets
- $3.2M
What Vermont Humanities Council does
Mission
Using the humanities, we connect with people across vermont to create just, vibrant, and resilient communities, and to inspire a lifelong love of learning.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Community grants - competitive grant rounds are held to support humanities projects throughout the state of vermont. Applications are evaluated by a board committee. Grant opportunities are available several times per year.
$451,041 spentof which $310,785 as grants$250 earned by the program32% of program spendingLecture and discussion programs (including snapshot) - these programs bring humanities presentation, discussions, and conferences to individuals across the state. Every year, speakers make more than 150 appearances at local libraries, schools, historical societies, senior centers, and other community spaces.
$266,161 spentof which $41,540 as grants$12,550 earned by the program19% of program spendingHumanities based literacy programs - variety of programs to promote literacy in vermont. Programs include "vermont reads" a one book annual statewide reading, early literacy workshops for childcare providers, as well as family literacy trainings for parents. Humanitiescamps are weeklong summer day camps that aim to strengthen literacy skills and build positive peer groups and a love of reading. "connections" works on literacy with persons in and emerging from the correctional system.
$671,184 spentof which $101,200 as grants$22,105 earned by the program48% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,388,386.
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 2019 to 2020, from $2.5M to $3.0M (+22%).
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: 2017 62% · 2018 55% · 2019 67% · 2020 73% · 2021 62% · 2022 62% · 2023 69% · 2024 61% · 2025 34%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
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.
Chief executive
Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $124k → $339k.
10 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 52% 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 VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 funders by total. 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
VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% 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
67% 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 VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 30% · 2018 75% · 2019 29% · 2020 25% · 2021 26% · 2022 62% · 2023 32% — 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
59% of VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
52% of VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL'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 $1.4M that is directly attributable, 78% of it comes from funders outside Vermont, across 11 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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 VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $12.2M on record — $7.9M federal, $4.3M state.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$7.9M
- Other Grants$3.9M
- Grants$326k
- Other Contr and 3rd Pty Serv$25k
- Printing and Binding$20k
- Advertising - Other$12k
- Sponsorships$10k
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 VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL
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 Vermont
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL: 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 VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL?
- VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL (Vermont) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,864,158 to it, the largest being THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($930,002). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $2,864,158 in grants to VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL?
- THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $930,002 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VERMONT HUMANITIES COUNCIL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Vermont. 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 43 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