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 NEH’s Office of Challenge Programs offers grant support through federal matching funds, which requires that every $1 requested must be matched with at least $1 in funding from a nonfederal, third-party source. When recipients certify the sources of their matching gifts, they provide information to NEH about where those contributions came from using one of eight categories:
1. Individuals
2. Corporations & Businesses
3. Private & Public Foundations
4. Labor Unions & Professional Organizations
5. Nonfederal Government Units
6. Affiliated Groups
7. Special Events & Benefits
8. Other
A recent analysis of Challenge grants from the past ten years provided interesting information about how recipients are fundraising and what differences in funding bases exist across programs.
In total over the last ten years, recipients of NEH Challenge grants have certified over $262 million in nonfederal third-party gifts. Of this, a remarkable $131 million has come from individual donors, making up 50% of the overall contributions. Private and public foundations made up the next largest segment, with nearly $77 million, and state and local government entities have contributed just over $35 million.
Additional funding has come from a broad array of sources, including large corporations, small local businesses, special events, and dedicated fundraisers. It’s clear from these figures that recipients of NEH Challenge grants are resourceful, creative, and dedicated to raising the necessary funds to meet the goals of their projects!
Lilley Museum of Art Awarded $500,000 Grant
(March 18, 2024) Nevada Today
The Lilley Museum of Art was recently awarded a $500,000 grant to support the development of the John & Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art Storage and Reading Room. The award from the National Endowment for the Humanities Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge grant kickstarts a fundraising campaign to construct much-needed storage and public space, enabling the museum to share, store, and conserve a meaningful public art collection for generations. The grant is the largest in the museum’s history.
Climate Smart for the Arts: SMC’s Museum of Art Wins Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
(April 24, 2024) Saint Mary’s College of California NewsCenter
Saint Mary’s College of California recently secured a competitive $50,035 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Climate Smart Humanities Organizations program. The funds will help the College protect the collections at the SMC Museum of Art (SMCMoA), enhance its physical surroundings, and become the first carbon-neutral building on the Saint Mary’s campus.
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It’s that time of the year again: Giving Season! The origins of Giving Season begin during World War I, with the passing of the War Revenue Act of 1917. Within this act was a provision that introduced tax deductions for contributions to nonprofits and charities. Because federal and state taxes were increasing to support the war effort, there was a fear that charitable contributions would decline. In an effort to spur public philanthropy, the act was meant to incentivize giving.
In his speech to Congress, the act’s author Sen. Henry F. Hollis of New Hampshire, argued its significance saying, “For every dollar that a man contributes for these public charities, educational, scientific, or otherwise, the public gets 100 per cent; it is all devoted to that purpose.” For Hollis and the act’s supporters, the provision was critical for institutions to survive the war. Today, the tax benefit is still meant to encourage charitable giving. Because deductions cannot be more than a certain percentage of your Adjusted Gross Income, the majority of giving is done in the last two months of the year—up to 31% of total annual giving happens in December.
This year, GivingTuesday is on December 3, 2024. If you haven’t done it before, be sure to take advantage of all the resources that GivingTuesday has to offer! If you remember from our last newsletter, overall giving has been down since 2023, but not for the humanities. Now is the perfect time to start or ramp up your fundraising and take advantage of the national trend toward supporting the humanities. It’s also the right time to start thinking about the year ahead.
Recently, the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University published The Philanthropy Outlook 2024 & 2025. Overall, Lilly predicts an increase in 2024 and 2025 giving, with majority of donations from individuals. The report also indicates a significant increase in giving by foundations, over 10% in 2024 and 5.3% in 2025. A good reminder to continue to cultivate donors and diversify funding streams!
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President Biden Awards 2022 and 2023 National Humanities Medals
President Joseph R. Biden presented the 2022 and 2023 National Humanities Medals, in conjunction with the National Medals of Arts, on Monday, October 21, 2024, in a private ceremony at the White House. The 19 distinguished medal recipients include writers, historians, educators, and filmmakers.
“The National Humanities Medal recipients have enriched our world through writing that moves and inspires us; scholarship that enlarges our understanding of the past; and through their dedication to educating, informing, and giving voice to communities and histories often overlooked,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “I am proud to join President Biden in recognizing these distinguished leaders for their outstanding contributions to our nation’s cultural life.” The National Humanities Medal honors an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens’ engagement with history or literature, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources.
The following 19 recipients comprise the 2022 and 2023 cohorts of the National Humanities Medal:
2022 National Humanities Medalists:
- Wallis Annenberg, philanthropist
- Appalshop, community arts and programming center
- Joy Harjo (Muscogee Nation), poet
- Robin Harris, principal and educator
- Juan Felipe Herrera, writer
- Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation), administrator in Indigenous higher education
- Jon Meacham, writer and historian
- Ruth J. Simmons, academic administrator in higher education
- Pauline Yu, scholar of Chinese literature
2023 National Humanities Medalists:
- LeVar Burton, actor and literacy advocate
- Roz Chast, cartoonist and author
- Nicolás Kanellos, scholar and publisher of Hispanic literature
- Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi Nation), scholar and author
- Mellon Foundation, philanthropic organization
- Dawn Porter, filmmaker
- Aaron Sorkin, playwright, screenwriter, and director
- Darren Walker, social justice philanthropist
- Rosita Worl (Tlingit), anthropologist and cultural leader
- Anthony Bourdain (posthumous), chef and author
The first National Humanities Medal was awarded in 1996. Since then, 225 medals have been bestowed—207 to individuals and 18 to organizations—inclusive of this year’s recipients. A complete set of previous honorees is available at this link.
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