{"id":16783,"date":"2025-05-23T09:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/\/?page_id=16783"},"modified":"2025-09-12T05:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:49:34","slug":"humanities-funders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/find-a-grant\/humanities-funders","title":{"rendered":"Humanities Research Grants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-container gb-block-container\"><div class=\"gb-container-inside\"><div class=\"gb-container-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover is-light\" style=\"min-height:151px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-16807\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/funding-guide-banner-blue-dots-1.png\" data-object-fit=\"cover\"\/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-98456a3b64a3c619e5a4cf2529c90db6\" style=\"color:#484848;font-size:42px\">Grants for Humanities Research <\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro-box has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebeeeb\">Learn about grants for humanities research by exploring the curated list of top humanities funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/grantfinder-search\"><strong>search tool <\/strong><\/a>for GrantFinder. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Become a member.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-columns gb-layout-columns-1 one-column gb-background-auto gb-background-no-repeat\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/bg-radiant-dots-shortest.png);background-position:50% 0%\"><div class=\"gb-layout-column-wrap gb-block-layout-column-gap-0 gb-is-responsive-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\" style=\"padding-top:20px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-columns gb-layout-columns-2 gb-2-col-equal\" style=\"padding-top:60px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:6px;background-position:80% 0%\"><div class=\"gb-layout-column-wrap gb-block-layout-column-gap-2 gb-is-responsive-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column ip-gf-key-funders-box gb-block-layout-column\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>Key Humanities Funders<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list key-funders-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statehumanities.org\/directory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">State Humanities Councils<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/grants-a\/american-association-of-university-women\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Association of University Women<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/grants-a\/american-council-of-learned-societies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Council of Learned Societies<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>American Philosophical Society<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chcinetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/grants-d\/gladys-krieble-delmas-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/grants-f\/ford-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ford Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The J. Paul Getty Trust<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/grants-g\/john-simon-guggenheim-memorial-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/find-a-grant\/grants-h\/alexander-von-humboldt-foundation\">The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/find-a-grant\/grants-i\/institute-for-advanced-study\">Institute for Advanced Study<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/i-grants\/institute-for-citizens-and-scholars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Institute for Citizens and Scholars <\/a>(formerly Woodrow Wilson Nat\u2019l Fellowship Foundation)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/k-grants\/knight-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Knight Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/k-grants\/samuel-h-kress-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Samuel H. Kress Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/m-grants\/andrew-w-mellon-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mellon Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/m-grants\/macarthur-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The MacArthur Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/m-grants\/charles-stewart-mott-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/n-grants\/national-endowment-for-the-humanities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Endowment for the Humanities<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/n-grants\/national-humanities-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Humanities Center<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/rgrants\/rockefeller-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rockefeller Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/s-grants\/russell-sage-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Russell Sage Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/s-grants\/alfred-p-sloan-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alfred P. Sloan Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smithsonian Fellowships and Internships<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/find-a-grant\/grants-s\/spencer-foundation\">The Spencer Foundation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Trends in Humanities Funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Grants for humanities research reflect a small slice of total philanthropic giving. As the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/government\/politics-elections\/2025\/04\/14\/draconian-layoffs-grant-terminations-come-neh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">humanities come under fire<\/a> in the U.S., research funding seems increasingly out of reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.journals.uchicago.edu\/toc\/hoh\/current\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">history of the humanities<\/a>, often a highly debated area of study unto itself, entails arguments not only with regard to what counts as the study of humanism, but also speaks to concerns such as a lack of perceived diversity, not only in what is studied, but who gets to study it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While there is a distinction between the social sciences, which seek to define issues more quantitatively, and the humanities, which questions issues in qualitative terms, funding for the humanities often includes both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, the humanities, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/action.nationalhumanitiescenter.org\/what-are-humanities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Humanities Center<\/a>, include \u201cthe study of history, philosophy and religion, modern and ancient languages and literatures, fine and performing arts, media and cultural studies, and other fields,\u201d such as anthropology and even the social sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>General grantmaking for the humanities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Institutional funding makes up the bulk of philanthropy in the humanities research space, with a particular emphasis on art history and conservation, as well as on fellowships. Anthropology, which most believe belongs to both science and the humanities, also receives foundation grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many college and university performing arts programs and conservatories likewise rely on philanthropy for some of their funding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the most part, funders do not have specific humanities programs, but some exceptions exist. A handful of major foundations\u2014 as well as state and federal  funders \u2014 have dedicated programs focused on the humanities. Some of this kind of funding is laser-focused on a particular aspect of humanities research, while other grants are more general and inclusive in scope.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<!-- Non-displaying inline paywall marker. Editors: please keep this code block. Position this block before the first full-width paragraph or just above the foundations list heading. -->\n<div id=\"ipInlineOffer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-container foundation-list paywall gb-block-container\"><div class=\"gb-container-inside\"><div class=\"gb-container-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Historic scarcity of humanities funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While humanities research funding has long been considered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/publication\/recent-trends-funding-humanities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scarce<\/a>, scholar today <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/opinion\/views\/2023\/08\/15\/does-humanities-research-matter-anymore-opinion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identify<\/a> the lack of available humanities research funding as a crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/government\/politics-elections\/2025\/04\/14\/draconian-layoffs-grant-terminations-come-neh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">draconian federal funding cuts<\/a> of 2025, several major sources of funding for the humanities had already ceased to exist. As Asheesh Kapur Siddique reflects in an 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/opinion\/views\/2023\/08\/15\/does-humanities-research-matter-anymore-opinion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article<\/a> for Inside Higher Ed, several \u201clongstanding fellowships that provided general public or private support for doctoral education in the humanities have also been discontinued,\u201d such as the Javits Fellowship, which ended in 2011, as well as \u201cthe Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in Humanistic Studies (1993\u20132006), and the Ford Foundation Fellowship (1967-2022).\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Public funding for humanities research<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast to STEM fields and the natural sciences, the humanities have received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/humanities-indicators\/funding-and-research\/research-and-development-expenditures-colleges-and\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scant public funding<\/a> for years. Now, the longtime leading public funder of the humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, is <a href=\"https:\/\/nhalliance.org\/nha-statement-neh-doge-threats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threatened<\/a> with drastic diminishment. Other federal agencies that have provided additional funding for the humanities (as described by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/humanities-indicators\/funding-and-research\/beyond-neh-other-federal-support-humanities-activities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Academy of Arts and Sciences<\/a>) \u2013&nbsp; including the Department of Education, the National Park Service, and the State Department \u2013 are also experiencing severe funding cuts if not outright dismantling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Colleges and universities, as well as individual scholars, have competed with museums, art conservation nonprofits, and humanities research institutions, among others, for funding to support travel, archival work, fellowships, dissertations, early-career work and research at large, among other needs. Now all of these entities are scrambling to find private funders to replace government grants. In contrast to STEM fields and the natural sciences, the humanities have not kept up public funding models for humanities research. With the exception of a handful of previous major public funders like the National Endowment of the Humanities, public funding for the humanities lags behind that of other fields despite an increase in enrollment across humanities departments in the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statehumanities.org\/directory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Federation of State Humanities Councils<\/a>\u2019 site attests, humanities councils and forums exist in almost every state in the U.S. They provide important funding at the state-level for the humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Recent humanities funding trends<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The American Academy of Arts &amp; Sciences identifies an array of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/humanities-indicators\/funding-and-research\">humanities funding and research<\/a> opportunities that have existed at the state, federal, private and not-for-profit levels. Acknowledging a lack of national data tracking philanthropic giving for humanities in particular, the Academy found that in 2023, combined giving for \u201cthe broader category of arts, culture, and humanities\u201d accounted for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/humanities-indicators\/funding-and-research\/charitable-giving-humanities-activities\">4.5%<\/a> of all charitable giving. Giving to this broad category was generally on the rise from 2011 to 2023, the Academy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/humanities-indicators\/funding-and-research\/charitable-giving-humanities-activities\">reports<\/a>. But in 2025, grants from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/03\/arts\/humanities-grants-canceled-doge.html\">National Endowment for the Humanities<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/1002518\/hundreds-of-museum-and-library-grants-terminated-overnight\/\">Institute of Museum and Library Services<\/a>, and other federal agencies that have historically supported humanities research have been abruptly cut, while some entire agencies that made humanities grants are threatened with <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-education-department-shutdown-b1d25a2e1bdcd24cfde8ad8b655b9843\">dissolution<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question now is: what will philanthropy do in light of the Trump funding cuts to the humanities?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An initial response came from the Mellon Foundation, the nation\u2019s largest private humanities grantmaker, which pledged $15 million in spring 2025 to provide emergency funding to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statehumanities.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Federation of State Humanities Councils<\/a> to preserve state-level humanities programs in the face of federal funding cuts. But the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/find-a-grant\/grants-m\/andrew-w-mellon-foundation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mellon Foundation<\/a>\u2019s emergency funding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/home\/why-the-mellon-foundations-lifeline-for-humanities-councils-is-so-important\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">is more distinctive<\/a> than representative because Mellon, \u201ca bellwether humanities grantmaker, is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/home\/trump-cuts-renew-old-debate-should-billionaires-cover-halted-government-funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">few major funders<\/a> that has publicly drawn a direct line between two numbers \u2014 the amount of federal dollars <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/home\/a-federal-freeze-would-devastate-nonprofits-will-funders-step-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not flowing to organizations<\/a> (in this one case, $65 million) and the amount of emergency funding going out the door ($15 million) to partially close the gap,\u201d IP\u2019s Mike Scutari <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/home\/why-the-mellon-foundations-lifeline-for-humanities-councils-is-so-important\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It remains to be seen what \u2014 and how much \u2014 other private funders will do to fill the enormous gaps created by federal abandonment of humanities research funding. Inside Philanthropy will follow funders\u2019 moves in our ongoing coverage of philanthropy for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/arts-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arts and culture<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/higher-education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">higher education<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group modified-date-row is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-f56a869c wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p><em>Published on <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"font-style:italic;font-weight:400;\" class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-05-23T09:54:00-07:00\">May 23, 2025<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px;width:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about grants for humanities research by exploring the curated list of top humanities funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"parent":13716,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":true,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-16783","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16783"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224388,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16783\/revisions\/224388"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}