Take Action to Save the National Endowment for the Humanities and Funding for Humanities Councils
Late last night, Wednesday, April 2, all humanities councils received emails and letters under the signature of NEH Acting Chair Michael McDonald notifying them that all awarded grants—including their 5-year General Operating Grants and other program-specific awards—were canceled in their entirety, effective April 1. This morning, April 3, DOGE began terminating previously awarded NEH grants. We understand that this includes operating grants to the state and jurisdictional humanities councils, scholarly societies, community organizations, and individuals. While we know that grants are being terminated, we do not yet know the full scope of terminations. DOGE is targeting NEH, a small federal agency that—with an annual appropriation that amounts to a rounding error in the U.S. budget—has a positive impact on every congressional district.
We will continue to share updates as we learn more.
Here’s what you can do:
- Contact your members of Congress using the contact form from the National Humanities Alliance to tell them how the NEH supports your work and the field. Concrete examples work best.
- Contact your local elected officials and ask them to contact their peers in Congress to support the NEH. The Federation of State Humanities Councils has provided a script to share with your representatives.
- Use resources from the National Humanities Alliance to highlight the positive impact of the NEH in your state and Congressional district.
- Draw down grants you have with NEH. The National Humanities Alliance is encouraging anyone with a grant to draw down as much as possible from it as soon as possible.
- Fill out this survey from the American Association for State and Local History to let them know how your organization would be impacted if the NEH has reduced capacity or is shut down. Your response will help AASLH more effectively advocate for NEH. Responses are confidential, unless you give them permission to use them. See the AASLH website for previous impact survey responses.
- Notify the National Humanities Alliance about grant terminations.
- Share this action alert on social media and send it directly to five people in your network and ask them to take action as well.
- Contact local media. The media is showing tremendous interest in how funding cuts will impact local organizations and communities.
The National Humanities Alliance is hosting office hours to support press outreach. Sign up here:
Thursday, April 3 & 10 – 2:00 p.m. ET
Friday, April 4 & 11 – 11:00 a.m. ET
Monday, April 7 – 12:00 p.m. ET
Tuesday, April 8 – 12:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, April 9 – 10:00 a.m. ET
How NEH Funding Cuts Impact Communities
The NEH provides crucial support for cultural organizations. Through grants to libraries, museums, historic sites, educational institutions, and other cultural organizations—and its partnership with the state and jurisdictional humanities councils—the NEH:
- Enriches K-12 education
- Provides lifelong learning opportunities for a range of audiences
- Fosters community conversations
- Ensures rural access to high-quality humanities programs
- Supports Veterans
- Promotes civic education
- Supports cutting-edge research
- Celebrates local histories
- Preserves our cultural heritage
- Fosters local tourism economies
NEH funding and NEH staff are essential to this work. For 60 years, NEH staff members have helped grantees navigate government systems and develop strong proposals that bring high-quality humanities programs to American communities. NEH staff ensure that small and large organizations alike have access to federal funds. Moreover, they are tireless in their efforts to ensure that U.S. tax dollars are spent well.
Cutting NEH funding directly harms communities in every state and contributes to the destruction of our shared cultural heritage. Cutting NEH staff who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their positions guts the NEH itself. This puts unnecessary barriers in the way of the agency’s mission to distribute federal dollars to American communities.
Impact on State Humanities Councils
NEH Cuts Impact Humanities Councils: The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate the ability of these nonprofits to serve communities in their states, eliminating programs that are essential to each state’s cultural infrastructure. Learn more about humanities councils and what they do.
If humanities councils lose funding, we’ll also lose:
- Life-saving programs for veterans that honor their service
- Family reading and literacy programs
- History programs commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
- Vital support for K-12 teachers and students
- National History Day programs for students across the country
- Funding for rural museums and historical societies
- Book and cultural festivals that draw tourism and private investment
- AND SO MUCH MORE
Humanities councils do all this with only $65 million in federal funding, a percentage of the federal budget too small to represent. The NEH budget for humanities councils is small, but the losses to everyday Americans will be devastating.
Without NEH support, we will lose access to grants and programs that educate, inspire, and bring communities together. Humanities councils work, on average, with over 120 local partners each year and raise $2 in private investment for every $1 of federal support. The ripple effects of these cuts will be felt in every state and territory.
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