Missouri Humanities Council

What it reported doing in 2024

Missouri humanities offered 197 live and asynchronous council-conducted programs in 2025. Subrecipient-conducted activities took place with 443,079 participants. 506,046 total missourians were served throughout the year. Grantsmajor grants are awarded to humanities-based proposals twice yearly for up to $15,000. Mini grants are offered to nonprofit organizations for projects of up to $5,000. In fy25, mh distributed a total of $1,510,287 in grants. 90 grant-funded programs were held in fy25, serving 404,667 people.ideas that shape our society.signature serieswe promote public dialogue through scholarly lectures, symposia, interpretive exhibits, and interactive events. Our signature series in 2025 was Missouri voices: civics and citizenry. We explored individual and collective roles in civic engagement and democratic participation as we examine the bold "american experiment" of a government run by and for the people, a vision rooted in the constitution of the united states. 4,153 individuals joined us in person for 9 tent-pole signature series programs. Missouri humanities also produced 5 episodes of the Missouri voices podcast, which was downloaded 520 times. Missouri humanities produced the documentary not in our wildest dreams", which had 918 views.cultural heritageour heritage programs promote Missouri's rich cultural heritage and historical significance. We offered 25 unique programs, including scholar panels, cultural heritage workshops, and traveling exhibits. We also hosted in-person and virtual capacity-building workshops for cultural institutions across the state, reaching an average of 83 attendees per workshop.veterans programsto amplify veteran voices and experiences, mh hosted two veterans writing workshops, co-published proud to be: writings by american warriors, volume 13, and presented a proud to be reading and roundtable. Through these programs, we engaged 52 veterans, military-connected family members, and civilians.digital programmingmissouri humanities proudly offers multiple ways to engage with humanities-based content from the comfort of your home or on the go. From films, video series, podcasts, and recorded programs, tune in to experience a variety of stories about people, places, and ideas rooted in the humanities. In fy25, we experienced 57,992 video views with 2,136 hours watched. 3,349 podcasts were downloaded. Our podcasts help us reach more people by providing high-quality, engaging stories that listeners can enjoy anywhere, anytime. Each year, we produce new episodes of our Missouri humanities signature series podcast and the small town showcase podcast. In 2025, we produced 6 more small town showcase episodes and 5 signature series episodes. In total, our podcasts received 3,349 downloads. Our youtube channel received 36,693 views, 1,669 hours of viewership, and 5,146 subscribers. In small town showcase, we strive to highlight the uniqueness of rural Missouri and to showcase the bigger picture of what small-town america really is and why it shouldn't be overlooked, overshadowed, or underappreciated. Each year, communities with populations under 10,000 are nominated and voted on by missourians to become our annual "featured five" communities, who then work with us throughout the year to produce a podcast episode and short film about their town. In 2025, our featured five were elsberry, ste. Genevieve, potosi, prairie home, and tarkio. H-tv is Missouri humanities' streaming platform's curated collection of films, docu-series, and other digital storytelling projects to connect viewers with stories, people, and places rooted in the humanities. Content on h-tv includes projects produced by Missouri humanities, like small town showcase and short documentary films, as well as content from other creators who strive to share stories through film. We ended the year with 21,398 users.literary programsmore than 1,697 people participated in our third annual heartland book festival, presented in partnership wi

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 89.3%; rating input score 89
• Fundraising efficiency: $19.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 87.2%; rating input score 87; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -59.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.25; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings