National Humanities Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
591735367
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
Phone
9194060121
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,563,292
Expenses
$6,916,360
Assets
$96,848,452
Liabilities
$806,526

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • J PORTER DURHAM JR (CHAIR/INTERIM PRESIDENT (FROM JUNE 2024))
  • ROBERT D NEWMAN (DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT (THRU JUNE 2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT D NEWMAN (DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT (THRU JUNE 2024)): $597,775 total reported compensation
  • HEIDI CAMP (VP OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT): $248,493 total reported compensation
  • DONALD SOLOMON (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $134,769 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The national humanities center is the world's only independent institute dedicated exclusively to advanced study in all areas of the humanities. Through its residential fellowship program, the center provides scholars with the resources necessary to generate new knowledge and to further understand all forms of cultural expression, social interaction, and human thought. Through its education programs, the center strengthens teaching on the collegiate and pre-collegiate levels. Model programs developed at the center provide teachers and faculty with new materials and instructional strategies to make them more effective in the classroom and rekindle their enthusiasm for the subjects they teach. Through public engagement, in the form of community lectures, panel discussions, symposia, and a rich multi-media library, the center promotes understanding of the humanities and advocates for their foundational role in a democratic society.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public engagement - the public engagement program connects humanities scholarship with broader public audiences. Its goal is to increase public understanding and appreciation of the humanities by sharing the work and ideas of leading scholars beyond the academic community. The program accomplishes this through public lectures, panel discussions, conferences, podcasts, digital media, and community events, as well as initiatives such as humanities moments and the being human festival. These activities invite audiences to explore important cultural, historical, and social issues through a humanities lens and to engage directly with scholars and their research.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.2%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 82.4%; rating input score 82; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.7%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.2% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $598K · 36 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 11 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.