By: Mary Steurer
Humanities North Dakota has received $300,000 in private donations to keep its doors open after it learned earlier this month all its federal funding had been terminated.
That figure includes $200,000 from the New York-based Mellon Foundation, which on Tuesday pledged $15 million to a total of 56 humanities councils around the country. The other $100,000 came from other donors, according to Executive Director Brenna Gerhardt.
The money will help keep the organization afloat after its grant money was abruptly pulled by the federal government. But it only replaces a portion of the cut funding.
“The Mellon Foundation’s support is both a lifeline and a vote of confidence,” Gerhardt said in a Tuesday statement announcing the award.
In addition, Humanities North Dakota can receive up to $50,000 in matching funds from the Mellon Foundation with the help of local donors. The Mellon Foundation will double any contributions to Humanities North Dakota made after Tuesday. Donations can be made on the Humanities North Dakota website.
“At stake are both the operational integrity of organizations like museums, libraries, historical societies in every single state, as well as the mechanisms to participate in the cultural dynamism and exchange that is a fundamental part of American civic life,” Elizabeth Alexander, the Mellon Foundation’s president, said in a Tuesday announcement.
Alexander said that even though the donation won’t cover all of the lost funding, she hopes the money will help councils get by.
Humanities North Dakota, which provides public education in areas including history, civics and the arts, has historically relied on funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to cover operational costs.
The nonprofit on April 2 received a letter from the federal agency that stated a $900,000 grant it received for the 2025 fiscal year had been terminated. Humanities North Dakota, which has four full-time and two part-time staff, had yet to spend more than $600,000 of the grant.
The National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides funding to humanities organizations across the country, is “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda,” Acting Chairman Michael McDonald wrote in the letter.
The letter cites a Feb. 19 executive order by President Donald Trump which the White House says will streamline federal bureaucracy.
A total of $65 million in grant money awarded to 56 humanities councils serving U.S. states, territories and Washington, D.C., was terminated.
In response to the funding cuts, Humanities North Dakota is launching a new initiative to share online programming with other humanities councils, Gerhardt said.
Called “The Study,” the effort is intended to help out councils that don’t have the funding to continue providing programming without the federal money.
Humanities councils that join The Study will get access to livestreamed programs, a repository of recorded events and other content.
Humanities North Dakota is in a unique position to help other councils since it’s consistently held events online since the coronavirus pandemic, said Gerhardt.
“We’re the only one with the infrastructure to pivot this quickly,” she said. The hope is that North Dakota and other states begin collaborating and pooling resources so all Americans have access to humanities programming, she added.
Five other states have already joined the initiative — Washington, Iowa, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Montana, according to Gerhardt.
Humanities North Dakota will still provide the same programs moving forward, though the current plan is to cut the number of events by about half, Gerhardt said. The nonprofit’s programs, which include online classes, book talks, lectures and more, reached an estimated 24,000 people last year.
Congress created the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1965 and appropriates money for grants to humanities councils across the U.S.
