NEH grant cancellations force Vermont Humanities to cut staff, seek state and private support

Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup, executive director of Vermont Humanities, told the House Appropriations Committee on April 30 that the organization has cut staff and pared programming after the National Endowment for the Humanities canceled grants on April 2, 2025 and the agency impounded FY25 appropriations.

The loss of federal funding has left Vermont Humanities with a shortfall of about $728,523 for the remainder of the calendar year, Ilstrup said, equal to roughly 42% of the nonprofit’s budget. He told lawmakers the organization has drawn down about $170,000 of FY25 payments to date, is using rainy-day reserves to cover roughly half the gap and has implemented approximately $366,000 in budget cuts.

“That’s how much it is, right? Dollars 728,523,” Ilstrup said. “If ever there was a rainy day, this is a typhoon.”

Why it matters: Vermont Humanities said it serves about 70,000 Vermonters across all 14 counties with programs in schools, prisons, hospitals, libraries and veterans’ services. The council warned that cuts reduce its capacity to deliver grants and programs statewide.

Ilstrup described the federal disruption as the result of letters and grant cancellations from NEH’s Fed-State…