Wisconsin Humanities fights its way back after NEH defunding

× Expand Courtesy Wisconsin Humanities The Tradition Bearers, Live! event in August. The audience was eager to get onstage to learn a dance during the Tradition Bearers, Live! event in August. Things looked rosy for nonprofit Wisconsin Humanities in April 2025. “We were in the best place we’d ever been,” says director Dena Worzel. “We had just won the top national public humanities award for our community powered training program, we’d revamped our grant program to be more accessible, we were celebrating the 10th anniversary of Love Wisconsin. There were such good things happening.” Then the National Endowment for the Humanities withdrew funding for all state humanities councils and terminated all grants. The NEH funding had covered up to 85% of the group’s budget. Expand The 2026 Nonprofit Issue logo. At the time of the defunding, Wisconsin Humanities had just wrapped up a year of working with a private consultant on fundraising skills.

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