Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1978.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
67 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
21 people listed on the 990; $104K paid to officers and key staff.
Tim Henderson’s $104K as Executive Di is at the 36th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3924 $1–10M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Henderson | $104,221 | $95,000 | $77,961 | $80,456 | $95,000 | $95,000 |
| Sandy Obodzinski | — | — | — | — | $71,500 | $36,833 |
| Melisa Davis | — | — | — | — | $70,000 | — |
| Serenity Gerbman | — | — | — | — | $70,000 | $69,533 |
| Melissa Davis | — | — | — | — | — | $68,600 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Fosters community and civility through public humanities programs statewide.
Questions for Humanities Tennessee
Your first name shows with your question. Humanities Tennessee answers here, for everyone.
Know this org? Add your story
Southern festival of books since 1989, the southern festival of books: a celebration of the written word has welcomed authors and readers to downtown nashville for a weekend of readings, signings, performances, and celebration.
Grants & awards humanities TN makes funding investments in all three grand divisions of the state to support the efforts of cultural, educational, and community-based organizations providing public humanities programs.
Chapter 16 in response to the loss of book coverage in newspapers around the state, humanities tennessee founded CHAPTER16.ORG in 2009 to provide comprehensive coverage of literary news and events in tennessee.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $150K | $986K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $101K | $104K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $10K | $8K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $608K | $1.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $336K | $413K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $272K | $823K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $125K | $125K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $139K | $77K | $34K | $29K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $532K | $288K | $134K | $111K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $39K | $23K | $8K | $8K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $84K | $50K | $17K | $17K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $51K | $28K | $13K | $10K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $53K | $15K | $33K | $5K |
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $449 | $449 | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $198K | $190K | $2K | $7K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $16K | $9K | $4K | $3K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $15K | $7K | $8K | $1K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $32K | $17K | $10K | $5K |
| TravelLn 17 | $94K | $63K | $30K | $211 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $212K | $198K | $11K | $3K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $2K | $2K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $9K | $3K | $5K | $491 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $124K | $55K | $67K | $1K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.7M | $1.1M | $377K | $201K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $2.3M | $1.7M | $551K | $823K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $1.7M | $1.7M | $41K | $272K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.6M | $1.6M | −$28K | $221K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $2.3M | $2.2M | $78K | $194K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $1.2M | $1.2M | $68K | $156K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $2.0M | $2.0M | $9K | $268K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,276,039 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 19 of 19 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,276,039 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,725,169 across 17 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,235,751 assets, 18 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $822,746 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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