Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jun 1965.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
18 people listed on the 990; $1.9M paid to officers and key staff.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emily Chamlee-Wright | $537,300 | $502,992 | $485,450 | $464,300 | $440,000 | $455,000 |
| Courtney Derr | $343,650 | $310,167 | $269,950 | $204,139 | $186,250 | $167,500 |
| Ronald Chad Thevenot | — | — | — | — | $295,000 | $291,250 |
| Todd Hathaway | — | — | — | $260,000 | $250,000 | $246,250 |
| Kyle Hartz | — | — | $231,716 | $168,131 | $171,250 | $160,000 |
| Sarah Straw | $201,718 | $196,916 | $167,091 | — | — | — |
| Christopher Grozev | — | — | $192,275 | $141,886 | — | — |
| Ronald Thevenot | — | — | — | $183,550 | — | — |
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.
See Institute for Humane Studies executive salaries →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
Supports and develops scholars and students whose academic work explores the principles of classical liberalism, economic freedom, and their contributions to human flourishing.
Questions for Institute for Humane Studies
Your first name shows with your question. Institute for Humane Studies answers here, for everyone.
Faculty Support Programs
The Institute's faculty-support programs work to help faculty who are engaged with ideas in the classical liberal intellectual tradition to improve the reach and effectiveness of their teaching, research, and campus activities.
Academic Talent-Development Programs
The Institute's academic talent-development programs work to develop talented graduate students who are interested in careers in academia. It accomplishes this through fellowships, grants, career development workshops, academic research seminars, and networking at academic conferences.
Student Education and Outreach Programs
The Institute's student educational programs work to inspire and educate a wide range of young people with ideas in the classical liberal intellectual tradition, encourage interested students to learn more, and identify and evaluate students who have the potential to make scholarly contributions to a free and open society.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 | FY16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $122K | $122K | $122K | $121K | $121K |
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $7.1M | $11.0M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $1.8M | $1.8M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $796K | $528K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $10.6M | $15.1M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.8M | $2.1M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $8.8M | $13.0M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $335K | $335K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $96K | $96K | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $37K | $37K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.1M | $227K | $682K | $227K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $7.3M | $5.9M | $435K | $979K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $652K | $530K | $48K | $74K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $582K | $436K | $62K | $83K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $11K | $703 | $2K | $8K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $10K | $10K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $13K | $13K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $2.9M | $2.7M | $32K | $110K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $260K | $255K | $39 | $5K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $540K | $290K | $25K | $225K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $381K | $254K | $92K | $34K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $1.3M | $1.1M | $121K | $151K |
| TravelLn 17 | $718K | $692K | $18K | $9K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $421K | $413K | $5K | $2K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $232K | $185K | $21K | $26K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $25K | $23K | $2K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $55K | $24K | $7K | $24K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $17.0M | $13.5M | $1.6M | $2.0M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Mar 11, 2026 | $21.1M | $20.4M | $685K | $29.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Mar 17, 2025 | $31.1M | $18.2M | $12.9M | $29.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Feb 26, 2024 | $17.2M | $18.3M | −$1.1M | $16.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Feb 27, 2023 | $20.9M | $17.1M | $3.8M | $17.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Feb 9, 2022 | $17.7M | $16.5M | $1.2M | $14.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Feb 8, 2021 | $21.1M | $17.0M | $4.1M | $13.0M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $21,122,878 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 9 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $21,122,878 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $17,003,146 across 20 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $15,087,210 assets, 18 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $12,994,497 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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