Arts organizations and Local Arts Agencies all over King County use Sustained Support funding as a modest but dependable building block in their annual budgets. Sustained Support provides operational funding that organizations and agencies receive for the robustness, creativity, and quality of the overall artistic services they provide to King County residents and visitors.

You can use this grant for:

If you are interested in funding for:

Criteria

We fund all of our grants through a competitive process, carefully evaluating each application. For this particular grant, we focus on different criteria depending on how your organization is structured and what type of work you do. (Below, under ‘Are You Eligible?’, we outline all the different types of organizations that can apply, and what we’ll look for—please contact us if you’re unsure of what category you fit into.)

Equity Investments

4Culture recognizes that where an organization is based or provides its services, as well as the communities it serves, can affect access to funding and other resources. To take a step towards balancing these disparities, 4Culture will award additional funding to organizations that are based in parts of King County that are less served by other funding sources, and to organizations that specifically serve marginalized communities, especially communities that are disproportionately impacted by structural racism. Organizations with an annual budget over $5 million do not qualify for this additional funding.

Equity Investment Score

Organizations that the adjudicating panel of peer reviewers agree are excelling in advancing equity in King County will receive an additional Equity Investment.

Outside of the City of Seattle

Non-profits with a primary location outside of Seattle City limits will receive additional geographic equity funds. Eligibility will be determined based on the mailing address in your account profile. This address should be consistent with what your organization uses for IRS reporting purposes.

Communities of Opportunity

Organizations that are located in a Community of Opportunity are eligible for additional Equity Investment funds. The Communities of Opportunity (COO) index includes a set of health and socioeconomic indicators to gauge community health and well-being. 4Culture aligns our Equity investments with the COO index to identify the areas of King County in greatest need of support.

View this Communities of Opportunity map to determine whether your organization or primary venue is located in a COO. COO areas eligible for an Equity investment are outlined in purple.

Please reach out to Bret Fetzer at bret.fetzer@4culture.org if you have any questions.

On-Site Reviews

Organizations that are funded by a Sustained Support grant will be evaluated by on-site reviewers, who attend a scheduled event or open hours and provide written comments for use by future grant review panels. After receiving their award letter, organizations that receive Arts Sustained Support awards for 2025 are encouraged to contact Elly Fetter at elly.fetter@4culture.org to arrange for an On-Site Review.

Public Benefit: Why It Matters

4Culture is a public agency supporting the cultural sector through revenue from Lodging Tax, 1% for Art, and Doors Open funding sources. Core to our work and defined in our Charter is a requirement that everything we fund serves the public interest, enriching communities throughout King County.

The term Providing Public Benefit means using public funds primarily to provide members of the public residing in and visiting King County access to opportunities to experience cultural resources. Public Benefit encompasses access and positive impacts for King County residents and visitors engaging with arts, culture, historic spaces, and public art across our program areas.

As you work through your application, tell us exactly how your fellow King County residents will be able to enjoy and learn from your work. Here are some ways you can provide public benefit:

• Providing the public with access to your creative work, project, or program for free or at a reduced rate.
• Providing educational programs and experiences at cultural organizations, schools, or other venues accessible to the public.
• Exploring ways to expand and broaden your creative work and activities for the education and entertainment of the public.
• Participating in collaborative relationships with other cultural organizations, individuals, and groups to extend the reach and impact of a project or program for the benefit of the public.
• Organizational or individual capacity-building projects or activities that provide meaningful public benefits not otherwise achievable.
• For cultural organizations: providing, through technological and other means, services or programs in locations other than an organization’s own facilities.

Sustained Support is available for King County-based non-profit organizations and municipalities We award these funds based on an organization’s overall mission and activities—this grant is not project-based.

The following types of organizations may apply:

4Culture staff will do their best to answer questions or provide assistance for Arts Sustained Support applicants. However, as the deadline approaches, it will become less and less likely that they will be able to respond to your queries (the number of applicants is expected to be between 400-500). The earlier you prepare your application, the more support 4Culture staff will be able to offer you.

Workshops

Workshops can make a major difference in how competitive your application is—each year, we find that the strongest applications come from people who have attended a workshop. Workshops provide an opportunity for you to meet staff, learn about the process, meet other applicants, and ask questions.

Workshops will be held both in-person and virtually. We will announce workshop dates soon.

If you are unable to attend a workshop, you may view a recorded version instead. This recording will be posted after the first workshop takes place.

Please subscribe to the 4Culture newsletter to be notified when workshop dates are confirmed and workshop recordings are posted.

Contact

Bret Fetzer
bret.fetzer@4culture.org
(206) 263-1599

Translation and Assistance

The guidelines, a detailed explanation of how to apply, and the application are in English. If this is a barrier that stops you from understanding the grant or applying due to limited English writing ability, visual impairment, or you would like to request assistance to create an application, please contact hello@4culture.org or call (206) 296-7580 or TTY 711, and we will make sure you get the support you need.
 
Las pautas, la explicación detallada de cómo enviar la solicitud y la solicitud están en inglés. Si esto le impide comprender la información relacionada con la beca o enviar una solicitud debido a una limitación en la capacidad para escribir en inglés, si tiene una discapacidad visual o si desea recibir asistencia para crear una solicitud, escriba a hello@4culture.org o llame al (206) 296-7580 o TTY 711, y nos aseguraremos de que obtenga la ayuda que necesita.
 
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Tilmaamaha, sharaxaadda faahfaahsan ee ku saabsan sida loo codsado, iyo waraaqda codsiga waxa ay dhammaan ku qoran yihiin Af-Ingiriisi. Haddii ay arrintani tahay caqabad kaa hor istaageysa fahamka deeqda ama codsashada oo ay sabab u tahay awoodda qorista Af-Ingiriisiga oo xadidan, araggaaga oo liita, ama aad jeclaan lahayd inaad codsato in lagaa caawiyo in aad codsi sameyso, fadlan la xiriir hello@4culture.org ama wac (206) 296-7580 ama TTY 711, waxaana xaqiijin doonnaa inaad hesho taageerada aad u baahan tahay.

Timeline

Applications for Arts Sustained Support are due September 4, 2024, by 5:00 pm PDT. Most 4Culture funding decisions take approximately four months from application deadline to when we announce awards. We will notify you about the status of your application on or before December 31, 2024. Contracting will begin in January 2025.

Selection Process

After the application deadline, 4Culture Program Managers first review all applications to ensure eligibility. We then facilitate panels of peer reviewers (artists and arts administrators) to evaluate all eligible applications. The peer reviewers change from cycle to cycle. 4Culture staff do not score applications or try to influence the outcome.

Award amounts will have three components:

• A base award determined by the recipient organization’s budget size.
• A possible additional award for organizations that the panel agrees demonstrate exceptional merit.
• A possible Equity Investment based on geographic location and/or an organization’s score on the Equity criterion (see Equity Investments section under “What Sustained Support Funds,” above).

The panel’s award recommendations are then sent to the Arts Advisory Committee for review, and then onto 4Culture’s Board for final approval. The entire process, from application deadline to final award notification, takes three to four months.

Contracts and Payment

If we select your organization for funding, your 4Culture grant manager will work with you to create a contract outlining a payment schedule.

Requirements and Appeals

Learn about what will be required if you are awarded a grant, and about the process for appeal of a 4Culture decision.

Once you’ve started your application, you can save after each step and sign out—your application will be saved as a draft that you can continue to work on up to the deadline. Once you hit “Submit,” your application is final. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions during the process.