Heritage Sustained Support

Sustained Support assists with the day-to-day needs of heritage organizations.

The next two-year cycle, 2026-2027, will return in fall 2025. These funds promote the exploration of the people, places, communities, events, and themes of our region’s past.

Steps to Apply

1 What Sustained Support Funds

Heritage Sustained Support provides general operating funds to organizations across King County. These awards provide unrestricted operating funds to organizations delivering heritage programs and services, for the benefit of the public.

You can use this grant for:

A variety of expenses including operating costs related to heritage programs and activities accessible to King County residents and visitors; staff salaries; utilities; supplies; fees; and services.

If you are interested in funding for:

Capital construction: please consider applying for Doors Open Facilities.
Equipment: please consider applying for Cultural Equipment in 2025.
A specific project: Heritage Projects which will reopen in 2025.

Criteria

We fund all of our grants through a competitive process, carefully evaluating each application.

For this grant, we’ll look to see how well your application shows the following:

Resilience: your organization has clearly stated plans to remain in operation through 2025. You have demonstrated organizational adaptability to changes in your community and in the field. You have demonstrated responsiveness to your community’s needs.
Public benefit: your organization offers substantial public benefit through your programs and activities in a year. Public benefit may include—but is not limited to—any reduced cost or free admission, events, programs, or services offered to members of the public to increase access to heritage in King County.
Advancing Equity: your organization has a focus on preserving the histories and/or heritage practices of marginalized communities, especially communities that are disproportionately impacted by structural racism. This is not a requirement for funding.
Heritage priorities: your organization has clearly articulated and prioritized diversity, equity, and/or inclusion goals for your operations and demonstrated intention to work toward those goals through feasible action step(s) in the next year (2025).

Geographic and 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 Chieko Phillips at chieko.phillips@4culture.org if you have any questions.

On-Site Reviews

Organizations that are funded by a Sustained Support grant may 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 Heritage Sustained Support awards for 2025 will receive instructions on how to set up their on-site reviews.

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 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.

2 Are You Eligible?

To be eligible for Heritage Sustained Support, your organization must be a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) heritage organization, public corporation, tribal government and/or heritage field services organization with a two-year minimum operating history of managing collections, and/or presenting exhibits and programs with a focus on heritage in King County to the residents of King County. We define heritage as the preservation and transmission of local history; ethnic history; indigenous and traditional culture; folklore and culturally specific traditions; and historic and archaeological resources in King County.

3 Helping you succeed

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.

Date	Location
Aug 9 1-2pm	Zoom Registration required

Date	Location
Aug 14 5:30-6:30pm	Zoom Registration required

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.

Application Guide and Worksheet

Watch this step-by-step application guide video to assist you in the application process: As you draft your application, you may choose to work offline in a document. This application worksheet can be used as tool as you work. It includes helpful tips and space to draft your responses. This worksheet is NOT a substitute for submitting your application via the online portal and will not be accepted as your application.

DOWNLOAD

Contact

Before you begin or after starting your application, you may have questions or need some personalized feedback on an idea. We are available by email and phone to assist you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Chieko Phillips
chieko.phillips@4culture.org
206-477-6811

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.

详细说明如何申请的指南以及申请本身均使用英文。如果由于英语写作能力有限、视力障碍而妨碍您对本资助的了解或申请，或者您希望请求协助来完成申请，请发送电子邮件至 hello@4culture.org 或致电 (206) 296-7580 或 TTY (听障专线) 711 联系，我们会确保您获得所需的支持

Руководство, подробная инструкция и форма заявки на английском языке. Если вам сложно разобраться в процедуре получения грантов или подачи заявок из-за ограниченных навыков письменного английского языка либо нарушений зрения, а также если вы бы хотели обратиться за помощью при составлении заявки, отправьте письмо на адрес электронной почты hello@4culture.org или позвоните по номеру (206) 296-7580 или 711 (телетайп), и мы позаботимся о том, чтобы вы получили необходимую помощь.

Hướng dẫn, giải thích chi tiết về cách nộp đơn va tài liệu áp dụng tất cả đều bằng Tiếng Anh. Nếu đây là rào cản khiến quý vị không hiểu được khoản trợ cấp hoặc cách nộp đơn do khả năng viết tiếng Anh hạn chế, do quý vị bị suy giảm thị lực hoặc muốn yêu cầu hỗ trợ để tạo đơn đăng ký, làm ơn liên hệ hello@4culture.org hoặc gọi (206) 296-7580 hay TTY 711 và chúng tôi sẽ hỗ trợ những gì quý vị cần.

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.

4 After You Submit

Timeline

Applications for Heritage 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 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 based on overall panel score.
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 Heritage Advisory Committee for review, and then onto 4Culture’s Board for final approval. The entire process, from application deadline to final award notification, takes approximately 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 Scope of Service and Public Benefit. Organizations that receive Sustained Support funding are paid upon completion of one or more of the Public Benefit activities described in their grant contract.

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.

5 Apply

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.

What’s in the Application

The following materials are required for this application cycle. We strongly recommend assembling them before you login and begin your application.

Narrative Questions

There are six questions you will answer for the 2025 application cycle.

Community: describe your organization’s current audience. Who is experiencing your public benefit? How often can your audience access your mission-related programming?
Public programming: explain what public programs over the last two years you are most proud of and why. How have these programs advanced your organization’s mission or strategic goals?
Management: share the goals for your organization’s internal operations in 2025. Explain how these goals were determined, including any staff, board and/or community involvement. For example, were they set in response to community needs and/or changes in the field?
Future: share the mission-related activities your organization will implement in 2025.
Advancing equity: share if and how your organization focuses on preserving histories and/or heritage practices of marginalized communities, especially communities that are disproportionately impacted by structural racism.
Public benefit: list three mission-related activities or events that offer public benefit in 2025.

Public Benefit: General, Equity Inclusion, and Geographic Inclusion

If you are awarded funding, these public benefits will appear in your contract; only select the public benefits on which you would like to report. The panel will only review your public benefit statement above; these questions are only for 4Culture’s internal use.

Please select up to three General Public Benefits and up to three Equity Inclusion and Geographic Inclusion Public Benefits your organization provides throughout the year.

You can find the full list of public benefits in the application worksheet linked in the Helping You Succeed section above.

Required Support Materials

Organizational Board List: you must submit a list of your organization’s board members, their term limits, and their employment or community affiliation.
Program/Event List: you must submit a list of your organization’s events, programs, and/or primary activities from the last 24 months. Include date or date range, location, and estimated attendance.

Account Profiles

Please register for an organizational account if one does not already exist for your organization, and make sure the information in your proﬁle is complete and up-to-date. New organizational profile questions have been added as of July 2024.

990 Information

IRS 990 information for the previous two years and up-to-date organization address.

Demographic Information

Your organization profile in our portal must provide demographic information for your board and staff for the current year. We use this information to help us understand how well we are doing in our efforts to reach all communities in King County.