4Culture’s Cultural Support Services Projects program provides funding for organizations and Tribes that improve the quality of life and careers for King County cultural practitioners.
Donor Name: 4Culture
State: Washington
County: King County (WA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/29/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
Cultural Support Services are investments in the people who lead and sustain the culture and science sectors. A thriving, sustainable workforce strengthens the arts, culture, and science ecosystems and in turn, improves the cultural and science experiences available to the residents and visitors of King County.
4Culture’s Cultural Support Services Projects program funds continuation, creation, and expansion of various cultural support services for the culture and science sectors in King County. For this program, Cultural Support Services are defined as the constellation of programs, resources, and networks that support capacity building for cultural practitioners in King County. Capacity building is the generation of resources or support intended to help an individual enhance their ability to fulfill their mission or purpose (i.e., any activity or support that is focused on the success and sustainability of the practitioner rather than specific programs).
Cultural practitioners are the collection of artists; administrators, educators, technologists, scientists, professionals, and volunteers of culture and science focused institutions and public agencies; owners or stewards of historic structures and landscapes; culture bearers; technical specialists; and creative professionals and workers with specialized skills needed in the cultural and science ecosystems.
Projects funded by this program should align with one or more of the five categories of cultural support services:
- Career Pathways – services focusing on leadership development, entry into the sectors, and retention within the sectors, whether for youth, emergent practitioners, or elder stewards, through educational and practice experiences.
- Wellbeing – services that address the holistic needs of individual cultural practitioners, including basic needs, so they can fuel stronger sectors.
- Community Building and Organizing – services contributing to the creation of cohorts, communities, and networks, as well as those that foster strong leadership.
- Technical Assistance and Professional Services – services that support a range of skill development, consultation services, and access to affordable professional services to assist with business and operations, including access to physical space and equipment needed for work. This could be technical assistance or paying someone directly to carry out the services needed.
- Advocacy and Systems Change – services promoting the importance of the culture and science sectors. This could include elevating its place in policy and planning processes as well as increasing visibility through culture and science sector research, journalism, and publications.
Funding Information
- The total available funding for Cultural Support Services Projects in 2025 is $6,064,846.
- Awards range from $30,000 to $225,000 total ($10,000 to $75,000 per year for three years). Project period extends over three years from project start date.
Criteria
For this grant, a panel will evaluate your application based on the following five criteria:
- Quality and Qualifications: your thought and reasoning behind your proposed project, how well your project activities and planning align with professional standards, best practices, or values of the community served. Evidence your project is informed and guided by those individuals directly served. The qualifications of you and your project team align with the proposed project, its constituents, and its intended impact. Qualifications can be skill, experience, training, or knowledge-based.
- Feasibility: your ability to complete your project within 36 months of the award date, as demonstrated by a balanced project budget, thoughtful planning, and the expertise of those carrying out the project. Your project budget and plan are realistic and achievable, and the funding amount is appropriate for the project. You provide clear plans on how you will scale your project if you do not receive full funding for your application.
- Project Impact and Public Benefit: how your project meets the needs of constituents beyond your organization or Tribe, established needs in the community, a sector-wide trend, or relevant research on needs in the sector. Your project provides compelling and feasible public benefit for individual cultural practitioners of King County.
- Advancing Equity: 4Culture’s mission focuses on racial equity and envisions a county where culture is essential and accessible to all. Your project’s focus is on marginalized communities, especially communities that are disproportionately impacted by structural racism (e.g. serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, engaging BIPOC leaders within a community, etc.). This is not a requirement to apply for Cultural Support Services Projects funding, but sharing about your project’s equity work, however it manifests, will give the panel a fuller picture of how your project supports your community.
Are You Eligible?
Your Organization or Tribe
Cultural Support Services Projects grants are available for King County-based nonprofit arts, heritage, historic preservation, and science & technology organizations, as well as Tribal governments, public development authorities, and public agencies.
To be eligible for a Cultural Support Services Projects award, your organization or Tribe must:
- Have a mission that includes a focus on one of four disciplines:
- Arts: includes organizations or Tribes focused on creative place-making, cultural festivals, dance, design, film, folk and traditional arts, literary arts, multidisciplinary arts, music, theater, and visual arts.
- Heritage: includes organizations or Tribes focused on the preservation and transmission of local history; ethnic history; Native cultures; folklore and intangible cultural heritage; and historic and archaeological resources.
- Historic Preservation: includes organizations or Tribes focused on advocacy or assistance to preserve, promote, and sustain historic places; education about historic built environment; or stewarding historic properties that serve as a venue for cultural activities.
- Science and Technology: includes organizations or Tribes focused on natural and social sciences, characterized by a formalized framework that entails the reproducible testing and revision of falsifiable ideas based on observable facts, as well as formal and applied sciences, such as mathematics and engineering. Applicants that are zoos or aquariums must also be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
- Have your primary location in King County and a significant portion of your activities occur in King County.
- Have a board of directors, or an advisory council or equivalent decision-making body.
The following are not eligible:
- K-12 schools and school districts.
- Individual practitioners.
If you are a Science & Technology organization, you or your fiscal sponsor must also:
- Be incorporated in the state of Washington.
- Be recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) OR be working with an eligible Fiscal Sponsor.
- Be based in and conduct a majority of your mission-based, public-facing activities in King County with a primary focus on science & technology.
Science and Technology-based organizations and their fiscal sponsors may not be:
- A university, college, or institution of higher education.
- An agency of the state or any of its political subdivisions.
- A municipal corporation.
- A Tribe.
- An organization that raises money for redistribution to multiple cultural organizations.
- A radio or television broadcasting network or station, cable communications system, Internet-based communications venture or service, newspaper, or magazine.
Your Project
- Your project must fall within a category of cultural support services (see above) and support individual cultural practitioners.
- Your project must be accessible to and have impact beyond the staff and board of your organization or Tribe.
- Your project must be accessible to and provide public benefit to King County residents and visitors.
For more information, visit 4Culture.
