Grantmaking
Grantmaking
ArtsFund distributes grants in several ways, including our Allocations grants and a variety of targeted funds. Since its founding, ArtsFund has strengthened the community by supporting over 1,000 arts and cultural organizations in Washington State with more than $115 million awarded in grants.
2023 Community Accelerator Grant
The Community Accelerator Grant, funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, is a historic $10 million investment in Washington’s arts and culture sector. These grants deliver essential capital to Washington’s cultural organizations, including fiscally sponsored organizations and tribal entities, whose primary missions are to produce or support arts and cultural activities. The first year of the program awarded 671 grants throughout the state of Washington. After an exciting year one of the program, ArtsFund was pleased to partner with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation on the second round of funding for the Community Accelerator Grant program.
Community Accelerator Grant Program
2023 Community Accelerator Grant Recipients
Organizations in 35 out of 39 Washington counties, representing 98% of the state’s population, received Community Accelerator Grant funding, in partnership with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. A total of $10 million has been awarded to 671 organizations and tribal entities in 2023. The program was informed by a Community Advisory Panel who advised ArtsFund on the application design, outreach, evaluation and outcome, and included 12 panelists from across the state.
Community Accelerator Grant awards ranged from $2,500 to $25,000 in unrestricted funds, allowing grantees to allocate funding where they deemed most necessary. Across the 671 grantees, the average grant size was $14,909. Grantees cite programming, rent and facilities upgrades, and salaries and labor as ways they might use the funds. When looking into the impact of awards, we looked to grantees to provide insight into how this funding could aid them in their missions. Grantees anticipate a 2:1 revenue generation for every $1 of their grant, resulting in a potential program impact of $30 million.
Community Accelerator grantees indicated a commitment to creating or providing programming that centers BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities.
Grantees self-reported the composition of their staff and board. Each chart shows the percentage of organizations whose staff or board members identify as one of ArtsFund’s centered populations. Ex. 8.20% of organizations reported their staff is comprised of 25% – 50% people with disabilities.
Case Studies
Following the Year 1 grantee announcement, we conducted interviews with 13 grantees to learn more about their organizations and how the Community Accelerator Grant might impact their work. Through the lens of arts and cultural nonprofits throughout the state of Washington, these interviews offer a deeper understanding of the program’s impact.
Community Accelerator Grant Year 1 Case Studies
Youth Arts Opportunity Fund (YAOF)
The Youth Arts Opportunity Fund (YAOF) aims to increase access to participation in meaningful, robust, sustained arts experiences for youth with low socioeconomic status or who have historically lacked access to arts programs. YAOF grants provide flexible operation funds to arts organizations that demonstrate an authentic commitment to this work. In 2023, ArtsFund received 53 eligible applications for YAOF, a 26% increase since 2021.
2023 YAOF Grantee Announcement
Since the program’s inception in 2015, organizations funded through YAOF have provided meaningful arts experiences to over 600,000 K-12 students. In FY23, YAOF grantees provided 380,000 students with an estimated 64,000 hours of arts programming.
Annual Allocations
Allocations grants are our flagship, annual grant program. Through Allocations, ArtsFund issues unrestricted grants to arts and cultural nonprofits in the Puget Sound region. These grants support organizational health and strengthen the arts ecosystem. To reduce the burden on grantees and provide consistent expectations for funding, ArtsFund moved General Allocations to a 3-year grant cycle in FY23. This allows organizations to submit an application and complete a check-in year 1 of the 3-year grant cycle.
ArtsFund’s allocations are awarded by a panel of public, private, and corporate grantmaking experts who engage with ArtsFund in a thorough vetting process, evaluating application materials, and interviewing the leadership of arts groups.