Search Through History Grants in Washington in the U.S.

About

The Dimmer Family Foundation was founded in 1993 in Tacoma, Washington by John C. and Marilyn J. Dimmer. Since its inception, the foundation has granted over $15 million to qualified charities, primarily in Tacoma-Pierce County, Washington. Contributions have been made to organizations focusing on children, families and the elderly; military and veterans; education; civic improvements, social services; culture and the arts; healthcare; animals and the environment. The grants are varied and unique and reflect the diverse interests of family members. We are proud to support organizations of all sizes. We have honored requests from fund raising professionals, committed volunteers and enterprising youth. This foundation has supported many capital projects which have left a lasting legacy in our community. However, the majority of our foundation gifts are made for operating support or programs. We make grants to more than 100 charitable organizations annually.

Grants

The grant application process is closed. Grants are made by decision and discretion of the Board of Directors. The Board meets at least twice a year, with letters of decision and grants being mailed shortly thereafter. The majority of grants are made at our spring meeting in the second quarter of the calendar year. The second meeting is in the fourth quarter of the year. In some unusual cases, we may be able to make a decision on a grant request between meetings if we are made aware of a particular urgency.

In the grant making process, we consider: a past history of giving with that organization; a personal relationship of a Board member with that organization or a person associated with that organization; and the relevancy of the mission of the organization. While past history is a good indicator of whether the Board will make future grants, no organization should assume that a future grant is guaranteed. Organizations that the foundation has previously supported are not asked to make a grant request annually, however, it is advisable to periodically provide organizational updates in the form of letters or newsletters, or to schedule a meeting with Diane Dimmer, Executive Director.

The Norcliffe Foundation is a private family foundation established to improve the ​quality of life for all people in our community.

What we fund

Areas of support include human services, healthcare, civic and community projects, education, and arts and culture. 

Funding Areas

The foundation makes grants in the following areas: 

• Arts & Culture
• Civic & Community
• Education
• Healthcare & Research
• Human & Social Services

Grant Amounts

The Norcliffe Foundation provides support to a wide variety of organizations and projects. Grant size depends on the scope of the project and the capacity of the organization.

Nearly 60% of the grants we make are $15,000 or less.

Things to consider when determining the appropriate amount to request:

• What is the gift range already committed or pending from other funders and foundations? The Norcliffe Foundation is most interested in joining a community of funders and is rarely the largest donor to a project.
• Is there a history of funding from The Norcliffe Foundation and what is the range for those grants?

Funding Types

Funding types include:

• Capacity Building
• Capital and Infrastructure 
• Challenge or Matching
• General Operating
• Program Support ​

Our Mission

Our Foundation supports causes that impact our customers’ lives. Our stores provide the opportunity to mobilize funding and create awareness in our neighborhoods through our employees’ passion, partnerships with our vendors and the generous contributions by our customers.

Carefully directing contributions, we work in collaboration with local organizations and seek to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. We take pride in ensuring that the vast majority of the funds we raise stays in local communities and reflects what is important to our customers and employees.

About Our Foundation

The Foundation is made up of 12 brands – we are registered as the Albertsons Companies Foundation and do business as each of the 12 brands listed here.

We actively seek out organizations that are working with the community and making an impact for our shoppers.

Grant Funding Guidelines for Portland*

*Portland includes the following areas: Portland, OR and SW Washington

The Albertsons Companies and Safeway Foundations funds organizations that strengthen the neighborhoods we serve. Please see below for our guidelines and other important information on our grants process.

Priorities

We support nonprofit organizations whose mission is aligned with our priority areas:

• Health and Human Services
• Hunger
• Youth and Education
• Veterans
• Supporting Diversity and Inclusion of All Abilities

Health and Human Services

We believe that all people deserve access to essential human services and that the health of our community starts with the health of our neighbors. Therefore, we sponsor organizations that are engaged in medical research. We contribute to financing medical research programs that improve the lives of our neighbors, particularly those who traditionally have little or no access to care.

We focus, among other health-related causes, on Cancer Research and organizations that:

• Increase the number of patients enrolled in cancer trials
• Increase the number of patients who gained access to cancer preventative testing
• Increase the number of patients given access to alternative medicine for cancer

We believe that a cure will be found and that our careful allocation of funds will be a catalyst in the process.

Amount

Outside of a specific RFP, a first-time funded organization will typically receive a grant of $1,000-$5,000. Once we have some history with an organization, we will entertain a request at a higher value.

Inspired to make contributions with a wide-ranging yet personal impact, Carl and Marilynn Thoma founded the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation in 2014 to distinguish their initiatives in and support of the visual arts. In 2021, the Foundation was renamed the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation to more broadly reflect its expanded philanthropic efforts and initiatives, including the Thoma Scholars Program, which aims to strengthen community, leadership, and education initiatives in under-resourced and rural areas.

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation recognizes that the arts and education enhance lives and communities. We make art collection-related grants, as well as lending and exhibiting our own collection. We focus our education funding on the rural Southwest, primarily offering scholarships to students in the greater Texas panhandle. Through these giving programs, we strive to foster leadership, innovation, and equal opportunity.

Nonprofit Organizations

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations whose innovative projects and original ideas will advance scholarship in our collection areas. We accept Letters of Inquiry on a rolling basis for bold proposals that provide promising insights into the fields of art which we collect:

• Art of the Spanish Americas

The Foundation’s Art of the Spanish Americas collection numbers more than 200 works from the 17th to 19th centuries—principally paintings from South America. The collection includes works on religious themes and portraits from the Viceroyalty of Peru (and the smaller entities such as the Kingdom of Nueva Granada into which it was divided in the eighteenth century), as well as a small selection of portraits from the Spanish Caribbean.

•  Digital & Media Art

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation began supporting the field of Digital Art in 2009. Our collection has grown to include over 400 artworks by more than 138 artists, representing a global history of the medium from 1959 to the present. The Thoma Foundation’s core collection of Digital Art highlights the specific achievements of modern computers—their processing speed, infinite data capacity, imaging precision, and virtual networking—to aid artists. Media Art signifies our support of art created with both pioneering and emerging time-based technologies, especially in relation to electronic mass media—the news and photojournalism, film and television, video games, social media, and other cultural experiences produced by communications technology.

• Japanese Bamboo

The Japanese Bamboo collection includes contemporary Japanese Bamboo baskets representing both independent artists and bamboo artists from the two professional associations devoted to the field, Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) and the Nihon Kogeikai (Japan Craft Arts Association).

• Post-War Painting & Sculpture

The Foundation’s collection of mid-century global abstract art is centered around the years 1950–79 and the major movements of that period including Color Field, Hard Edge, Op, Washington Color School, Light & Space, and shaped canvas.

We also welcome requests pertaining to the arts and culture of the American Southwest. The projects we support through our Collections-Related Grants for Nonprofits fall within one or more of the following categories:

• Exhibitions

We welcome the opportunity to become an early funder of landmark exhibitions that relate to our collections, and which significantly raise the public profile of those genres while also advancing art historical scholarship. Historically, we have cultivated strong relationships with medium-size museums across the country that reach a diverse regional audience and value innovative curation. Exhibition funding can include development, scholarship, construction, outreach, traveling costs, admissions subsidies, and more. The Thoma Foundation also loans pieces from its collections in support of exhibitions.

• Convenings

To encourage scholarly debate and dialogue, we fund academic conferences and workshops that will significantly advance the fields of art scholarship related to our collections. We urge applicants to familiarize themselves with industry standards for honoraria and per diems in advance of creating a convening budget.

• Academic 

Research, travel, manuscript development, hiring research assistants, equipment, etc. to support original scholarship related to our collection areas. Academic projects should culminate in a clear final deliverable such as a book manuscript or peer-reviewed article.

Individual Fellowships and Awards

In addition to our nonprofit grants, the Foundation runs several fellowship programs for individuals related to our Art of the Spanish Americas collections. This includes two annual fellowship programs geared towards postdoctoral scholars and Ph.D. candidates: the Marilynn Thoma Fellowship in Art of the Spanish Americas and the Thoma Foundation Research and Travel Awards in Art of the Spanish Americas. Biannually, we offer the Exploratory Travel Award to early career Ph.D. students. 

Thoma Foundation Special Project Funding

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation offers a Special Project Funding Grant as part of its broader grant programs described above. Through the above programs, we seek to heighten public interest and awareness, fuel innovative scholarship, and promote dynamic partnerships in the fields of art and art history. For the Special Project Funding, the Foundation takes a proactive and personal approach to giving. Rather than making grants based on a call for applications, we work collaboratively to make challenging projects happen. We support people and their bright futures instead of endowments or capital improvements. Our interests here include:

• Significant art exhibitions and programs supporting artists and the areas of our collection.
• Innovative high school projects and college scholarships that build leaders and communities in the greater Texas Panhandle.

If you have a project you would like to partner with us on, we are interested. We value long-term relationships with grantees and encourage you to connect with us at any stage of the application process. 

Investing in Our Communities

At OneCause, our Why is to build better tomorrows for nonprofits like yours, your supporters, and the impact you create together! To live our Why, we go beyond industry-leading software, services, and support by offering innovative programs to move your mission forward.

Our Corporate Grants Program helps nonprofits leverage technology to raise more life-changing funds and reach more donors. We offer two technology-based grants annually to registered 501c3 organizations, up to $10,000 each, used to underwrite OneCause fundraising software. Because an investment in nonprofits is an investment in our communities.

Grant Focus Areas

Mental Health & Wellness:

Everyone has a right to a safe and healthy environment. We’re looking for organizations that promote self-care and wellness to help triumph a meaningful life, free from mental illness, hunger, poverty, and social injustices or inequities. Tell us how you help members of your community reach their highest potential – mind, body, and soul.

Community:

Does your organization empower populations to thrive and grow in safe environments? Share how you contribute to community strength and pride in culture by embracing and expanding diversity, encouraging mutual support, and preserving important community history.

Sustainability:

The planet we call home needs protection now, more than ever, so that its ecosystems and biodiversity can be preserved for future generations. How does your organization help guard the planet and conserve our natural resources that are essential to our global community?

What does OneCause look for in a potential grantee?

OneCause looks at the following factors when awarding grants:

• Alignment with cause focus areas
• Needs based
• Software use case for fundraising or awareness building
• Clear focus on how the software will further the mission
• Adhering to deadline and application completeness
• Organization’s commitment to fulfilling grantee responsibilities

What is a technology-based grant?

The OneCause Corporate Grants Program provides nonprofit organizations access to OneCause software products and services to help expand their collective impact. The program includes two (2) donated subscriptions per organization (two full years, worth up to $10,000), service, support, and consulting plus discounts on additional subscriptions, products, and/or services from OneCause.

Does OneCause provide monetary award in lieu of technology-based grant?

Currently, the OneCause Corporate Grants Program is a technology-based grant offering.

The technology-based grant may be applied toward the following:

• Fundraising Platform
• Text2Give
• Online Giving
• Ambassador Fundraising
• Peer-to-Peer Solutions
• Professional Services
• Add-On Consulting Services
• Add-On Virtual Services

Grant also includes:

• Grant Liaison Representative
• Customer Success Manager
• Phone, Chat & Email Support
• Consulting
• OneCause University Fundraising Courses
• Access to OneCause Webinars and Fundraising Resources

Small Urban Partnership Support

Small Urban Partnership Support (SUPS) provides operating support for qualified arts organizations chartered in one of Tennessee’s urban counties (see list below). Funding will depend upon an organization’s rating in the review process and upon the total amount of funds available to the Tennessee Arts Commission for grant allocation. This category is competitive. Applicant organization must have a minimum budget of $30,000.

Organizations may request no more than 20% of their total cash operating expenses in their most recently completed fiscal year at the time they submit their application, up to but not exceeding the maximum grant amount. The SUPS grant requires a one-to-one (1:1) dollar match.

The total cash operating expenses, verified by a 990 submitted to the IRS within 12 months from the application date and provided by the applicant (for organizations with operating expenses $50,000+) or a Profit & Loss Statement signed by the application (for organizations with operating expenses between $30,000-$50,000), will be determined by the sum total of:

• Salaries, Benefits & Taxes,
• Professional Fee, Grant & Award,
• Supplies, Telephone Postage & Shipping, Occupancy, Equipment Rental & Maintenance, Printing & Publications,
• Travel, Conferences & Meetings, and
• Other Non-Personnel
• The following are not allowed as operating expenses: capital expenses, endowment funds, penalties payments, in-kind expenses, bank penalties, or furniture and fixture expenditures. Additional financial details and/or documents may be requested.

Applicant organizations are reviewed every other year by a peer advisory panel, although organizations must submit a complete application every year. Those organizations new to the SUPS category must be reviewed for two consecutive years prior to beginning the biennial review rotation process. Commission staff will contact all current SUPS recipients and inform them of their review status and, if appropriate, schedule.

Every organization that receives public operating support will be required to implement a structured promotional campaign for the Arts Specialty License Plates within its ongoing communications program.

Operating support applicants (SUPS, SRPS, PS, MCI) may not submit an application for APS/RAPS in the same fiscal year. However, all operating support applicants may submit applications in the Arts Access and Arts Education categories, and SUPS and SRPS applicants may also submit an application in the Arts Build Communities category. These additional requests are based on eligibility, and applicants must provide proof that funds requested for AA, AE or ABC grants will not be used for Salaries, Benefits & Taxes and that the applicant can independently meet the cash matching requirements for each additional request without using the cash match or Commission funds requested from its operating support application.

Tennessee Urban Counties 

• Anderson
• Blount
• Bradley
• Davidson
• Hamilton
• Knox
• Madison
• Maury
• Montgomery
• Putnam
• Rutherford
• Sevier
• Shelby
• Sullivan
• Sumner
• Washington
• Williamson
• Wilson

The purpose of the Bamford Foundation is to improve the quality of life of individuals and to strengthen their communities, primarily in Tacoma, Washington and the South Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest.

History

The Bamford Foundation was established in 1990 by Calvin D. Bamford, Jr. and Joanne Bamford with the intent of supporting their home community of Tacoma, Washington. As long-time President of Globe Machine Manufacturing Company, founded in 1917 and located on Tacoma’s tide-flats, Calvin has demonstrated his commitment to give back to the Tacoma community through this foundation and through his membership on boards and in a variety of community organizations. Likewise, Joanne, having moved to the area in 1967 when she married Cal, has led a number of boards and has worked with many charitable organizations in the areas of education, human services and the arts, in order to improve the quality of life of families in Tacoma. The Bamford Foundation embodies the values that Joanne and Calvin instilled in their children and hope to instill in future generations. These values include the importance of family, life-long education, involvement in one's community, and generosity.

What We Support

Over the past 12 years, the Bamford Foundation has continued to make grants aligned with our four priority giving areas, primarily within greater Tacoma and Pierce County, in the spirit of our founders' mission to improve the quality of life of individuals and families and to strengthen their communities. The foundation supports 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, which include operational funds, capacity building funds, program funds, partnerships, and capital projects that are evidence-based; innovative; that promote equity, diversity, access and inclusion; and that invite individuals and families to use their voices and resources to strengthen their communities. We support efforts that represent collaboration with partners in the greater community for the most impact. The foundation's giving priorities reflect the board's value of the transformative role of lifelong education for individuals, families and communities:

Basic Needs (access to food, physical and mental/behavioral health care, housing and shelter, clothing and other basic needs, financial stability)

We support organizations that promote self-sufficiency through enabling individuals to meet their basic needs.

Early Learning and Parent support

We promote the healthy development and learning of young children 0-8 though our support of organizations, programs and initiatives/partnerships which improve access to and quality of early learning experiences including child care, support parents and primary caregivers as their children's first teachers, and enhance professional development and support of those who work with and care for young children.

Expanded Learning Opportunities

We support access to expanded learning opportunities for all of our community members, but in particular for children and youth preschool- grade 12, which includes participation in education-related programs in arts, cultural understanding and civic engagement; in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math); social-emotional learning; environmental education; and learning support programs (supporting different pathways to learning).

Access to Higher Education and Job training opportunities

We support programs, initiatives, and organizations that improve access for people to opportunities in postsecondary education, job training, apprenticeships and career pathways, including programs that support students to complete their degrees, and to identify and reach their educational, career and life goals.

Our Mission

To improve the quality of life in all communities throughout Grays Harbor County, Washington.

Our Vision Statement

To be the leading source directing charitable support to meet our current and future community needs.

Giving Priorities

Establish Quality Education and Learning Opportunities for all ages

• Programs that fully integrate on-site services of school districts and nonprofit organizations
• Tutoring and mentoring programs
• Learning efforts designed to reduce the preparation gap
• Dropout prevention at critical transition points and reconnect dropouts to school and employment via alternative education programs
• Efforts to involve parents and families in schools/education

• Efforts to promote and enhance positive self-worth within the community

• Programs that provide high quality career and technical education and training
• Efforts that teach students financial literacy
• Support systems for first-generation or returning, low-income college students
• Programs that promote literacy

Promote Health and Wellness

• Programs focused on addressing health disparities or disproportionately affected populations
• Programs that seek to reduce and/or prevent teen pregnancy, Tobacco use, Drugs and Alcohol, child abuse and/or Domestic Violence
• Treatment programs for substance abuse and mental illness
• Services for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse
• Organizations and projects that promote and encourage healthy lifestyles

Provide Broad Access to Arts, Culture and History

• Programs that encourage participation in the arts through schools and the broader community
• Programs to connect people to the historical culture of Grays Harbor
• Efforts to preserve community landmarks

Help Meet the Basic Needs of Residents

• Collaboration among food programs in order to better respond to hunger needs
• The infrastructure needs of food banks who consistently offer nutritious food and access to clean clothing
• Free, culturally appropriate meal programs for children year-round

• Efforts to transition people from homelessness by offering support services such as counseling, childcare and job training
• Organizational efforts to prevent homelessness
• Nonprofits working to keep housing affordable

Community Building Grants Program

The Grays Harbor Community Foundation addresses community needs by supporting nonprofit organizations throughout Grays Harbor County. The Foundation recognizes that the needs of our community are many. We support organizations in arts and culture, education, health and human services. Grant applications from all nonprofit organizations that meet our priorities and that are serving local residents are welcomed and encouraged.

The Grays Harbor Community Foundation offers a flexible granting cycle to address our community’s needs and immediate goals. We give high priority to investments that create positive, substantive change and attempt to resolve problems at their source.

Community Building Grant Details

Two Community Building Grant cycles occur twice annually, with an application deadline of February 1 and October 1. GHCF looks for proposals that show:

• The strength of the applicant organization.
• Address a community need.
• Fit well within the GHCF’s giving priorities.
• Show the ability to leverage other funding.
• Have a positive impact on persons and/or the community.
• Demonstrate the capacity to provide the necessary services using good administrative and financial management.

African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grants

Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund advance ongoing preservation activities for historic sites, museums, and landscape projects representing African American cultural heritage. The fund supports work in four primary areas: Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation. Grants made from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund will range from $50,000 to $150,000. In 2022, the National Trust awarded $3 million to 33 projects. Since establishing the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s National Grant Program in 2017, the National Trust has supported more than 200 preservation projects nationally.

The Zinnia Grant is our most competitive grant program, designed to make a transformative and lasting impact in an Oregon organization with whom we have partnered several — if not many — times before.

• Our typical Zinnia Grant varies in size, depending on the finalist.
• Typically, annual awards range from $250,000 to $350,000 per year
• Award terms are typically three (3) years for Zinnia finalists unless the organization prefers an alternative distribution
• Applicants are required to have operating budgets in excess of $1M and must have three (3) or more grants on record with us, although ideally more
• This is our most competitive program and is conducted through a self-nomination process, such that organizations can forego the extensive application. We ask organizations to share updated information, complete a few brief questions, and otherwise leverage prior applications and funding history to inform our review.
• This grant is typically awarded to organizations that are unquestionably aligned with our Mission and values, and with whom we have partnered several, if not many, times already.
• Moreover, applicants must hold a deep and integral commitment to equity, especially racial equity. 

The Zinnia Grant is a stand-alone program and can be pursued by any eligible organization at any time, including those who are actively in or pursuing another grant.

Background

The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, founded in 1987, is a family foundation that supports nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The Foundation is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of nature, including wildlife and their required habitats. It also supports the institutions that present nature and our rich cultural heritage to the public.

Areas of interest

• Community-based projects working to restore habitat and wildlife by activating volunteers and local residents.
• Collaborative and coalition-building projects involving a number of organizations working together to share strengths and maximize effectiveness.
• Cultural and natural history institutions using a community-based approach to explore the history and traditions of the greater Puget Sound area.
• Projects from Native American communities on issues related to cultural preservation and protection of natural resources.

Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative Grant

Across the country, descendant communities and families are engaged in exciting and groundbreaking efforts to reclaim, rescue, and share overlooked stories and places of resilience, achievement, and perseverance. The impact of these efforts deserves admiration, resources, and partnership. Grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund's Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative will empower and equip descendant-led and family-led organizations and projects to preserve, activate, and manage historic places. This initiative is a testament to our belief in the capacity of descendant communities and families to be full partners and leaders in the physical preservation, interpretative programming, management, and governance of historic places.

The Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative is not just another grant funding opportunity. It's a unique, multi-year partnership and investment opportunity with one grant funding category – Stewardship Project. Powered by the Mellon Foundation's Humanities in Place, the Action Fund will award five grants and invest $200,000 per grantee, providing specialized consultation and best practices support for a period of two years.

Descendant and Family Stewardship Grants support project management, capacity-building, grantmaking, and convenings for place-based organizations. In collaboration and consultation with the Action Fund, the selected grantees will engage in the following activities during the two-year grant period as we work together to preserve American history and model new approaches in historic preservation:

• Completing a Stewardship Project needs assessment to inform the scope of work, the use of the grant funds, and define project milestones and deliverables.
• Receiving $200,000 in grant funds to develop a Stewardship Plan and launch the implementation of its recommendations.
• Promoting the partnership, process, and lessons learned for other stewarding organizations to replicate.
• Participating in convenings with initiative stakeholders to share best practices, build community, and advance the field.

The Stewardship Project's scope of work, for example, can include architectural and design services, strategic and fundraising planning, interpretation and program development, community engagement and audience development, staff support, limited capital and restoration, and other priorities established through the assessment process.

The Action Fund provides consultation to meet our grantees’ organizational needs and priorities. Our role as the grantor is to work hand in hand with our grantee partners through a collaborative process focused on asset management of heritage resources and holistic stewardship visioning and planning. Project partners will work as a team to achieve the grantee's short-term and long-term stewardship goals.

Help Define Descendant in Historic Preservation

Today, the preservation field has varying views on defining "descendant," though it is often used in connection to heritage sites associated with slavery, such as a plantation, burial ground, or jail. The Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative is a collaborative effort that values the input of all stakeholders. Our work with grantees includes strategic collaboration across the historic preservation field to define “descendant” and establish more broadly-adopted language. For example, descendant communities can include a direct blood lineage or historical affiliation to a site of enslavement, like Virginia's Sharswood Plantation, or social movements in education and civil rights, such as Washington-Rosenwald Schools, Birmingham Foot Soldiers, and the Tulsa Race Massacre.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is committed to understanding the different perspectives of descendant-led organizations and projects and seeks your help. Therefore, applicants for this grant can define “descendant” for themselves and make the case that their organization and project are descendant-led and family-led on the Letter of Intent (LOI) form. We deeply respect and value the unique perspectives and experiences that each organization brings to the table.

In addition to descendant-led, family-led describes organizations where family members with direct ties to a historic place help steward the site, such as a granddaughter advocating for Virginia's Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum, siblings volunteering at Philadelphia's John Coltrane Home, or a family saving a legacy farm. It may also include property owners of a historic residence or venue associated with Black history, actively supporting its preservation, public access, and interpretation.

Barborinas Family Fund Grant Program

Jim and Annie Barborinas are legends in the nursery industry, having worked throughout the Puget Sound Region with large and small communities, landscape architects, engineers, developers, housing authorities, school districts and private citizens on many urban forest issues. Jim, Annie and their family own and operate Urban Forest Nursery, a highly regarded 32-acre wholesale tree nursery in Washington’s Skagit Valley region, specializing in growing high quality street and landscape trees. Their trees are specifically selected and grown for characteristics that complement the limited planting spaces and adverse conditions typical of urban planting sites today. Through their consulting business, as well as their long history of producing street and landscape trees in fabric growbags for the wholesale industry, they have seen the need to improve production techniques for improved root growth and establishment.

As a direct result of their nursery experiences and in testimony to their commitment to sound tree science, Jim and Annie founded and were the principal funders (with support from the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture) of the Barborinas Family Fund, which will award grants for research focused on tree production, planting and transplanting techniques, and the improvement of tree varieties for urban conditions, to focus on root science.

Mechanical root manipulation that includes cutting, slicing, pulling and spreading roots to encourage and release root growth beyond the original root-ball is critical to administer to defective root-balls, but too often does not take place, contributing to the demise of the tree. This research should focus on developing root systems and trees that are planting ready at the time of transfer to the landscape installation industry and not dependent on root-ball corrections so they can grow properly and become well established long loved, mature trees.

The focus of the Jim and Annie Barborinas Fund is to study the processes of the nursery industry with the goal to research how to create a root system and above ground structure of the tree that is planting ready and require no additional work on the part of the installer to manipulate the roots or stem structure. Grants should study the production of root and stem system from the first steps of seedlings, tissue culture, and the various methods of cultivar propagation to liner production and onto final tree production that lead to the sale and transfer of the tree to the landscape installation industry. This includes the various parts of the transfer process of including re-wholesale ‘nurseries’, and the various root package options including: B&B, containers, fabric growbags, tree spade, bareroot root, gravel bed and other root packages that are part of the production and transfer of trees from the nursery industry to the landscape installation industry.

The grants may also support research to expand the diversity of different tree species and cultivars, studying issues with hard to propagate, produce and establish trees, or increasing industry acceptance of new species by identifying and resolving, through research, the roadblocks to acceptance.

Heritage Projects

Through Heritage Projects we support the people and organizations making history relevant and provocative through exhibits, publications, oral histories, and more.

What Heritage Projects Funds

4Culture’s Heritage Projects program funds the identification, documentation, exhibition, creation, and interpretation of heritage and histories in King County, Washington. Requests can range from $2,000 to $15,000. “Heritage” in this program is defined as “the exchange of knowledge and experiences shaped by our past” and includes local history, ethnic history, Native cultures, folklore and intangible cultural heritage, and historic and archaeological resources in King County.

You can use this grant to:

• Create heritage resources including, but not limited to, books, guides, brochures, research projects, digital projects, oral histories, visual or audio recordings, museum exhibits and programs, and education curriculum.
• Preservation of material culture related to heritage in King County (please note that Collections Care program will not run in 2025).
• Produce special events and programs that highlight heritage in our region including, but not limited to: conferences, workshops, technical assistance programs, apprenticeship or training opportunities, historic tours, field schools, skill demonstrations, and programs that facilitate collaboration between heritage groups and practitioners.
• Create resources and programs that explore the themes of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding as it relates to people and communities in King County.
• Provide opportunities for populations underrepresented in mainstream heritage organizations including communities of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, youth, people with disabilities, and gender variant communities to work firsthand with heritage resources.
• Pay for materials and consumable supplies used for your project, publicity and outreach efforts for your project, transportation, and documentation.
• Compensation for the project team, professional consultants, heritage specialists, trainees, or staff time if work on the project is outside their regular work duties and payment is beyond their regular compensation structure.

Criteria

For this grant, panelists will use the below criteria to score each application:

Project impact and public benefit: how your project meets the goals of your organization’s or personal mission and established needs in the community. How well your project helps expand or develop King County’s historical narrative and shows a potential to raise the visibility of heritage work in King County. Your project increases public access to heritage resources and programs, including clear efforts to make them accessible to many ages, disabilities, languages, and communities. Your project provides compelling and feasible public benefit for residents and visitors of King County.

Quality and qualifications: how well your project activities and planning align with professional standards, best practices, or values of the community served. The qualifications of you and your project team align with the proposed project and its intended impact. Qualifications can be skill, experience, training, or knowledge-based.

Feasibility: Your ability to complete your project within 24 months of the award date and with a realistic timeline, and thoughtful planning. This is demonstrated through the qualifications of the project team, realistic and balanced budget, and details provided in the Project Implementation section.

Advancing Equity: 4Culture’s mission focuses on racial equity and envisions a county where culture is essential and accessible to all. Your project specifically benefits communities of color and/or historically marginalized communities, The project serves or collaborates with members of these communities. This is not an eligibility requirement, but it is one of the factors the panel will consider.

Public Benefit: Why It Matters

Every time a visitor to Washington State stays in a hotel, they pay a Lodging Tax—this is where our funding comes from, and our mission is to put it back into the community. In your application, tell us exactly how your fellow King County residents will be able to enjoy and learn from your work. Read about public benefit more in depth here. Here are some ways you can provide public benefit:

• Free performances, exhibitions, workshops, screenings, or readings.
• Events in the often under-served areas of suburban or rural King County, to low-income, youth and senior groups, individuals with limited physical abilities, recent immigrants, or residents from minority races or ethnicities.
• Free, electronically accessible materials, including literary publications, audio, or video recordings.

Equity Investments

In order to combat inequities in our grantmaking, 4Culture has implemented Equity Investments. This practice incorporates indicators of structural inequity into our panel process, including geographic location, income, operating budget, audiences served, and project focus. By prioritizing these factors, we intend to more equitably distribute funds to communities that have historically been excluded from cultural funding.

Each of our grant programs implements an Equity Investment system tailored to the specific needs of its applicants; please read the After You Submit section of this page for details on how Equity Investments functions for this grant. This organization-wide practice —and what we learn about its impact—is an important step towards more equitable funding at 4Culture and throughout the King County cultural sector.

About Building for Equity: Capacity Building

The Building for Equity: Capacity Building Grants invest in an organization’s development, allowing them to secure their long-term facility needs. These grants of up to $25,000 may fund a wide-range of activities that increase an organization’s capability to advocate and plan for, fundraise for, lease, acquire, repair, remodel, and/or construct space suitable for their programming in a sustainable, long-term manner.

This grant is a part of 4Culture and King County’s Building for Equity initiative, to support cultural building projects and create a pathway to racial equity in cultural facilities funding. To help us achieve this goal, this fund prioritizes organizations located in, and providing services to, historically underserved communities within King County.

Criteria

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

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

• Quality and qualifications: The reasoning behind your proposed capacity building activities, how they relate to your organization’s ability to secure or improve facilities in the future, and how central they are to your mission and the services your organization provides to King County residents and visitors.
• Priorities: Organizations that are located in and that prioritize serving historically marginalized communities or audiences outside of Seattle will be prioritized if all above criteria are met.
• Feasibility: Your ability to complete the work described in your request with the resources and time available to your organization.
• Impact: The impact the work described will have on your organization’s future sustainability and ability to improve or secure its facilities. How will the community benefit from these investments.

Public Benefit: Why It Matters

Every time a visitor to Washington State stays in a hotel, they pay a Lodging Tax—this is where our funding comes from, and our mission is to put it back into the community. 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:

• Free performances, exhibitions, workshops, screenings, or readings.
• Events in the often under-served areas of suburban or rural King County, to low-income, youth and senior groups, individuals with limited physical abilities, recent immigrants, or residents from minority races or ethnicities.
• Free, electronically accessible materials, including literary publications, audio, or video recordings.

Focus Grants

Our Focus Grants program provides place-based support to organizations that are disrupting the cycle of intergenerational poverty in southwest Washington. Our Focus Grant Program prioritizes investing in organizations working to disrupt the cycle of intergenerational poverty and create pathways for prosperity in the following populations with intersecting identities disproportionally impacted by economic, racial and/or social inequities in our region.

Focus Grant awards vary in size, typically ranging between $25,000 and $50,000, and go to organizations that demonstrate how they are disrupting the cycle of intergenerational poverty.

Intention of Focus Grant Program

We acknowledge the experience of intergenerational poverty is not shared equally in our community. Throughout history, policies have systemically excluded certain communities from the opportunities we all need to thrive, influencing their disproportionate experience of poverty. Through our strategic grantmaking, we are committed to reducing disparities in the following ways:

• Supporting organizations working to address the root causes of intergenerational poverty and create pathways for prosperity.
• Advancing policies and systems that center people with lived expertise.
• Prioritizing organizations led by members of the communities for which they serve.
• Reaching into local communities and actively engaging as a strategic partner to all the counties we serve.
• Increasing the capacity of organizations in the community whose work, mission and values align with our own.
• Investing in innovative, community-driven strategies to solve emerging and structural societal issues.

Our Impact Areas

We interrupt persistent poverty by addressing immediate needs and building stability for the long-term.

• Basic Human Needs: Many in our community are working to survive, and every day presents a challenge to find food, shelter and security. For this reason, we fund organizations and programs that fulfill the basic needs of underserved people, families and communities. This includes needs such as food security, rent and utility assistance, affordable housing, physical and mental health, caregiving, domestic violence services and more. By addressing these pressing needs as they arise, people are better able to plan for their futures.
• Educational Attainment: In today’s economy, a good job and upward mobility increasingly depend on educational attainment. Without access, inclusivity and strong social supports, even students with great potential can encounter barriers. We invest in efforts that provide equitable opportunities along the entire educational continuum from cradle to career, so that every child enters school ready to learn and is able to achieve their goals for post-secondary success.
• Asset Building: All southwest Washington residents should have the opportunity to achieve financial security. We fund efforts to improve the economic health of the people and communities who face the biggest barriers to mobility. These include asset- and wealth-building strategies, employment services, financial planning and credit repair, small business development, homeownership, community livability, economic development and more.

Community Impact Lens -The following priorities help guide our funding toward projects and programs that have the greatest potential for community impact.

• Community Need: The program or organization addresses an important community need in southwest Washington and is focused on dismantling disparities and increasing opportunities for historically underserved communities;
• Organization’s Mission:The proposed project or work is consistent with the organization’s mission, and the organization has the experience and knowledge to address the identified community need;
• Equity Commitment: The organization is committed to and can effectively demonstrate how it continues to advance diversity, equity and inclusion both internally, through its institutional practices and policies, and externally, through its partnerships and program delivery.
• Programatic Alignment: The program or organization is working to build awareness around intergenerational poverty and address its root causes;
• Best Practices: The organization’s programs are clearly defined, avoid duplication and are grounded in strength-based best practices in the field;
• Culturally Responsive: The organization seeks to include the voices and perspectives of the people and communities it serves during program development and conducts outreach and service delivery with cultural sensitivity;
• Community Relationships: The organization has established trusted community relationships and meaningful community partnerships;
• Collaboration: The organization seeks to collaborate and share, carrying out their work in coordination with partners or through coalition building efforts;
• Meaningful Impact: The outcomes and activities noted are realistic and the organization has demonstrated potential of future impact;
• Sustainability: The organization demonstrates competency in fiscal planning and management; the project budget and grant request are commensurate in size with the organization’s overall budget and with the proposed impact of the work; and additional support is sought from other funding sources.

Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation

During their lives, Mr. and Mrs. Miller were very generous in supporting many charitable activities and organizations. The Foundation was established in 1994 to perpetuate their philanthropic legacy.

Focusing on the Pacific Northwest, the Foundation makes grants primarily to civic and cultural institutions that serve the general public in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on gardens and horticulture, as well as on the region’s history. The work of the Foundation is carried out by a combination of paid and volunteer Leadership.

Over the years, the Foundation has distributed more than $12 million to dozens of Grant Recipients, and the Photo Gallery highlights the work of selected recipients.

Program Focus:

The lack of quality, affordable housing options for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has reached a crisis in the United States. Planning grants reflect our commitment to supporting the exploration of new, inclusive housing efforts in urban and rural areas of Oregon and Washington that are affordable, scalable, and sustainable. These grants are designed to support the creation of a viable action plan for project development and funding.

Award

Funding range: The average grant awarded is typically $15,000 to $25,000.

Maximum funding request: $75,000 depending on overall budget.

General Operating Support for Midsized Organizations Grant

General Operating Support for Midsized Organizations offers two-year funding to arts, heritage, and culture organizations for general operating expenses. These small two-year grants support organizations in providing public arts and culture experiences.

We will implement priorities-based criteria to ensure our limited funds are distributed equitably. This funding structure and process is strategically designed to maximize support for our growing community while aligning with the objectives in our strategic plan. We seek to keep diverse communities engaged in the creative economy, support the creative sector statewide, and emphasize cultural equity, community diversity, and sector growth. 

Funding

Applicants can request up to $12,000 split across two years ($6,000 x 2) for general operating expenses. If awarded, grant amounts may vary depending on available funds.

Art Project Grant

ArtsWA is offering support to groups providing art programming with and for the people of Washington State. Organizations do not need to have an arts-focused mission to apply.

Funding

Applicants can request between $2,000-$5,000 for their project. If awarded, grant amounts can vary depending on panel recommendations and available funds.

This is a reimbursement grant, meaning that payments will be made after the grant recipient expends funds, and after expense documentation and invoice forms have been submitted to and approved by ArtsWA.

Nearly 40 years ago, Partners of the Americas, Inc. established the Partners of the Americas Foundation, Inc. as a separate legal charitable (IRS Section 501(c)(3)) entity to maintain and provide funds to promote the purposes and goals of Partners of the Americas, Inc. As a charitable support organization, the Foundation has several restricted endowment funds that support Partners of the Americas projects.

Partners Chapters

Partners of the Americas believes in the power of people-to-people connections. Through diverse Chapters across the Western Hemisphere, Partners is able to advance its mission and vision globally.

Madelyn L. Laschober Endowment Fund

The Madelyn L. Laschober Endowment Fund provides funds for an annual grant of up to $1,000 for a project related to youth, education, and microenterprise development. This grant is made possible by the family of Mrs. Laschober in honor of her lifelong interest in Latin America, her career as an elementary and middle school teacher, and her history of giving to charitable organizations. The Laschobers are members of the Washington Chapter, which is partnered with the Chile Chapter.

About Our Program

Our investments are guided by the fundamental belief in the power of live theatre to spark dialogue, bring different viewpoints together on challenging subjects, and provide a lens to process the critical issues of contemporary society.  

Through our Social Impact Theatre grant program, we proudly recognize organizations with production-specific support that are intentional and innovative in engaging with their audiences around these issues and are committed to reaching new audiences. This year, in addition to production-specific grants, we are introducing a new opportunity reflecting our value to support the health and sustainably of the American theater ecosystem.

We understand the current climate for theatres is incredibly challenging – with decreasing revenue sources and increasing costs, many theatres are struggling (and even those thriving face seemingly insurmountable challenges). And yet, we know that in times of challenge, the sector will apply its boundless creativity to adapt models and practices to remain sustainable.

This year, in addition to production specific grant awards, we will be selecting a small number of theatres to receive change capital grants of $10-$25K to kickstart new plans or to adapt and deepen strategies already in process. Awardees will form a cohort to share insights and to support each other and will commit to sharing lessons learned with the Foundation so that we can reshare information to more broadly support the field.

Given our available resources and in the spirit of focusing on our own learning, we will be considering change capital grants in the following three categories:

• Business models. We hear “the current model is broken!” and want to learn how you are experimenting economically. Ex. Letting go of spaces or activating new spaces, shared leadership, cost-sharing partnerships, alternatives to the subscription model etc.
• Building and deepening connection with your community. Are you exploring new programs or projects to increase interconnectivity between your community and the art on stage?
• New leaders. Does your theatre have a leader who has started within the last year who needs capacity to enact their vision and implement necessary changes?

 Grant Process

Interested organizations may request funding for one production and, if interested, one project for which change capital is needed, by submitting an LOI when our grant cycle is open. From this applicant pool, select organizations will be invited to submit a full application. Social impact theatre grants can cover artistic, production, and community engagement expenses.

Heritage Sustained Support

Sustained Support assists with the day-to-day needs of heritage organizations over two-year cycles—this consistent funding source promotes the exploration of the people, places, communities, events, and themes of our region’s past.

 What Sustained Support Funds

Heritage Sustained Support provides operating funds to organizations all over King County for two calendar years with allocations made annually. These awards provide unrestricted operating funds to organizations that have a track record of delivering heritage programs and services, for the benefit of the public.

You can use this grant for:

• Annual Operating expenses related to heritage programs and services which are accessible to King County residents and visitors, and provide public benefit.
• Staff salaries, utilities, supplies, fees, or services.

Criteria

Quality and qualifications: Intentional programming that meets the needs of a diverse and evolving audience. Over the previous two years, a demonstrated expansion or improvement of internal capacity in the following areas: programming, operations, fundraising, outreach, volunteerism, board. This can be demonstrated through professional development and/or recruitment efforts. How well your organization’s operations align with professional standards and best practices. The qualifications of the staff board, and volunteers that allow your organization to meet the goals of your mission and needs in the community. Demonstration of internal planning and identification of strategic priorities that align with the mission and operations of the organization.

Public impact and benefit: how well your organization helps develop the historical record in King County, its potential to raise the visibility of heritage work, and its ability to increase public access to heritage resources and programs. This might include free performances, exhibitions, workshops, screenings, or readings, as well as free, electronically accessible materials, including literary publications, audio.

Heritage priorities: how your organization preserves endangered heritage resources, addresses neglected aspects of people, places, themes, and historic events of King County heritage. These include but are not limited to the histories of: Native Americans, LGBTQ communities, people of color, youth, women, poor, immigrant, refugee, and differently abled peoples. Source communities are provided opportunities to influence and be involved in the operations and programmatic offerings of your organization.

Budget: Timely financial record-keeping through completion of appropriate IRS 990. Demonstrated track record of sufficient revenue levels to achieve programmatic and operational goals. A mixture revenue sources.

Geographic Equity Enhancement

4Culture recognizes that where an organization is based or provides its services can affect access to funding and other resources. Many cultural organizations in greater King County have less access to public and private support than those located in Seattle. To take a step towards balancing these disparities, 4Culture will give a modest award increase to the 2021 Sustained Support awards for organizations located outside the City of Seattle, and for organizations located in Seattle in a 2010 US Census tract area with a Communities of Opportunity index percentile of 60% or greater.

Communities of Opportunity (COO) is a partnership and initiative of the Seattle Foundation and King County, whose purpose is to direct resources where they can have the greatest impact while overcome ongoing patterns of underfunding. Annual measures of life and health indicators by census tract are averaged over multiple years and combined to create a single index. 4Culture will use this index for the 2021 Sustained Support cycle to guide award increases toward applicants located in Communities of Opportunity.

Public Benefit: Why It Matters

Every time a visitor to Washington State stays in a hotel, they pay a Lodging Tax—this is where our funding comes from, and our mission is to put it back into the community. 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:

• Free performances, exhibitions, workshops, screenings, or readings.
• Events in the often under-served areas of suburban or rural King County, to low-income, youth and senior groups, individuals with limited physical abilities, recent immigrants, or residents from minority races or ethnicities.
• Free, electronically accessible materials, including literary publications, audio, or video recordings.

Arts Sustained Support

Sustained Support assists with the day-to-day needs of arts organizations over two-year cycles—this reliable, consistent support lets creativity flourish in the places that make King County a cultural hub.

 What Sustained Support Funds

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.

For arts organizations:

• Clarity and achievement of your organization’s mission and goals.
• Community impact and support, achieved through a consistent level of programming and accessibility for audiences.
• Active role of artists in your organization’s mission and activities, and the continuity of artistic, management, and board personnel.
• Financial accountability as demonstrated through board oversight, audience revenue, and contributed income.

For local arts agencies (LAAs):

• Quality, scope, diversity, and impact of your annual programming.
• Commitment of local government through dedicated staff, commission structure, and annual financial investment in cultural programming.
• Responsiveness to community needs—including diverse populations—through strategic planning, programming, funding, collaboration, technical assistance, convening, and communications.
• Growth and development of resources, scope, impact, and community participation.

Geographic Equity Enhancement

4Culture recognizes that where an organization is based or provides its services can affect access to funding and other resources. Many cultural organizations in greater King County have less access to public and private support than those located in Seattle. To take a step towards balancing these disparities, 4Culture will give a modest award increase to the 2021 Sustained Support awards for organizations located outside the City of Seattle, and for organizations located in Seattle in a 2010 US Census tract area with a Communities of Opportunity index percentile of 60% or greater.

Communities of Opportunity (COO) is a partnership and initiative of the Seattle Foundation and King County, whose purpose is to direct resources where they can have the greatest impact while overcome ongoing patterns of underfunding. Annual measures of life and health indicators by census tract are averaged over multiple years and combined to create a single index. 4Culture will use this index for the 2021 Sustained Support cycle to guide award increases toward applicants located in Communities of Opportunity.

Public Benefit: Why It Matters

Every time a visitor to Washington State stays in a hotel, they pay a Lodging Tax—this is where our funding comes from, and our mission is to put it back into the community. 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:

• Free performances, exhibitions, workshops, screenings, or readings.
• Events in the often under-served areas of suburban or rural King County, to low-income, youth and senior groups, individuals with limited physical abilities, recent immigrants, or residents from minority races or ethnicities.
• Free, electronically accessible materials, including literary publications, audio, or video recordings.

Tourism Regeneration Grant

Tourism Regeneration Grants will foster safer, more inclusive, and sustainable visitor experiences across the state and drive overnight visitation to rural and underserved communities. Project eligibility for Tourism Regeneration Grants ranges from visitor education campaigns to disaster and climate adaptation planning. Tourism stakeholders may request up to $50,000 in grant funding for projects that include but are not limited to tourism infrastructure, outdoor recreation, festivals and events, and training programs for visitor/customer services.

Funding

SWT has allocated $780,000 to this grant program.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to match a portion of their grant request with cash or in-kind contributions.

Examples of Grant Projects

• Safety lighting, hand/guard rails, ramps, and elevator repairs/maintenance for infrastructure linked to the tourism sector
• Trail and tourism ambassador programs
• Environmental sustainability efforts at large festivals and events
• Accessibility efforts for people living with disabilities to recreate outdoors
• Cycling infrastructure (includes bike lanes, repair stations, restrooms, etc.)
• Parking/transportation strategies and solutions to discourage single-occupancy vehicles
• Wayfinding enhancements and downtown beautification
• Recreate responsibility messaging, incentives that change visitor behavior 

Of community, by community, for community For decades, community groups and nonprofit organizations throughout the Northwest have worked to advance equity and justice for LGBTQ+ communities in every corner of our region. Our Community Grants Program helps fuel this work through providing consistent, long-term funding.   Since this program’s inception in 1987, we have awarded over $12 million dollars. Our most recent award cycle in 2021 was the largest in Pride Foundation’s history—$2,751,000 to 105 incredible organizations over three years. In 2021, we shifted to a proactive grantmaking model for this program, and began awarding funds without an application process. These programmatic changes were intentional shifts to center racial justice in our work, improve the experience of grantee partners, and align our grantmaking with our organizational priorities to move resources to LGBTQ+ communities most impacted by injustice. In 2024, we will have both a proactive grantmaking model and open application to ensure that all organizations have the space and opportunity to receive funding.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.