Discipline Eligibility

• Dance, performance art
• Creative place-making
• Cultural festivals
• Film
• Folk and traditional art
• Literary art
• Multimedia/multidisciplinary arts
• Music
• Visual art
• Theater, drama
• Arts service/field service

• Creative businesses, agencies and firms – commercial for-profit entities that rely on or primarily employ creative professionals or use creative assets to conduct their business but whose goal and mission is not the advancement of one or more artistic disciplines or artistic service that is recognized by 4Culture. Examples include but are not limited to:
  • Advertising agencies
  • Marketing and digital marketing agencies
  • Design studios
  • Architecture firms
  • Interior design and decor firms
  • Production companies or agencies
• Creative Services Business/Agencies/Firms – commercial/for-profit entities that provide creative expertise and deliverables to other businesses or clients. Examples include but are not limited to:
  • Public Relations firms
  • Social Media and Traditional Media Management companies
  • Talent Agencies
• Religious organizations, groups, and institutions that proselytize or engage in religious worship or instruction.
• Recreation, sport, and martial arts studios, dojos, groups or organizations.
• Any organization or entity that is explicitly excluded by either the Doors Open legislation or the King County Ordinance that authorizes 4Culture to fund arts, culture, and science programs.

1. An organization has a mission statement that explicitly focuses on an artistic discipline or artistic service, and it has a demonstrated body of work that expresses, preserves, or advances one or more artistic disciplines; or otherwise has a primary purpose that aligns with one or more artistic disciplines recognized by 4Culture.

2. An organization that uses other related language in their mission statement but does not explicitly speak to one of the forms of artistic expression and shows that their programs and services primarily align with one or more artistic discipline recognized by 4Culture.

3. Arts education organizations are eligible as long as they provide programming that is accessible by the general public and not limited to a specific subsection of the community. 

4. Nonprofit Local Arts Agencies that partner with their local government to provide multi-disciplinary art programs and services for the residents and visitors of their city.

• A non-arts organization that provides a substantial and clearly defined arts programming that has a budget that can be distinguished from and separated out from the organization’s overall budget.
• Local Arts Agencies that are part of municipal government departments or sub-divisions.
• Social service organizations with clearly defined arts programming, but a majority of the budget is dedicated to housing, education, employment services, or other social/community service purposes.
• Neighborhood development organizations with clearly defined arts programming, but a majority of the budget is dedicated to business development, workforce development, or other neighborhood priorities.

• Local history refers to the examination, documentation, and perpetuation of people, communities, places, and events related to the area now geographically defined as King County.
• Ethnic history refers to the examination, documentation, and perpetuation of communities that have immigrated and migrated to King County.
• Native cultures refers to the examination, documentation, and perpetuation of unique customs, beliefs, and practices shared across generations that are rooted in the long-standing histories of communities residing in the United States and territories prior to colonization. Native cultures are often foundational to contemporary identities of individuals and groups. Cultural practices may include: Performing arts; Recreational activities; Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; Social practices; Ceremonies and practices related to life and death cycles; Craftsmanship; Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of intangible cultural heritage. To be eligible for funding, work with Native cultures must maintain connection with the cultural source community as a way of minimizing 4Culture’s risk of funding cultural appropriation.
• Folklore and intangible cultural heritage refer to the examination, documentation, and perpetuation of traditions of a cultural community that are expressed by members of that group and recognized as reflecting the expectations of that community and its cultural and social identify. Intangible cultural heritage is usually transmitted orally or by imitation; examples include language, literature, music, dance, games, mythology, rituals, and customs. To be eligible for funding, intangible heritage work must maintain connection with the cultural source community as a way of minimizing 4Culture’s risk of funding cultural appropriation.
• Historic and archaeological resources refers to the examination, documentation, and perpetuation of physical objects, sites, and other cultural resources that represent histories and cultures in King County and are preserved within King County.
• Heritage field service provider refers to organizations that provide capacity building services to King County heritage organizations and practitioners to help them grow and thrive. Includes providing capacity support (outreach and marketing, free or reduced cost space, technology and logistical support, etc.) for heritage practitioners, groups, and organizations to run successful heritage programs.
• Stewards of heritage spaces refers to organizations whose primary purpose is to perpetuate the presence of a cultural community in their culturally significant location in King County or steward a publicly accessible space that is used to facilitate cultural practices, traditions, beliefs, lifeways, arts, crafts, or social institutions of communities that share a common heritage in King County. The space must be rooted in a cultural community’s history, existence, and survival in King County and play an important role in perpetuating the cultural identity of that community.

1. An organization with a mission statement that explicitly focuses on a heritage category can prove content alignment and primary purpose is aligned with the heritage discipline.
2. An organization that uses other related language in their mission, but does not explicitly speak to a heritage category, must show that their programs and services primarily align with a heritage category.

1. Multiservice community organizations that are crucial social institutions linked to the anchoring and perpetuation of a cultural community in King County through facilitating the preservation of the community’s tangible and intangible culture can be eligible to receive lodging tax funding from heritage programs. The organization must offer substantial programming or services that are aligned with a heritage category and that are accessible by the public
2. Organizations that are aligned with the heritage category of “heritage space steward” and primarily organized around one or more of the following areas: education, healthcare, housing/Homelessness, and Employment / Business Development can we considered for Heritage lodging tax funding.
3. Organizations that steward heritage gardens and parks must recognize the historical significance of the garden or park and actively document, preserve, interpret, and share the human influence on their landscape be it by ownership or design to be considered for heritage funding. This work must be a primary focus along with tending to the landscape. Farming and gardening practices can be considered an intangible cultural heritage practice. The organizations seeking eligibility for their work preserving these practices must primarily and intentionally create space for the transmission of the heritage practice between generations and connection to the source community of the heritage practice must be present.
4. Many cultural and heritage-centered identities frequently include shared religious belief systems. Religion is often considered inseparable from many cultures especially for those originating in parts of the world other than the United States. However, 4Culture’s funding cannot be used for religious worship, religious exercise, or religious instruction per the Washington State Constitution. If your organization’s work is intertwined with religion, please reach out to your program manager to discuss eligibility. This conversation is required.

1. An organization with a mission statement that explicitly focuses on historic preservation or preservation of a specific historic place or type of historic resource that is significant to King County history, meets the eligibility requirements for Doors Open Preservation funding.
2. An organization that uses other, related language to describe their mission, but does not explicitly name preservation or directly steward an historic property, must show that their programs and services primarily consist of:
   • Advocacy or assistance to preserve historic places.
   • Organizing and promoting economic activity, events, and tourism to activate and sustain historic places.
   • Or Education about the historic built environment and cultural landscapes of King County.

   Under this path, organizations that focus on neighborhood or downtown activation may be eligible for Doors Open Preservation funding if their work is clearly aligned with historic preservation. This may be demonstrated through projects and programs that center on the historic significance of a place and promote preservation of existing historic resources and/or cultural communities. Affiliation with the Washington Main Street Program supports a determination of eligibility for Doors Open Preservation funding, since this statewide network has an explicit focus on historic preservation.

3. An organization may also be eligible for Doors Open Preservation funding if it provides stewardship for one or more historic properties that serve as a venue for community and cultural activities that are open to the public. Stewardship of an historic space must be the primary purpose for the organization,i.e. the mission or purpose of the organization would shift significantly if the space did not exist. When determining Doors Open Preservation eligibility specifically tied to stewardship, historic properties are defined as locally designated landmarks, contributing properties within local historic districts, or properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places in jurisdictions without a local historic preservation ordinance.

• Neighborhood associations or business district organizations that do not focus on retaining the historic built environment or on conserving a cultural community.
• Organizations that own a landmarked building, among a larger portfolio of properties, but their mission and programs do not explicitly focus on historic preservation.
• Stewards of landmarked spaces that are not open to the public for community or cultural use.
• Organizations that preserve historic artifacts or documents, but do not include a focus on the built environment or cultural landscapes.
• Land or environmental conservation organizations.

1. Mission: mission statement includes an explicit focus on advancing or preserving science or technology.
2. Topics: science includes 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.
3. Public Benefit: science organizations must provide programming that is accessible and beneficial to the general public. This includes K-12 public school students as well as professional development specific to staff and volunteers of science organizations providing experiences to the general public.
4. Primary Purpose: in-person science programming that is accessible to the general public in King County must constitute the majority of your organization’s annual expenses and the majority of its annual activities.
5. Accreditation: zoos and aquariums must be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. A zoo or aquarium is defined as a permanent institution that both maintains and continuously exhibits wildlife to the public.

1. Health and Wellbeing: medical and public health practice broadly defined rather than only legally defined, including but not limited to medical treatment, medical instruction, medical or nutritional advice, mental health or wellness advice, life coaching, or personal growth instruction.
2. Training: vocational training, programs intended to assist adults in obtaining employment, general professional development, or general end user “how-to” instruction. Professional development specific to staff and volunteers of science organizations providing experiences to the general public is eligible.
3. Pseudoscience: the promotion of any system of beliefs or concepts that exhibits characteristics including but not limited to the inability in principle to be falsified by observable facts, lacking a research framework that tests and revises ideas based on observable facts, and/or has been demonstrated to be false by observable facts.
4. Research: the conduct of primary research not directly providing educational experiences to the general public.
5. Social Services: the delivery of social services, including but not limited to food banks and pantries, affordable housing, or disability assistance.
6. Incidental Programs: science and technology projects, events, or activities by organizations that do not meet the eligibility criteria for a science organization.
7. Lobbying: including grassroots lobbying or advocacy that promotes grassroots lobbying.

Additional Guidance

• Conducting work or programs based on science would not be sufficient to make an organization eligible to apply for 4Culture grants. While many organizations engage in worthwhile science, use technology in their programs, or create their programs based on findings from scientific inquiry, the legislation authorizing these grants sets specific requirements on how the funds can be used. Eligible organizations must meet the above criteria to apply for grants.
• Providing wildlife rehabilitation, shoreline conservation, or habitat restoration as such cannot be funded by 4Culture grants. Potentially such work might be eligible, but the primary purpose of this work must be providing science experiences to the general public in King County. While certainly worthwhile, conservation or restoration work, in and of itself, would not be eligible under the legislation authorizing these grants.
• Farms or gardens that primarily function to supply a community food bank would not be eligible. Organizations that primarily function to provide social services, including items such as food assistance, cannot be supported by science grants. However, farms and gardens that primarily function to provide botanical or horticultural education to the general public might be eligible to apply for science grants.
• Outdoor experiences that provide science or technology experiences per the criteria above might be eligible, depending upon the primary purpose of the organization. Outdoor recreation and access to the outdoors, as such, would not be eligible for support by science grants. For example, hiking a trail in a local park would not be an eligible activity unless there were also an educational component, such as programming that teaches about botany or zoology, the plants or wildlife along the trail.
• A local chapter of a national science organization might be eligible to apply for funding, but it depends upon the organizational structure. If your organization is incorporated as a nonprofit in Washington and a 501(c)(3), then you might be eligible to apply. If your organization meets neither of those structural requirements, then you would not be eligible to apply for science grants.
• Professional conferences for scientists or engineers are not generally eligible for funding. Science grants can only be used to support organizations with a primary purpose of providing in-person, science programming accessible to the general public in King County. Professional development opportunities for staff and volunteers of such organizations would be eligible, but a conference marketed toward and attended by scientists or engineers would not automatically be eligible.
• Organizations with some non-public programming or programming other than science or technology might be eligible to apply so long as all other criteria in the guidelines are met. This means directly providing science or technology programming to the general public in King County is your organization’s primary purpose. In such cases, also having other programming would not make an organization ineligible.
• Multiservice organizations, such as community centers, are not generally eligible to apply for funding. Science grants can only be used to support organizations with a primary purpose of providing in-person, science programming accessible to the general public in King County. These grants cannot be used for incidental science and technology programs, events, or activities.
• 4Culture science and technology grants funds are provided by public tax dollars and may not be used for lobbying or grassroots lobbying. However, so long as your organization complies with state and federal legislation regarding lobbying activities by nonprofits, such activity would not automatically exclude your organization from applying for funding.
• Offering classes or formal instruction in science or technology is not an eligibility criterion. 4Culture grants can fund a variety of science and technology experiences for the public, so long as eligibility criteria are met. Supported programming can include interpretive signs in a botanic garden, robotics tournaments, guided bird watching tours, wildlife exhibitions, citizen research opportunities, and many other types of experiences.