4Culture Grants + Calls

Building for Equity: Learning Circles Program

Is your organization looking to secure, acquire, or improve your cultural space? Join like-minded individuals and learn what it takes to meet your long-term facility needs.

Steps to Apply

1 What is the Learning Circles Program?

1 What is the Learning Circles Program?

The Building for Equity Learning Circles are a monthly, online workshop series for community organizations that will focus on the skills and information you’ll need to acquire, improve, and develop cultural facilities. Workshop topics will include organizational readiness and leadership development, non-profit financials, fundraising, marketing, lease negotiations, tenant improvements, and a step-by-step review of a capital projects process.

All cultural organizations within King County are eligible to attend these online workshops. Your organization can participate in individual topic sessions or the entire series. Individual workshops will be offered on a space-available basis. Workshops will be announced on our website, newsletter, and social media. Pre-registration for individual workshops will be required via the link provided as each workshop is announced.

Topic sessions are currently planned to be as follows (this may be adjusted based on applicant interest):

  • Individual Leadership Development
  • Organizational Leadership Development
  • Building effective partnerships
  • Finance Fundamentals
  • Fundraising Fundamentals
  • Grant Writing
  • Major Gifts
  • Real Estate
  • Capital Projects
  • Marketing and Communications

To reach the broadest range of participation, workshop attendees meeting the cohort participation guidelines below will receive a stipend for their time. The application also provides space for cohort participants to request reimbursement for childcare (up to $100 per session) or other support that might remove barriers to participation.

Cohort Participation

Qualifying organizations may apply for stipends to participate as part of a Cohort that engages with the full, year-long workshop series. Cohort participating organizations must attend at least half of the sessions topics to qualify for a stipend. Organizations should commit one individual—board member, staff member, or volunteer—who will consistently attend each topic session. A second participant per organization may also participate in each workshop. This second participant may be different for each workshop and should be selected based on the workshop topic and that individual’s role in the organizations. (Example: a development coordinator would attend the Major Gifts workshop.) Cohort organizations will receive a $1,000 stipend after attending six workshops.

All organizations meeting the eligibility requirements below will qualify for a stipend.

2 Are You Eligible?

2 Are You Eligible?

All cultural organizations are invited to participate in individual workshops on a space-available basis. Workshops will be announced on our website, newsletter, and social media. Pre-registration for individual workshops will be required via the link provided as each workshop is announced.

Organizations that meet the following requirements may apply for a stipend:

  • Your organization is a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) arts, heritage, or historic preservation-focused organization, public corporation, tribal government, or organization that is fiscally-sponsored by a 501(c)(3) partner organization.
  • Your organization has a two-year minimum operating history demonstrating arts, heritage and/or cultural contributions.
    Your organization has an annual operating budget of less than $1,000,000.
  • Your organization must meet one of the following equity-focused priority groups:
    • Your organization is outside of the City of Seattle.
    • Your organization is located Seattle, but is also in a 2010 US Census tract area with a Communities of Opportunity index percentile of 60% or greater. These locations are shown in red on this map:
Please email buildingforequity@4culture.org if you would like a specific address located on this map.

If your organization does not have a primary location, it may qualify if 51% of programming in the past two years occurred in locations that would meet the requirements above. Organizations that do not meet one of the criteria above may submit a statement for consideration by the Review Panel. The statement should describe how the organization’s primary mission or services support historically underserved communities

3 Helping You Succeed

3 Helping You Succeed

Workshops

Workshops provide an opportunity for you to meet staff, learn about the process, ask questions, and meet other artists and arts groups. They are informal and drop-in based—no registration or RSVP required. Take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen your application!

DateLocation
Jun 25
3-4pm
Zoom
DateLocation
Jul 8
3-4pm
Zoom

Register for Zoom

Tutorial Video

Watch this step-by-step application tutorial video to assist you through the process of creating an account, starting your application, and saving it for later.

Contact Us

We’re here to help! Please contact us if you have a question about this program. We can provide guidance as you work through your application. Please contact Eldon if you have questions:

buildingforequity@4culture.org

Eldon Tam 
206-263-3223

 

4 After You Submit

4 After You Submit

Timeline

Applications for a participation stipend are due July 14. Workshop sessions will be announced beginning in early August.

Selection Process

Should we receive more eligible stipend applications than the program can accommodate, participation will be determined by lottery.

Contracts and Payment

Organizations receiving stipends will be paid $1,000 after attending six workshops. If your organization is selected to receive a stipend, a contract outlining the scope of your participation will be issued before the Learning Circles workshops begin.

Requirements and Appeals

Learn about what will be required if you are awarded a grant, and about the process for appeal of a 4Culture decision.

5 Apply

5 Apply

You will apply through our online grant portal system at apply.4culture.org. Make sure you have an active account and that your organization profile is up to date before the deadline. You’ll need to be able to log in to access the Building for Equity Learning Circles application.

Once you’ve started your application, you can save after each step and sign out—your application will be saved as a draft that you can continue to work on up to the deadline. Once you click “Submit,” your application is final. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions during the process.

What We Require

The application requires answering six basic questions about your organization, its activity, the community you serve, and your facility needs/plans. The application will also gather information related to workshop scheduling that will help create a Learning Circles calendar more accessible to participants.

Demographic Information

Your profile in our portal must provide demographic information for the current year, for yourself, and if you are applying as an organization, for your board and staff. We use this information to help us understand how well we are doing in our efforts to reach all communities in King County. Read our privacy policy for information about how we protect your information.