Inspire Olympia is a voter-approved initiative that dedicates a portion of Olympia’s sales tax to local nonprofit organizations offering arts, sciences, heritage, and cultural programs and experiences for the public in Olympia and the Olympia School District.
This multi-year public investment seeks to strengthen our community’s cultural sector to expand access to quality arts and cultural experiences in Olympia, especially for youth and traditionally underserved populations. Funding is based on a competitive application process and is distributed through contracts for services with the City of Olympia. Contracts will go to those organizations that best demonstrate how their arts, culture, heritage, and/or science programs benefit people and communities in Olympia.
Inspire Olympia's missionInspire Olympia provides a reliable source of public funding that sustains a healthy, visible, welcoming, and inclusive nonprofit cultural and science sector, making creative cultural experiences accessible for everyone in Olympia.
Primary funding goals
- Support public programs in arts, culture, heritage and/or science.
- Increase access to these programs and reduce barriers to participation, especially for historically underserved populations.
- Support programming by and for culturally or ethnically specific communities and or underrepresented groups.
- Expand access to youth education programs in arts, cultures, heritage, and science.
- Support the sustainability of and collaboration among cultural sector organizations.
See the funding opportunitiesThe Cultural Access Program Advisory Board (CAAB) advises the City Council on processes, procedures and criteria for carrying out the goals of the program and ensuring that expenditures are invested based on the priorities and commitments made to Olympia voters.
Find meeting times, members and more on the
Cultural Access Advisory Board page.
Non-profit organizations in Olympia whose primary purpose is the advancement and preservation of science, technology, visual or performing arts, zoology, botany, anthropology, heritage, or natural history and who provide programming and experiences for the general public are eligible for cultural access funding.
Excluded from eligibility: any agency of the state or any of its political subdivisions; any radio or television broadcasting network or station, cable communications system, internet-based communications venture or service, newspaper, or magazine. If you have questions about any of these, please contact program staff.
Applications are open annually for eight weeks around January 15 – March 15.
Inspire Olympia funds can support a wide variety of public programs that advance arts, culture, heritage, and science for Olympia residents including but not limited to presentations, workshops, exhibitions, events, festivals, and educational programs for all ages. Programs must generally be open to the public, except for Public-School Cultural Access Programs specifically for Olympia Public Schools students, teachers, or education programs for court-connected youth.
Inspire Olympia can also support general operational expenses and organizational capacity-building efforts that support the planning or production of public programs. Some examples include staffing, capital expenditures or acquisitions, facility improvements, and program-related technology, equipment, and supplies.
Yes. The following expenses cannot be covered with Inspire Olympia funds:
- Work that is commercial in nature
- Charitable fundraisers or galas
- Debt service or endowment building
- Events or activities that promote a specific political agenda or religious practice
- Education programs exclusively for students at any public school outside of the Olympia School District, at any private Pre-K-12 school, or at any college, university, or technical school.
Each application is reviewed by a panel of 5-7 community members. Panelists will review each application individually and as a group. Panelists use the review criteria outlined in the application guidelines.
Full funding at the requested amount is not guaranteed.
The Cultural Access Advisory Board will review the scores and recommendations ensuring that the funding meets program goals and overall budget and develop final recommendations for City Council approval.
Inspire Olympia staff members do not score applications or vote on funding recommendations.
No. Payment of the funding contract will be broken into multiple payment phases, spread out over the term of the contract. Recipients of funding contracts should be prepared to cover the costs of their programming in the meantime. However, the first payment is available upon completion of your signed contract with related documentation for requirements such as insurance and business license.
Equity and access are at the forefront of the Inspire Olympia Cultural Access Funding program. Equity can be enhanced by making cultural programs and experiences readily available to people and populations traditionally excluded due to barriers like cost, transportation, prejudice, accessibility, and systemic inequalities. Equity is also advanced by making programs available in public schools, ensuring that everyone can participate in high-quality extra-curricular learning such as musical instruction, dance lessons, or robotics.
Cultural Access can increase opportunity and exposure through:
- In-class activities and after-school programs available to all students in the Olympia School District.
- Activities and events in neighborhoods, community centers, libraries, and schools, with extra emphasis on areas with greater need as measured by things like lower income levels, fewer public parks and public transit options, and similar measures.
- By bringing the work of Black, Indigenous, people of color, low-income, and those who identify with other under-represented groups to broader audiences, by encouraging their leadership within cultural organizations, and increasing our community’s experiences of diverse cultures.
- By amplifying the voice of smaller cultural organizations, who often have difficulty fundraising, through direct support.
- By encouraging diverse representation on governing boards of local cultural nonprofit organizations, and through funding for training and development.
Eligible organizations located outside the city boundaries who do the majority of their programming within the City or primarily for City of Olympia residents or Olympia School District students, may qualify.
Your organization can connect with a Fiscal Sponsor – an established nonprofit who agrees to provide administrative services and oversight and assume limited legal and financial responsibility for the activities of another group who is engaged in work that furthers the fiscal sponsor’s mission.
As a City-owned and operated facility, the Armory is not eligible to receive cultural access funds. Cultural organizations that operate in City facilities, however, can receive funds. For instance, a cultural organization housed in the Armory Building could use cultural access funds to pay rent, or to make tenant improvements.
