Title
Approval of a Resolution Authorizing 2026-2028 Inspire Olympia Funding
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Community Livability and Public Safety Committee and the Cultural Access Advisory Board recommend approval of a Resolution authorizing 2026-2028 Inspire Olympia funding.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve a Resolution authorizing 2026-2028 Inspire Olympia funding.
Report Issue:
Whether to approve a Resolution authorizing 2026-2028 Inspire Olympia funding.
Staff Contact:
Marygrace Goddu, Inspire Olympia Program Manager, Community Planning & Economic Development, 360.480.0923
Presenter(s):
Marygrace Goddu, Inspire Olympia Program Manager
Melissa Meade, Cultural Access Advisory Board Chair
Background and Analysis:
The Inspire Olympia Cultural Access Program is funded through a one-tenth of one percent sales tax approved for the period of January 2023 through December 2029. Revenue generated through the program supports local nonprofit organizations whose missions focus on arts, culture, heritage, and science, and offer public programs for the Olympia community. The program is intended to strengthen these organizations, expand community programming, and increase equitable access to cultural experiences throughout Olympia.
The Inspire Olympia Cultural Access Advisory Board (CAAB) advises the City Council on implementation of the program, reviews grant applications and annually recommends grant contract award amounts for individual organizations and an amount to support Cultural Access programming in Olympia public schools.
The CAAB funding recommendation includes award amounts for applicants in two grant categories.
• Impact Grants provide one-year contracts ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 for small, emerging, and fiscally sponsored organizations.
• Comprehensive Grants are two-year contracts of up to $85,000 per year offered to larger organizations with a history of community presence.
Funding for Cultural Access in Olympia Public Schools (CAPS) supports classroom educational activities and field trips led by Inspire Olympia organizations, and provides reimbursement to the school district for transportation costs associated with Inspire Olympia field trips.
This business item presents the recommended funding awards for:
• 2026-2027 one-year Impact Grant contracts;
• 2026-2028 two-year Comprehensive Grant contracts; and
• a CAPS allocation for the 2026-2027 school year
Application Review Process
Ninety-four eligible organizations submitted proposals for the current funding cycle, including 17 applicants for two-year Comprehensive Grant contracts and 77 applicants for one-year Impact Grant contracts.
Applications are evaluated against multiple criteria that differ slightly for Impact vs. Comprehensive applicants, in each of the following areas:
• Programming merit and value
• Community engagement and impact
• Commitment to equity and access
• Youth programming (if applicable)
• Capacity and feasibility (for Impact Grants) or management and operations (for Comprehensive Grants)
The detailed criteria are attached with this staff report.
Application Guidelines are published each year that share these review criteria and explain how to apply for funding. The Guidelines include detailed examples to help applicants understand how the criteria could apply to their work, as well as prompts and examples for every question in the application to help applicants fully answer each one. See Application Components attached with this staff report, for the application questions and prompts from Inspire Olympia’s Guidelines.
This year, two review panels were convened to evaluate and score Impact Grant applications and a third for Comprehensive Grant applications. Each panel was composed of volunteers who have active interest or relevant experience in sectors of the cultural community and/or related areas like education, the nonprofit sector, regional and local economic development, and cultural access. Diverse representation is sought across science and cultural sectors, lived experiences, professional and volunteer work, and minority groups. One or more CAAB members also served on each review panel. A list of this year’s Review Panel members is attached with this staff report.
Review Panelists participated in an orientation and practice session before reviewing and scoring applications, and also engaged in group discussion of the proposals assigned to them.
Reviewers’ scores were averaged to determine a final score for each applicant, and the panels discussed qualitative groupings within the ranked results. They identified high-scoring proposals to be recommended for full funding and also suggested ranges of scores to receive partial funding. These recommendations and the final scores were forwarded to the full CAAB, completing the qualitative review process.
At a scheduled public meeting, the CAAB reviewed the final scores with applicant names redacted to reduce bias. The Board considered the panels’ recommended ranges for partial and full funding, discussed and agreed on adjustments to stay within the available budget, and set the individual award amounts conveyed in this recommendation.
Cultural Access Fund Revenue
In 2025, the CAAB adopted and City Council approved a four-year spending plan for the Cultural Access Fund that will fully utilize available funds, increase community impact, and offer steady funding levels over time, supporting our mission to serve as a reliable source of public funding. The plan had three important objectives:
• Increase the grant award opportunity for both Comprehensive and Impact funding pathways.
• Spend down the Cultural Access Fund gradually, safeguarding its reliability through highly uncertain economic conditions.
• Target a fund balance by 2029 that equals ten to twenty percent of our annual obligations, or about $500 - $600k.
Recommendation
The funding recommendation presented for approval is based on the qualitative scoring conducted by the Review Panels, an understanding of available resources within the Cultural Access Fund, and the adopted four-year spending plan:
• Award $2,057,243 to sixty-eight applicant organizations for 2026-2027 Impact Grant Contracts
• Award $2,402,090 to17 applicant organizations for 2026-2028, two-year Comprehensive Grant contracts
• Allocate $390,000 to support the Cultural Access in Olympia Public Schools (CAPS) program in the 2026-2027 grant period.
Attached with this staff report is a list of the organizations recommended for funding, with each organization’s mission statement and proposed deliverables (as of the application closing date; some may be adjusted prior to contracting).
Climate Analysis:
There is no direct climate impact from this recommendation. Inspire Olympia funding supports multiple programs that seek to understand the human impact on the natural world and our climate, and to grow future innovators, creatives, and leaders.
Equity Analysis:
Achieving greater equity through enhanced access to the arts, science and culture is a fundamental goal of Inspire Olympia that has informed Inspire Olympia’s funding priorities, granting framework, eligibility criteria, and the evaluation process that leads to annual funding recommendations.
As funded organizations report on their activities, Inspire Olympia works to assess public benefit, identify gaps, and analyze how and where access to creative opportunities and experiences can be enhanced.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
As a voter-approved taxing program, Inspire Olympia holds considerable public interest. Outgoing payments to funded organizations are linked to required reporting to ensure accountability.
Financial Impact:
Inspire Olympia is funded by one-tenth of one percent of City of Olympia sales tax, deposited into the Cultural Access Fund. Annual cultural access tax revenue for July 1 2026 through June 30, 2027 is projected at $3,380,152.
Total program expenditures are intentionally planned to exceed annual Cultural Access Tax income through 2029, so that revenue accrued prior to the grant program’s launch is gradually distributed through competitive contracts with organizations.
Options:
1. Move to approve a Resolution authorizing 2026-2028 Inspire Olympia funding.
2. Move to approve a Resolution authorizing 2026-2028 Inspire Olympia funding with amendments.
3. Take other action.
Attachments:
Resolution
CAAB Comprehensive Recommendation Detail
Summary of Comprehensive Applications
CAAB Impact Recommendation - Detail
Summary of Impact Applications
Application Components
Application Review Criteria
2026 Review Panelists