Olympia arts organizations may soon have access to more program funding
The City of Olympia may boost the amount of funding local arts organizations can request to help keep their programs going. The Inspire Olympia program manager said the city has more money to dole out than it thought.
Marygrace Goddu, the cultural access program manager, said during the July 23 Community Livability and Public Safety Committee meeting that Inspire Olympia has been collecting funds for a complete year now.
She said the program advisory board isn’t recommending collecting more money from the public, but it is suggesting adjusting granting levels and spending goals to better use the funds already available.
Goddu said the program is carrying a balance of about $3.5 million into fiscal year 2026. She said that’s a result of two things: tax collection began 18 months prior to the first funding cycle, and the program underspent in its first year.
She said the program overestimated how much it would spend on cultural access programs for schools, particularly on transportation. The plan is to gradually spend down the unused funds by increasing the amount applicants can receive.
The idea is to increase the comprehensive award amount for larger organizations and programs that are generally over $200,000 in budget or program size from a maximum of $75,000 a year to $85,000 a year.
Goddu said the advisory board also recommends raising the lower end of the impact grants, which are for small nonprofits. The minimum would be raised to $5,000 and the maximum would be $50,000.
She said the board also wants to add a requirement for comprehensive fund organizations to provide youth programming. This is a change that would affect only one current organization.
“These amendments, in total, are expected to result in a broader array of funding awards at more impactful levels,” Goddu said. “Total spending on grants will be managed to stay within each year’s program budget as grant award amounts are considered in the spring.”
She said if approved, the changes will be in effect for the one-year granting cycles in 2026 and 2027 and the two-year granting cycle that runs from 2026 to 2028. That will bring the program to a reserve of $500,000 to $600,000 in 2029.
The recommendation was unanimously approved by the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee, and it will be forwarded to the City Council for consideration.