Cultural Partners Network FAQs
Are you interested in becoming a Cultural Partner? Please read the FAQs to learn more about the Cultural Partners Network, including eligibility criteria, benefits, and participation requirements.
*January 2023: Please note that ArtsFund is currently on pause with onboarding new groups to the Cultural Partners Network. Please submit your information via the Submission of Interest Form below and our team will follow-up regarding next steps. To stay in touch, please sign up here to receive our quarterly outreach to arts and cultural nonprofits throughout Washington.
ELIGIBILITY
What are the eligibility criteria to become a Cultural Partner?
ArtsFund works to foster a Cultural Partners Network that is representative of the Central Puget Sound’s arts and cultural sector. Groups are onboarded by invitation only bi-annually in the Winter and Summer in alignment with ArtsFund’s strategic goals and impact objectives in complement to the network based on discipline, impact area, scale, geography, and other relevant criteria.
• Be a 501(c)(3) organization or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) organization
• Be based in and have program delivery in King, Pierce, or Snohomish counties
• Have arts and culture as your primary mission or strategy and work in one of more of the following ways:
• Demonstrate organizational health through strong leadership reflective of the community served, innovation, programmatic agility and impact, and the long-term sustainability of the organization
• Provide sustained engagement with youth and families
• Center Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+, and/or disability communities through program delivery, majority representation on your organization’s board, in leadership, or on staff
• Have a minimum annual budget of $5,000
• Ability to provide the following documents for financial review:
If you file the complete 990 (from within the last two years):
• Your organization’s most recent Form 990
• Your organization’s most current fiscal year financial statement (balance sheet and income statement)
If you cannot provide a 990 from within the last two years, or file the 990EZ:
• Your organization’s financial statement for the full previous year signed off by the treasurer, member of your finance committee, or Executive Director
• Your organization’s current fiscal year financial statement (balance sheet and income statement)
• You may be asked for supplemental materials and/or a clarifying conversation following the financial review.
JOINING THE NETWORK
How can my organization join the Cultural Partners Network?
• Submit an interest form here. *January 2023: Please note that ArtsFund is currently on pause with onboarding new groups to the Cultural Partners Network. Please submit your information via the Submission of Interest Form below and our team will follow-up regarding next steps. To stay in touch, please sign up here to receive our quarterly outreach to arts and cultural nonprofits throughout Washington.
• ArtsFund staff will follow-up with you
• If your organization meets eligibility requirements and considerations around the network composition, you will be invited to participate in an invite-only informational session
• Please note, meeting basic eligibility criteria does not assure onboarding to the network. We seek to include a wide range of arts and cultural organizations in the Cultural Partners Network. When evaluating new organizations to become Cultural Partners, we take into account gaps in the current network and place priority on placing organizations that fill those gaps.
• Complete an organizational financial review by submitting the following:
If you file the complete 990 (from within the last two years):
• Your organization’s most recent Form 990
• Your organization’s most current fiscal year financial statement (balance sheet and income statement)
If you cannot provide a 990, from within the last two years, or file the 990EZ:
• Your organization’s financial statement for the full previous year signed off by the treasurer, member of your finance committee, or Executive Director
• Your organization’s current fiscal year financial statement (balance sheet and income statement)
• You may be asked for supplemental materials and/or a clarifying conversation following the financial review.
How often are the onboarding cycles?
Onboarding occurs twice a year, in the Summer and the Winter. Organizations are added on an annual basis subject to financial review.
What is the cost to join the Cultural Partners Network?
There is no cost to be a Cultural Partner.
BENEFITS
What are the benefits of being a Cultural Partner?
• Capacity Building through convenings and resources tailored by member input
• Board opportunities through Board Leadership Training for cultural organization board members and placement for new members
• Annual Data Sharing
• Peer-to-peer networking and learning opportunities
• Community Events
• Advocacy
• Annual Meetings
• Inclusion in regional research studies and reports
• Visibility to ArtsFund’s network and through ArtsFund partnerships
• Shared opportunities and resources through the Cultural Partners E-newsletter
Does being a Cultural Partner make me eligible for allocations funding or other funding opportunities through ArtsFund?
Participation in the network does not guarantee inclusion in any of ArtsFund’s granting programs. For more information on grants, please visit: https://www.artsfund.org/about-arts-fund/grants/
REQUIREMENTS
What are the requirements for participation?
• Participate in one or more ArtsFund professional development or community events per calendar year and submit post-event feedback
• Share data and participate in annual survey
• Permit ArtsFund to list organization as a Cultural Partner on website and materials as appropriate
• Provide or maintain a current staff contact
Once in the Cultural Partners Network, do I need to reapply each year?
No, as long as you are engaged. If an organization is not engaging and has not met participation requirements, ArtsFund will reach out to see if there are barriers to participation or if we can start the removal process. Being a Cultural Partner is entirely optional. Organizations are free to leave at any time. Please let us know if you would like to be removed from the network by emailing us at CPN(at)artsfund.org.
What is the removal process for Cultural Partners?
To maintain engagement and partnership between ArtsFund and Cultural Partners, ArtsFund requires annual participation in some capacity (see Participation Requirements above for more information). If the Cultural Partner has not met the participation requirements for a full year, ArtsFund will reach out to see if a barrier to participation exists. For the next six months, if there continues to be a lack of engagement, ArtsFund will remove the organization from the Cultural Partners Network. The group can rejoin at another time by reaching out to CPN(at)artsfund.org to determine next steps.
I am ready to submit interest in the Cultural Partner Network, where do I go?
*November 2022: Please note that ArtsFund is currently on pause with onboarding new groups to the Cultural Partners Network. Please submit your information via the Submission of Interest Form below and our team will follow-up regarding next steps.
For more information
To see the current Cultural Partners, please click here
For questions or more information, please contact cpn@artsfund.org