Application Assistance

How To Apply

Read the eligibility requirements and application guidelines ⇩

Tacoma Creates offers two funding categories for eligible non-profit organizations: Impact Funding and Comprehensive Organizational Support. Explore these options to find the one that best fits your organization. Organizations can only apply to one of the two funding categories, and must meet all eligibility requirements that are listed for that funding category.

Gather and prepare materials needed for the application ⇩

The Tacoma Creates funding application will require you to provide specific materials and information to support your proposal. It is helpful to gather and develop what you can in advance of working on the online application.

We have developed an optional Application Worksheet for both Impact Funding, and Comprehensive Organizational Support that may be helpful for tracking information needed for your application and developing your narrative responses.

Here are some of the materials and information that you will be asked to provide in the application:

• Your organization’s Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Your organization’s City of Tacoma business license number
• Budget Information
  • For organizations applying in the Impact Funding category, you will need to submit a clear and detailed budget that shows all of the expected expenses and all of the expected income – including donations of funds and services – for the projects you are proposing. There will be a budget form to complete within the application, though we recommend building your budget outside of the application first. Here’s a sample budget that you can review.
  • For organizations applying in the Comprehensive Organizational Support category, you will need to submit a three-year organizational budget history (form provided within the application) and an audited budget from your most recently completed fiscal year.
• Lists of your organization’s key staff members and your board members
• Letters of Commitment – An opportunity for any key partners to demonstrate their role in and commitment to your programming. This is optional but strongly encouraged, especially if you are proposing any programs that are dependent on co-producers or other external partnership roles.
• Work samples – if you received Tacoma Creates funding in the past, at least one of your examples should be a program that was supported with Tacoma Creates funding. Work samples may include photos or a video or audio clip, an event program, a newspaper article, or anything else that you think will help the review panel better understand your work. Please limit your materials to a combined total of no more than 3 pages of written materials, or 8 images, or 3 minutes of video or audio.

Start your application ⇩

You can find both the Impact Funding and Comprehensive Organizational Support applications at tacomaarts.submittable.com/submit.

Tacoma Creates funding applications must be submitted online through a platform called Submittable. For organizations that are selected for funding, all contract management will be handled electronically -- either through reports that must be filled out in Submittable, or through the City of Tacoma’s contract management system, called Ariba, or by email. We encourage you to consider who in your organization is best suited to manage these online systems and communications, and have that person serve as the Submittable account holder and the Primary Contact for your organization. Here are some helpful tips to consider as you are completing your application:

• Start your application as early as possible – this ensures that you have adequate time to draft your responses, review, and have an opportunity to ask questions before submitting. Don’t wait until the last minute!
• Type your responses to the application questions in a Word document. There, you can check for grammar, spelling, and word count, before you copy and paste your final work into the online form in Submittable.
• Have a second pair of eyes review your application – or better yet, multiple pairs of eyes. Fresh eyes can help catch errors and pinpoint areas that need clarification. Keep in mind that a panel of community members will be reviewing your application and making funding recommendations. They may not already know about the great work your organization is doing in our community, and they may not understand the terms you use in your internal communications, so you will want your application to be very clear so they can understand what you are proposing to do.

Application deadlines are firm – no exceptions are made, even for technical difficulties -- so plan ahead!

What happens after I submit my application? ⇩

Once you submit your application, staff will check your application to make sure that all required information has been provided and that your organization meets the eligibility criteria. Note that staff will not provide any guidance or feedback to help strengthen your application after you submit it. Once the application period is closed, all applications will be reviewed and scored by a panel of five to seven community members. The review process is based on the published Review Criteria, included in the Application Guidelines, which are posted in the Impact Funding and Comprehensive Organizational Support sections.

Panel members will make funding recommendations to the Tacoma Creates Advisory Board, who will vote to approve (or modify) these recommendations. Tacoma Creates staff will then communicate by email with all organizations that applied, to let them know the outcome of their application and to discuss next steps, and funding announcements are made to the public soon after.

Tacoma Creates funding is based on a competitive application process. Not all organizations that apply may be funded; funding from year to year is not guaranteed. Not all organizations that are selected for funding will receive the full amount of their funding request.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Tacoma Creates staff for further assistance.

Application Support

Tacoma Creates staff wants you to submit a successful application, and encourages all applicants to take advantage the following resources:

Attend application workshops ⇩

These free workshops will cover how the application process works and how to develop a strong application. All applicants are encouraged to send a representative to one of the three workshops. Each workshop will have a different focus: we encourage you to attend the one that best matches your organization’s situation, but we will cover the basics at all workshops so you may attend whichever one fits your schedule. Recordings of the workshops will be posted here.

You do not need to sign up in advance for either of the in-person workshops, though space is limited and we encourage you to arrive a few minutes early. For the virtual workshop, you will need to register through the link provided below.

We encourage applicants to read the complete guidelines in advance of attending the workshop, and come with questions. The presentation portion of the workshop will be about an hour, with time allotted at the end for questions and discussion.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024, 12:30-2:00pm - Virtual

• Zoom - Register in advance for this workshop: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqcuipqDktH9Hf6VVJ5AGNCqs0duUP_mb-
• We reccommend that you plan to attend via laptop or desktop computer, so that you will be able to see the slides shared during the workshop
• Focus: New applicants in either funding program – new organizations and/or new staff with returning organizations

This workshop has now passed, but you can view the recording and slide deck for more information.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 11:00am-12:30pm - In-Person

• Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St., room 148
• Nearest bus routes: 1, 11, 13, 16; paid street parking available
• Focus: Comprehensive Organizational Support

This workshop has now passed.

Thursday, February 22, 2024, 4:30-6:30pm - In-Person

• Mi Centro: 1208 S 10th St, Tacoma, WA 98405
• Nearest bus routes: 1, 28, 45, T Line; free parking available in lot, as well as street parking.
• Focus: Impact Funding

This workshop has now passed.

To request a reasonable accommodation for these workshops, please contact the Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality at (253) 591‐5191. TTY or speech to speech users may dial 711 to connect to Washington Relay Services.

Meet with Staff ⇩

One-on-One Support

Tacoma Creates staff members are available to assist anyone who has questions about the application process. Staff can answer questions about guidelines, provide feedback about proposal ideas, and – with enough lead time – can review drafts of proposal narratives or budget forms or other application elements. Tacoma Creates staff will not write applications for applicants.

Schedule a meeting: You can use this link to look at pre-set meeting times and sign up for a time that works in your calendar. Each meeting is 20-30 minutes long, and can be held over Zoom, or by phone. If you have application materials you would like staff to review in advance, please email them to Tacoma Creates staff at least two days in advance of your meeting at tacomacreates@cityoftacoma.org. You may also email questions to staff at any time.

Drop in Conversations

• Wednesday, February 28th, 10:30am-Noon, Campfire Coffee.
• Tuesday, March 5th, 1-2:30pm, Tacoma Municipal Building, room 243.
• Thursday, March 14th, 3-4:30pm, Red Elm Cafe.

Sample Application Excerpts ⇩

This section contain excerpts pulled from among the highest-scoring applications in the 2020-21 funding cycle. Organizations may use these excerpts as a reference to see how past applicants constructed a successful and competitive application.

NOTE: These excerpts are from the very first Tacoma Creates funding cycle, submitted just before the pandemic started. Proposal excerpts listed below may not accurately reflect programming produced by the listed organizations.

• Comprehensive Organizational Support Excerpts
• Impact Funding Excerpts

2024-25 Application Questions & Answers ⇩

We will update this space as needed between the release of the Tacoma Creates Application Guidelines and the application deadlines, in order to share any additional and/or clarifying information that comes up through application support conversations.

If you would like to review Questions and Answers from the 2023-24 application process, they can be found here.

Q: Can an organization serving as a Fiscal Sponsor on a Tacoma Creates application also apply for Tacoma Creates funding themselves?

A: Yes! Assuming both groups meet all the orgaanizational eligibility criteria, that's absolutely fine. A note: if the two organizations are directly collaborating on any work for which either organization is seeking Tacoma Creates support, it has the porential to look like "double dipping," so we encourage both organizations to be really clear about where the dividing lines are between which organization is producing which aspects of the programming.

Q: What is the total funding amount available for the 2024-25 funding cycle?

A: At present, we don't have an exact number, since that will be informed but the sales tax revenue that comes in over the next 5 months. Our projection at this point is between $5 Million and $5.5 Million.

Q: If an organization wants to work with Tacoma Public Schools, does it matter if they work with one, several, or all schools?

A: All of those possibilities are fine! It depends on the organization's focus and capacity, and where there's a good fit. For any/all TPS partnership programs, having a letter of commitment from the collaborating teacher or principal is a great way to demonstrate that there is an established partnernship, rather than just an idea to work with schools.

Q: Is there the possibility of multi-year funding?

A: Not currently, but this is something that's being discussed as a possibility for the future.

Q: Do panelists have access to our organization's previous applications, or are they only reviewing our 2024-25 application?

A: The review panelists will only see the current application.

Q: Do returning organizations have access to the panel feedback from last year's application?

A: Yes! Organizations can always reach out to Tacoma Creates staff to ask for panel comments from previous applications.

Q: Can Tacoma Creates staff review applications before they are submitted?

A: Yes! With enough lead time (a week would be ideal) we can review sections of your application - you can email us budget documents, or sections of your narrative, etc.

Q: Do organizations interested in the Comprehensive Organizational Support category need to provide an equal amount of both General Public Programs and Youth Education Programs?

A: No. Organizations in this category must have SOME programming that meets criteria for both General and Youth Education programs, but it's fine if the organization's work leans more in one direction than the other.

Q: Is there additional funding available that can support Beyond the Bell classes?

A: In the Impact Funding category, there is additional funding available – please refer to Appendix C in the Application Guidelines for additional information. For organizations in the Comprehensive Organizational Support category, there is no additional funding, and these organizations can choose to allocate the Tacoma Creates funding they receive across multiple program areas as appropriate.

• (Last updated 2/26/2024)