Seattle ArtsFund
Learn more about the organization
ArtsFund
Published
March 14, 2025
Building human connection through the arts
In theaters, museums, and arts education classes throughout Puget Sound and Washington, people from diverse backgrounds come together. Side by side, they admire paintings, laugh at comedians’ punchlines, and dance to live music. While they are immersing themselves in the arts, they also engage on challenging issues and find common ground, says Michael Greer, President and CEO of ArtsFund. As 80% of US adults think the country is divided on important values, “it’s as important as it has ever been to connect across political ideologies, geographical identities, and different perspectives, and we can do that through arts and culture,” he adds.
ArtsFund supports 1,000 arts and culture organizations across Washington State, emphasizing diversity of race, ability, geography, and sexual and gender identity. The nonprofit strengthens organizations’ leadership and capacity, funds operating costs and programming, and has distributed approximately $130 million in grants over its 55-year history.
ArtsFund’s longstanding partnership with Microsoft fuels these experiences—and the personal interactions they enable. “We’re finding creative ways to work with Microsoft to advance human connection through the arts,” Greer says. “This is a symbiotic relationship that makes communities better for everybody.”
As one of ArtsFund’s top corporate donors, Microsoft and its employees have contributed $10.2 million to the nonprofit since 1989, according to their records. Employees also share their time and passion through board leadership and volunteering. “The entire Microsoft community understands the value of arts and culture to individuals, the economy, and the region as a whole,” Greer says.
Expanding capacity of arts and culture organizations
ArtsFund plays a critical role in Washington State’s arts and culture ecosystem, which impacts virtually all the region’s priorities. Communities with access to the arts see improvements in safety, health, education, and many more markers of social wellbeing, according to ArtsFund research. “The arts and culture community is essential for a good quality of life for Washingtonians,” Greer says.
Further, the arts are an economic driver. ArtsFund research shows that every dollar spent on the arts multiplies threefold to the local economy, and the arts and culture sector represents 9.5% of Washington’s GDP. ArtsFund also advocates for the arts not only to expand these benefits, but to make sure everyone in Washington can access the joy and beauty the arts bring.
Microsoft is committed to building a vibrant and equitable region, which includes a thriving arts and culture ecosystem. In 2013 Americans for the Arts named Microsoft as one of the top businesses supporting the arts in recognition of the company’s enduring commitment to the sector. In addition to supporting ArtsFund, Microsoft and its employees provide funding, technology expertise, and volunteering hours to dozens of arts and culture organizations in Washington and beyond.
“Microsoft is invested in the community not just through giving, but also through action and board service,” explains Katy Corella, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Communications at ArtsFund. Microsoft employees volunteer at the nonprofit’s annual Celebration of the Arts event, and employees have served on the nonprofit’s board for decades. Microsoft representatives also served on ArtsFund’s strategic vision task force and sit on its committee that distributes more than $2 million in grants each year.
“We take every opportunity to bring in Microsoft voices to everything strategic,” Greer says. “That global expertise in business development, growth, and thought leadership is invaluable not just for ourselves but also the organizations we support.”
ArtsFund runs a Board Leadership Training (BLT) program to empower local leaders with the skills needed to steward nonprofits. Microsoft employees are in virtually every BLT cohort, who then connect with organizations in ArtsFund’s network.
“Microsoft is invested in the community not just through giving, but also through action and board service.”
—Katy Corella, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Communications at ArtsFund
Meeting on-the-ground needs for arts sector sustainability
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for the thousand arts and culture organizations that ArtsFund supports. Rather, the nonprofit provides them with unrestricted dollars to use as they need, from jumpstarting a new outreach program to keeping the lights on at the office. Similarly, Microsoft’s grants to ArtsFund are not earmarked. “We trust organizations to do what they need to do with the funds we grant them, and Microsoft has basically said the same thing to us,” Greer explains. “The relationship between ArtsFund and Microsoft is based on real trust built over our long history. That enables Microsoft to get dollars out into the arts community and make the most impact.”
This approach enables ArtsFund to remain flexible—a quality that helped the entire arts community withstand the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other challenges. Microsoft was one of the top sponsors for ArtsFund’s emergency pandemic relief, when arts organizations had to suspend the in-person events and performances that form the backbone of their budgets. Greer says many regional nonprofits would have closed without those emergency funds.
Ongoing support from Microsoft provides the reliability ArtsFund and its grantees need to dream big. As a result, ArtsFund has helped the arts flourish in communities in nearly every county across Washington. “Microsoft understands that it takes consistent support to weather the good times and the bad,” Greer says. “The arts sector would not be as robust as it is today without the support Microsoft provides.”
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