Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) Grant

Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) Grant is sponsored by Community Sustaining Fund of Thurston County. The Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) provides grant funding for progressive, community-oriented projects across Thurston County.

building community one grant at a time “ Your grant galvanized this project! ” – Thurston Housing Land Trust & Community Farms Land Trust, 2023 News about CSF’s Spring’26 Grant Cycle To Our Community of Activists and Contributors The Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) has, for almost 40 years, been responsible for distributing funds raised by Olympia Food Co-op members participating in the Co-op’s “Round-up” program and from other donors.

In recent years, these small individual contributions have added up to about $8,000-$10,000 annually in funds to support progressive change throughout Thurston County. Twice each year , CSF evaluates applications and awards grants to local groups and individuals engaged in social justice, environmental protection and community building projects.

The original purpose for the CSF was to award funds to projects aiming for social change, and to new groups with ideas that challenged the status quo – project ideas that might otherwise go unfunded.

In recent years we have seen more applications from established groups, and fewer from groups or individuals who reflect the original (and continuing) mission After a period of reflection on these realities, our Board has decided that it’s time to review our outreach, funding criteria and grant-review practices, and to update them where needed.

We came to this decision using the same cautious deliberation and consensus-based approach that we employ in making our grant Therefore, we will not schedule a Spring 2026 grant cycle, in order to complete our review and to circulate updated materials to the community. The next opportunity to apply for a Community Sustaining Fund Grant will be in the Fall of 2026 .

Check here as we make progress on our review and create opportunities for input from Co-op and community members. We will post an announcement in September of specific dates for the Fall grant cycle. The Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) of Thurston County is a local, grassroots grant fund.

It was birthed in 1987 by an innovative group of Olympia Food Co-op members responding to a lack of funding to develop social change projects in Thurston County. CSF began active grant-giving in 1989. Since then, the CSF has awarded many thousands of dollars for projects that range across social justice, environmental sustainability, and community activism, with a particular interest in grassroot start-ups.

With our semi-annual grant cycle, we aim to create a more democratic, equitable, nonviolent, and ecologically sound society. CSF takes a particular interest in awarding costs for start-ups that might go unfunded, but with the expectation that these projects will become self-sustaining.

Over almost 40 years, CSF has seeded the start-up and continuation of many projects that moved the needle for positive change in our communities Groups such as Thurston Housing Land Trust, Strengthening Sanctuary, “ suləx: Gifts of the Land Ethnobotanical Garden,” Bowl of Hope, Terra Commons, Stonewall Youth, South Sound Estuary, Veterans for Peace are just a small sample of the hundreds of organizations and individuals who received CSF grants.

The Next Grant Cycle will be Fall 2026. The next opportunity to apply is for the Fall 2026 Grant Cycle. Date will be announced in September.

Oct. or Nov. (Mon.)

11:59 pm The fund is powered by donations from community members and Olympia Food Co-op members. Co-op shoppers who ask to “Round-Up” for CSF provide most of the funds, but individual donations and fundraisers also help. ​ A board of local volunteers sows 100% of those donations back into the community through a twice-yearly cycle of grants.

If you would like to contribute, here are some ways: Ask to Round-Up your purchases for the Community Sustaining Fund at one of the Olympia Food Co-op locations. For Co-op members, ask to be reminded to “Round-Up” at the cash register. Donate via PayPal or Venmo Send a contribution to: CSF, 2103 Harrison Ave NW, #2715, Olympia, WA 98502 Apply for CSF funding for your own project!