Web Design in Denver for the Organizations SCFD Funds, Tier by Tier

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

A free day sits on SCFD’s public calendar with a Learn More link, and the link opens a homepage that never mentions it. The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District funds nearly 300 arts, science and culture nonprofits across seven metro counties, and it asks each of them to count who came and from which county. Web design in Denver for these organizations starts with the free day page, the ticket form and that county question. Progression’s team works out of New York, builds sites for Denver’s cultural organizations remotely, and travels to Denver for on-site sessions when a client asks.

A free day the homepage forgot

A chamber ensemble lists a free Saturday concert on SCFD’s Free Days calendar. A visitor clicks Learn More and lands on the ensemble’s homepage, which shows last season’s poster and a ticket button for a paid show.

The visitor wanted four things: the date, the hours, whether to reserve and how to get in. None of them are on that page. A website design company in Denver that treats the free day as its own page fixes the gap in an afternoon.

• SCFD’s calendar sends the visitor to the organization.
• The organization’s page has to confirm the date and the hours.
• A reservation field, if one is needed, belongs on the same page.
• The same page is a place to count who came.

Web design in Denver for SCFD funded organizations

SCFD’s About Us page describes a seven-county tax district: one penny on every $10 in sales and use tax collected goes to it. It funds nearly 300 organizations and distributes more than $80 million a year. The counties are Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson, with the exception of Castle Rock and Larkspur in Douglas County.

To be eligible, an organization needs a 501(c)(3) incorporated with the Colorado Secretary of State, or a local government agency with a cultural sub-unit, at least five consecutive years serving the public, a location in the seven counties and a primary purpose in visual arts, performing arts, cultural history, natural history or natural sciences, as SCFD’s eligibility page lists. Denver website design for these organizations answers three readers at once: a visitor, a county council member and SCFD staff.

Who can apply to SCFD at all?

Only organizations that meet SCFD’s eligibility rules. SCFD does not fund state agencies, libraries, schools and their foundations, churches, broadcasters, cable systems, newspapers or magazines, or organizations engaged solely in acquiring or restoring historic buildings.

An organization that changes its mission, activities or location reports it to SCFD immediately. The website is usually where the change first shows.

Three tiers, three different websites

SCFD sorts the organizations it funds into three tiers, and each tier is asked to count something different. Website design in Denver for a tier-one museum and for a tier-three community choir are two different jobs, as the table shows.

Tier I: five institutions named in the statute

The Tier I page says Tier I organizations receive 64% of SCFD funds. For SCFD’s own 2026 calendar the Certification Report deadline was Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 4:00 PM. The site’s job is steady: free days, visitor information and a clean record of attendance.

Tier II: proving 15 percent from outside the home county

The Tier II page lists a qualifying annual income of $2,101,147.99 for 2026 and $2,151,575.55 for 2027, and a regional impact requirement of at least 15% of Colorado attendance from outside the home county. Tier II organizations receive 22% of SCFD funds, and the 2026 deadline was Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 4:00 PM. The site has to know where each visitor comes from, and that is the county question below.

Tier III: one county council or several

The Tier III page says these organizations receive 14% of SCFD funds, and an eligible organization can apply in one county or several. Each county writes its own guidelines and revises them every year. For 2026 the multi-county deadline was March 4 at 4:00 PM and each county’s deadline was March 11 at 4:00 PM.

What a site for a cultural nonprofit costs

Pricing depends on scope and is set in the written proposal, and published prices are subject to change. Denver web design for a cultural nonprofit is priced by the pages, the forms and the integrations, and a shop or membership sale adds ecommerce website development in Denver.

Progression’s listed site prices

These are the fixed-scope prices on our website design and development page. Hosting and maintenance are separate.

The county question on every ticket form

A web design company in Denver that builds a ticket, RSVP or class form for an SCFD organization adds one optional field: home ZIP code or county. The answers map to the seven SCFD counties, plus elsewhere in Colorado and out of state.

Why ask for a ZIP code at all?

Because the report asks where visitors came from. One optional field answers it for every ticket and RSVP, and the reason printed beside it keeps the question respectful.

SCFD’s funding process page tells funded organizations to keep detailed attendance counts and county-specific data throughout the year. Tier II proves regional impact and Tier III keeps county data all year, so the field pays for itself at report time.

• Make the field optional and say why it is there, in one short line.
• Map every ZIP code to a county when the answer arrives, not when the report is due.
• Keep the answers in the same place as the ticket, the RSVP or the class signup.
• Ask only what the report needs.

Free attendance is attendance too

Tier II funding rests on qualifying annual income, qualifying paid attendance and documented free attendance, and the annual submission includes Form C for free attendance. Free day RSVPs and door counts belong in the same place as paid tickets, by date and county.

Does a free day count as attendance?

Tier II funding counts documented free attendance, so yes. The count has to be documented, which is why the RSVP and the door count are kept.

A web development agency in Denver that builds the free day RSVP and the paid checkout on one system gives the grants manager one export. An organization that is free every day keeps a simple daily count.

• Log free day RSVPs by date and county.
• Add the door count on the day and keep both numbers.
• Keep paid and free in separate columns.
• Back up the export before each reporting deadline.

A page for every free day

SCFD’s Free Days calendar says organizations across the metro area provide hundreds of free days and free programs each year, made possible in part by SCFD funding. A web designer in Denver, CO who builds the page for each one gives the calendar a place to send visitors.

What goes on a free day page?

The date, the hours, the reservation rule, the access details and the way to arrive, in that order. The table lists each item and the reason for it.

Each free day gets one URL with the date, the hours, whether a reservation is needed, access details and how to arrive. That URL goes into SCFD’s own free day form. SCFD tells visitors to check with organizations before attending, because dates and times are subject to change, so the date on the site matches the date on the calendar.

Website design companies in Denver that run a free day calendar on the organization’s own site keep it editable by staff, so a change takes a minute.

• One page per free day, with the date in the title.
• Hours, reservation rules and access details at the top.
• How to arrive, by transit and by car.
• A note for people who need accommodations.
• The same date as SCFD’s calendar.

Find Culture, the About page and the mission line

All three tier pages say SCFD’s Find Culture feature lets the public find the organization, with a link to update its information. Web design firms in Denver that keep the About page current make the update a same-day job.

An organization that changes its mission, activities or location reports it to SCFD immediately. The About page, the Find Culture listing and the report change on the same day.

• Check the Find Culture listing whenever the About page changes.
• Keep the mission line identical on the site and in the listing.
• Report a change of location or activity to SCFD at once.
• Name the person who owns each of the three on the same day.

SCFD’s mark in the footer, untouched

SCFD’s Communicator’s Toolkit asks organizations to use its logo and brand, offers logo files in PNG for digital use, and says the logo may not be manipulated or changed in any way. SCFD’s font is Montserrat, which is free, or Ridley Grotesk, which is paid.

Can the logo be recolored?

No. SCFD’s toolkit says the logo may not be manipulated or changed in any way. If a different logo file is needed, the toolkit says to contact the SCFD office.

A website design agency in Denver puts a supporter line and the logo in the footer and on free day pages, linked to SCFD, and leaves the colors alone. Each newly funded organization receives one retractable SCFD banner, 33 by 81 inches, which belongs at events, not on the homepage.

• Use the digital logo file as SCFD supplies it.
• Do not recolor, crop or stretch the logo.
• Link the logo to SCFD.
• Keep the banner for events.

When the program changes after the grant

On the Tier III page, a grant amendment for a project grant must be submitted and approved before any change to the venue, date or time, the content of programming, the projected audience, or a project budget that changes by more than 25%. A web development company in Denver updates the program page after the amendment is approved, not before.

When does a program page change?

After the amendment is approved. A page that moves first shows the public a program SCFD has not yet agreed to.

The funding process page says funds are spent by December of the following year. The program pages should say what the approved grant says.

• Keep program pages in draft until the amendment is approved.
• Date every program change on the site.
• Keep the approved grant description beside the program page.
• Ask the county’s SCFD program officer about anything unclear.

The export the grants manager asks for

Six items go into the export a grants manager opens before a report is due. Web design agencies in Denver that build the export once save the team a scramble each year, and our nonprofit website design page covers the rest of a nonprofit site.

SCFD’s 2026 deadlines were March 4 and March 11 for Tier III, May 6 for Tier I and June 10 for Tier II. Enter each year’s dates from SCFD’s pages once SCFD posts them.

Event organizers can also read our event website design page, and organizations that need press coverage can see our arts and culture PR page. For Denver search work, see SEO company in Denver.

Frequently asked questions