To help build the creative community, Denver has employed a number of innovative financing strategies including:

The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District
SCFD was established by Denver-area voters to help support more than 300 nonprofit organizations involved in the arts, sciences, and cultural activities. The SCFD distributes over $30 million to local organizations on an annual basis. Funds from a penny sales tax on every $10 purchase in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Jefferson, and northern Douglas Counties are distributed in proportionate amounts to qualifying institutions of all sizes. These organizations must provide for the enlightenment and entertainment of the public through the production, preservation, exhibition, advancement, or preservation of art, music, theater, dance, zoology, botany, natural history, or cultural history.  Contributing nearly $15 per capita, the SCFD provides an exceptional return on the publics' investment. Furthermore, because the SCFD tax is a "sale and use tax," almost 860,000 out-of-state visitors defray the cost by spending millions of dollars on tourism. The district is a jewel that not only supports a better quality of life for citizens, it is an economic asset that creates jobs, attracts new business, and diversifies  the economy. It is a remarkable form of self-investment that pays incredible dividends for Colorado.

Denver Urban Redevelopment Authority Redevelopment Projects
A unique mechanism called tax increment financing, or TIF, enables DURA to use the net new tax revenues generated by the redevelopment to help finance the project. When a redevelopment project is being planned, DURA analyzes how much additional property and/or sales taxes should be generated once it is completed. That "tax increment" then can be used by DURA either to finance the issuance of bonds or to reimburse developers for a portion of their project financing. In either case, the new tax revenue that is created must be used for improvements that have a public benefit and that support the redevelopment effort, such as site clearance, streets, utilities, parks, the removal of hazardous materials or conditions, or site acquisition.

The Colorado Enterprise Fund
CEF is a nonprofit community development financial institution founded in 1976. CEF helps people start or expand their small businesses. CEF makes loans to businesses that can’t get financing from traditional sources. More importantly, CEF also provides management assistance to help entrepreneurs improve their business skills and knowledge.

MicroBusiness Development Corporation
This Colorado nonprofit organization provides microenterprise support services including access to capital, business training and development, and technical assistance for Colorado entrepreneurs. In 2002, the combined programs of MBD provided training and technical assistance to 1,274 clients and distributed $442,421 in loan funding to Colorado entrepreneurs.  The mission of MicroBusiness Development Corporation is to stimulate and support microenterprise by creating economic opportunity and business growth by providing access to knowledge, resources, and business capital to undeserved populations.

Denver Foundation
The Denver Foundation is the product of 79 years of generous donors, hard working volunteers, and visionary grantees. Leaders in the banking industry came together in November 1925 to create an endowment fund to serve the future needs of the community. These forward-thinkers decided to pool estate gifts that had been left to their institutions for charitable purposes. The Denver Foundation has two primary functions. First, it invests funds received from donors and distributes those investment earnings to nonprofit organizations in the way of grants. Second, it manages and administers funds for individuals or families that have specific charitable objectives. The Denver Foundation received more than $52 million in gifts in 2003 and awarded more than $17.8 million in grants, both record numbers in the community foundation’s 78-year history.