Here are grants and other types of awards and funding available to offset financial losses due to business shutdowns during the coronavirus economic shutdown.
Facebook small business grants
Facebook has announced support for 10,000 U.S. small businesses with a $40 million fund. The fund is available in 34 locations.
Examples of how funds can be used:
- Keep your workforce going strong
- Help with rent and operational costs
- Connect with more customers
- Support your community
Up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in more than 30 countries will be able to receive a grant from Facebook. To be eligible to apply, your business must:
- Have between 2 and 50 employees
- Have been in business for over a year
- Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
- Be in or near a location where Facebook operates
Note from Facebook:
We've received an overwhelming amount of applications from the United States. While we'd love to give grants to each small business in need, we’re only able to provide grants to a portion of the many small businesses that applied. For applicants who won’t be able to get a grant, we’ll be providing new resources soon.
More information is available on the Facebook website.
Business for All
This collective movement, powered by Hello Alice in partnership with Verizon, is bringing together small business owners, enterprise partners, entrepreneur organizations, policymakers, and individual consumers who are committed to lifting up small business.
$250,000 in grants will be awarded to Business for All applicants, as a critical step towards tackling entrepreneurs’ single greatest barrier to growth: access to capital. Grantees will be selected by an esteemed council of leaders from across the business ecosystem, representing diverse organizations, industries, locations and demographics.
Grants Eligibility
- Must be a legal resident of the U.S., excluding Puerto Rico
- At least 18 years of age or older
- Must be a legal for-profit business entity based in the U.S.
- Applicant must be the business owner who is the Founder and/or leading executive (President, CEO, CFO, COO, or any such other similar title)
More information here.
In a blog post by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Google says it will pitch in to help small businesses and other organizations make their way through the current health and economic challenge facing us all. That help comes in the form of an $800 million program that includes both direct financial assistance, as well as grants. There's no sign-up or application process. Instead, credits will automatically be added to active Google Ads accounts. For more information, visit Google here.
GoFundMe
GoFundMe has partnered with Intuit QuickBooks, Yelp, GoDaddy, and Bill.com to give small businesses a $500 grant if they raise at least $500 on GoFundMe. The GoFundMe.org Small Business Relief Fund will provide micro-grants to qualifying small businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Small Business Relief Fund is part of the Small Business Relief Initiative : a program supported by GoFundMe and our partners. The Small Business Relief Initiative will supply financial assistance and support to businesses across the country by providing grants, tools, and resources to help during the crisis. More information here.
Salesforce
Salesforce is partnering with Ureeka to offer eligible small businesses the opportunity to receive a $10,000 grant to help them through the COVID-19 outbreak.
To be eligible to apply, companies must:
- Be a for-profit company
- Have between 2 to 50 employees
- Have been in business for 2 full years as of March 2020
- Have an annual revenue between $250k and $2M
- Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
- Meet all other eligibility requirements as stated in the Grant Program Terms
More information here.
State Grants
The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) website features a state tracker of financial incentive programs across the country, updated twice a year.
Covidcap.com has a comprehensive, searchable database that includes grants, loans, and other cash support that can help entrepreneurs. Access the database here.
For a list of small business support offered per state, visit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website.
Industry and Owner Specific Grants
Yelp is offering advertising credits for small, independently owned restaurants and bars.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue are offering grants of up to $100,000 for fashion industry businesses that are at least two years old, employ no more than 30 people, and generate less than $10 million in revenue a year. Applications are due May 2.
Beauty Changes Lives is offering $1,000 grants for licensed beauty professionals who are out of work due to the coronavirus.
Spanx and The Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation, administered by GlobalGiving, are providing 1,000 grants of $5,000 to women-owned small businesses affected by COVID-19 in monthly rounds.
Digitalundivided, a nonprofit that supports black and latinx women entrepreneurs, is providing quick grants of $100 to black women business owners.
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce is offering grants to support inner city, minority-owned entrepreneurs and businesses, especially ones in technologically innovative sectors, via Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Inner City Innovation Hubs.
The MBDA is also seeking to fund three proposals for Enterprising Women of Color business centers in any U.S. state or territory.
