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Updated
We’ll continue updating this page with resources and information as new details emerge in the world’s response to COVID-19.
Some local governments and private organizations have started offering grants to small businesses that have lost revenue due to the coronavirus outbreak. For example, Facebook and Amazon launched grant programs to help small businesses. And New York City now offers grants to companies with less than five employees to cover up to 40% of payroll costs for two months.
More companies, cities, states and the federal government might offer grants in the near future. Generally, these are only available to businesses in specific areas and may have size restrictions. You can find information about grants available to you by reaching out to your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or your local government. Or, read our article on loans for small businesses hit by COVID-19.
10+ business grants available during the coronavirus outbreak
Business grants are one of the few financing options you don’t have to pay back. But there’s a reason that businesses turn to other types of financing first.
Grants take a long time to find, even longer to apply for — and they’re extremely competitive. Still, they might be worth looking into. After all, free is pretty hard to beat.
Standard business grants don’t operate like business loans in terms of eligibility requirements, though qualifications for both grants and loans widely vary.
When you apply for a grant, you aren’t just convincing the donor to give you funding — you’re convincing them to give you funding over everyone else who applied. That’s one of the big differences between business loans and grants.
Grants tend to have a larger social cause in mind, such as encouraging women or minority entrepreneurs or helping out a particular community. You can also find grants specific to industries or regions.
The US government provides business grants at the federal and state level. Federal grants, however, don’t typically go to small businesses unless they’re involved in technology, development, scientific research or other issues of national concern. If this sounds like your business, you might want to look at two grant programs offered through the Small Business Administration (SBA):
All grants are competitive, but the SBIR and SBTT grants are especially difficult to get. That doesn’t mean you should write them off, but you might want to also look at other federal grant listings on Grants.gov.
Small businesses outside of the tech sector might have better luck looking local. State and city grants tend to offer less money, but they’re also less competitive than other types of grants. Because they’re tailored to your community, these grants could have requirements that you’re more likely to fit.
If neither of these options do it for you, search for business grants on other grant directory websites.
Typically, your business will need to be located in a specific state or city to qualify for a local grant — on top of other grant-specific requirements.
As with federal grants, state and city grants tend to be highly specific when it comes to eligibility.
To qualify, you’ll typically need to:
Businesses that don’t qualify for a government grant might want to turn to the private sector.
Many large corporations and national organizations run foundations that offer grants to small businesses, often within a specific type of industry or charitable cause. You might want to start with these four popular ones:
Eligibility requirements, as always, highly vary with corporate grants. You generally won’t be able to get a grant if your business is less than six months old. You could also have trouble finding a corporate grant if you run a for-profit business or political organization. However, if you’re a for-profit business that’s involved with charitable activities or works to improve a community, you may still qualify.
Search engines are your best bet to find a corporate grant. Try searching for grants by industry and your financial needs, rather than corporate grants in general — it’ll take you a lot longer to weed through foundations that can’t do anything for you. For example, if you own a restaurant in Chicago, you could simply search for “restaurant grants Chicago” to quickly narrow your focus.
Get your business’s name out there while you apply for funding by entering a grant competition in your industry. Even if you don’t win, you stand to get lots of free advice, feedback and exposure for your business by entering.
One contest you might want to consider is LendingTree‘s small business grant competition, which grants the winner $50,000 and is open to small businesses of any industry nationwide. Or find more contests at Challenge.gov, which provides a listing of government challenges small business owners can compete in for prizes.
Finding free funding for your business isn’t impossible. But make sure you’re ready to invest the often intensive time and resources in researching and applying for grants.
If you want your money more quickly, consider other business financing options. In fact, some lenders specialize in financing for women business owners, offer special loan programs for minority-owned businesses or cater to businesses started by veterans.
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