7 Grants and Funding Sources for Black-Owned Businesses (Including Some That’ll Get Your Brand Exposure)
Many small businesses are struggling to make it through the economic slow-down triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially true of minority-owned small businesses. Only 12 percent of black or Latinx businesses that applied for PPP loans were actually approved. The remaining 88 percent of minority-owned small businesses in the U.S. that have demonstrated a need are having to find other ways to float their businesses. Let’s be real here - many of them won’t survive a second wave of this thing.
So, we pulled together a short list of grant opportunities and funding sources for black-owned businesses that we’ll work to expand and keep updated over the next few months. If you know of any, ping us directly on Instagram @shelfinc.
First up is beauty blog turned billion dollar beauty brand Glossier. If you haven’t heard of them, I think you need to check your WiFi because you may not be getting service under that rock. Glossier is showing up during this challenging time with a promise (and we know Emily Weiss is good for it) to support the Black community with $1 million. It’ll be divided up in two with $500K donated to organizations fighting racial injustice and the other $500K in the form of grants to Black-owned beauty businesses. Not too shabby. The grant portion will be distributed among 15 companies or so that fall into one of three categories:
a pre-launch business, meaning you have a finalized business plan and are planning to launch within the next 12 months;
an early-stage business, meaning you have launched in the past 12 months and are working to grow a customer base; or
a growth-stage business, meaning you launched over 12 months ago and are working to scale your operations.
Grants will be in amounts of $10K, $30K and $50K depending on the criteria above. And that’s not all. If your company is selected, Glossier will dedicate an Instagram story highlighting your business. Glossier has 2.8 million followers on the gram. Yeah, that much. So, that highlight can make a huge impact on your business.
The grants are being awarded between now and July 3, 2020. So, if you fit the criteria, apply here like yesterday.
Black Business Relief Grant Fund
Any chamber of commerce is always a great business tool, but this San Diego chapter is no joke. The Central San Diego Chamber of Commerce is raising up to $1 million to distribute in the form of grants to local Black-owned businesses. Pretty cool, huh?
If you’re a Black-owned business in the San Diego area, you can apply here.
The chamber is still collecting donations, too, if you’re interested in helping!
The Red Backpack Fund
The Red Backpack Fund was started by Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and the Spanx Foundation, and GlobalGiving, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting donors to grassroots projects around the world. This collab is giving $5 million in $5,000 grants to 1,000 womxn (yes, womxn) entrepreneurs in the US. The funds will be given to companies that meet the following criteria:
Women-owned (51% majority)
Have fewer than 50 employees
You’ve had to withhold payroll taxes for yourself and at least one other employee
You are registered in the US with a valid EIN number
You have not exceeded $5 million in annual revenues in the past three years
If this sounds like you and your business, there will be two more rounds in the coming months: July 6th - July 13th and August 3rd - August 10th. You can drop your email here to receive a link to the application when the next round opens. If your company gets chosen, you’ll also receive the “lucky” red backpack that Sara attributes to her success.
And if you want to donate to this awesome cause, you can do so here.
Hello Alice Business for All Emergency Grant
Hello Alice is a matchmaker of sorts for your business. If you need help starting your business, they can match you with opportunities from their partners who range from government agencies to large corporate entities. So, of course, they would start a fund to help small businesses bounce back from COVID-19. They are giving out $10,000 grants on a rolling basis and plan to do it for as long as they can. And they just partnered with VisibleMobile to specifically support Black-owned businesses.
If you want to check it out and see if your business qualifies, you can set up an account here to be taken to the application.
And if you’re one of the lucky ones, you get a primo spot on their Instagram feed, which is pretty awesome, if you ask me.
The Doonie Fund
This fund was started by Kathryn Finney, founder of Digital Undivided, in honor of her grandmother. The Doonie Fund was created in April to support Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs and has invested $100 in the businesses of over 500 of them. While $100 may not seem like a lot, The Doonie Fund considers them “micro-investments” into the futures of these Black and Latinx women’s lives. In addition to the funds, those selected are linked on Digital Undivided’s website. That kind of exposure is worth more than $100!
If you’re interested in becoming part of this amazing opportunity, you can find more information here.
Stronger Together Fund by The Mom Project
This grant fund is a little different from the others. If you have a company that employs mothers, the Stronger Together Fund, started by The Mom Project, will partner with your company to provide grants to help the moms you employ. As a mother myself, I know a thing or two about being overlooked at work. So, as an employer, this is a fantastic way to show up and appreciate those moms on your payroll. And if you’re in need of finding hard working employees, this fund will also help you hire mothers that are otherwise having a hard time finding employment.
The Mom Project has $500,000 to help mothers find or keep employment during this pandemic. The grant is available to companies with fewer than 5,000 employees, and the funds can be used for your employee’s paycheck or creating new jobs. Sounds like a good deal to me!
If you want to show up for the moms of your company, you can find more information on partnering with The Mom Project here.
GoFundMe.org Small Business Relief Fund
Ok, so I’m sure you’ve heard of GoFundMe, and if you haven’t, come on guys! GoFundMe is in the business of fundraising. Well, more like, giving anyone a platform to fundraise, which is a pretty cool concept, and one people really like.
So, of course, they would want to help small businesses fundraise so they don't have to, you know, close. GoFundMe has set up a GoFundMe page (see what I did there?) for small businesses that need help due to COVID-19 (damnit, ‘rona!). So far, they have raised over $2.4 million that will go to small businesses all over the US in the form of grants, tools and resources. The fund has received donations from big wigs like GoDaddy, Yelp and Quickbooks as well as individuals (like you and me) who want to help.
GoFundMe will continue to dish out $500 to qualifying businesses until the funds are gone. In order to be considered, the business needs to:
set up a GoFundMe page with the hashtag #SmallBusinessRelief in the description and have raised at least $500 already
You will also have to prove you’ve had hardship due to the ‘rona
The company must be independently owned and operated and not be a huge corporation that makes lots of money
If selected, the funds must be used to help employees and pay for ongoing businesses expenses
If this sounds like you, you can find the relief fund’s FAQs here and the request form to apply here.
Conclusion
I know life seems pretty bleak right now with everything going on, but luckily there are still good people in the world, starting with those that created these funds. It’s important to help each other out as much as possible during this time, so if you can donate to any of the funds, it helps everyone. Or you can help your friends with businesses and share this post with them!