One of the best sources of small business grants is from corporations looking to give back to the community. These often have less competition than other grants because they aren’t listed on popular grant sites like Grants.gov.
Find What You’re Looking For
Incorporate your new business for How to Apply and Win Business Grants
Do’s and Don’ts of Winning Business Grants
- Make a schedule – Many grants are only open to applications once a year. Schedule time to put together an application ahead of time.
- Write a business plan first – Most grants ask for a business plan. More importantly, you should know how exactly the grant money will help your business. Here’s our guide to writing a simple business plan.
- See what companies have been funded in the past – This can help you determine which grants you have a good chance of winning. If they funded similar types of businesses, that’s a good sign.
- Get help from local business organizations – I went through many types of local business organizations that provide assistance to small business owners. This includes helping you find grant opportunities and presenting your business in the best light.
- Consider professional help – If you come across a grant that requires a well-written cover letter or essay, consider hiring a professional freelance grant writer if you can afford it. (Usually only worth it for big grants.)
Quick Tips for Getting More Grants
- Always look for new grant opportunities (Setting up a Google Alert is a good idea).
- Make sure the time spent to apply for a grant is actually worth the grant amount.
- Read over the individual application instructions to each grant. Some are similar, but few are the exact same.
- Double-check that you are eligible before spending a lot of time on an application.
- Provide specific numbers on how the grant will be used and how it will help.
- Double-check your spelling and grammar.
- Submitting your application early may make you look more prepared than late-submitters.
- Back up claims with credible citations.
- Be realistic when mentioning your business’ costs or revenue.
- Find a book from your library on grant writing if you want to write better grant proposals.
Where to Find Grants for Small Businesses
Government Sources for Small business Grants
Corporate Business Grants
Business Grants for Women
Business Grants for Veterans
Business Grants for Minorities
Miscellaneous Grants
How to Apply and Win Business Grants
Do’s and Don’ts of Winning Business Grants
Quick Tips for Getting More Grants
Common Questions and Answers
How Do You Qualify For a Small Business Grant?
Do You Have to Pay Back Small Business Grants?
What is the Limit on the Number of Grants I Can Apply For?
What Type of Credit do You Need to Get a Grant?
How Much Money Can I Get?
Conclusion
DON’T FORGET TO FORM YOUR NEW BUSINESS
Government Sources for Small business Grants
Grants.gov: The first place all small businesses should go to look for a federal grant. It’s a database of thousands of grants with powerful filters that will help you quickly narrow down the results to grants that you have a good chance of getting.
- : The SBIR is a longstanding funding program for research-based businesses with commercialization potential. They award grants through 12 main federal agencies:
- Department of Agriculture
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Department of Defense
- Department of Education
- Department of Energy
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Transportation
- Environmental Protection Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Science Foundation
- Department of Defense
- Department of Energy
- Department of Health and Human Services
- NASA
- National Science Foundation.
: The STTR program is similar to the SBIR program. It also focuses on businesses involved with research, but is only available to businesses that work a formal research institution. It’s also more restrictive by industry, as only 5 federal agencies award STTR grants currently:
: This program awards grants to small businesses involved in exporting. Not too much information about this grant is available online, you’ll need to contact the SBA’s Office of International Trade to see if you qualify.
SAM.gov Grants (formerly the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance): This is another great federal grant database with a modern re-design. While there is some overlap with Grants.gov, you’ll find a few unique ones as well that makes it worth your time to check. You can use the advanced search filters to only see grant results, or also see other funding sources like loans.
Challenge.gov: This technically isn’t a site that offers grants, but they do offer significant amounts of prize money for solving challenges facing a variety of industries. Many are technology-oriented, but there are non-tech challenges as well. If your business is doing something innovative, monitor Challenge.gov for relevant challenges that might be easy for your small business to win.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grants: If you have an agriculture or food service business, you may have a good shot at a grant from the USDA. They have multiple grant programs:
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Grants: This is where the NIST lists their grants. They are intended for small businesses involved with science or technology in some way. You can either find the currently active grants here, or through Grants.gov.
Department of Education Grants: The Department of Education maintains an active list of several grants they offer to small businesses in the education industry. The award ceiling for many grants is up to millions of dollars, so if you run an education-based small business, you should actively monitor these grants.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Grants: The EPA offers dozens of grants to small businesses that are trying to improve the environment, particularly in innovative ways. There are grants targeted towards air quality, environment quality, water quality, pollution prevention, and more.
Economic Development Administration (EDA): The EDA offers grants to small businesses aiming to improve infrastructure of communities. The only issue is that there’s no easy directory of grants to monitor, you’ll have to check this page often for new announcements. You can see previous opportunities to check for relevance on this page.
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