How to Get a Small Business Grants for Women

Small Business Grants for Women. More women are business owners than ever before. Do you have creative and innovative business ideas? Are you looking for appropriate grants to support your business?

This article is here to help you out. For ages, women have not been accurately represented in the business world. However, several organizations and agencies presently provide growth grants, strivers grants, and more.

Financial Grants Are Available to Women

1. Amber Grant for Women

The Amber Grant Foundation offers $10,000 to a woman-owned small business every month. At the close of each year, one among the twelve grant winners receives an additional $25,000. The application process is straightforward.  The grant applicants only need to explain their industry processes.

Also, you must mention how they would use the grant amount and submit an application fee of $15. The last day of every month is fixed as the final submission date. The grant is open to all female entrepreneurs of age 18 or above who are residents of the USA or Canada. Website

2. Minority Business Development Agency

This agency offers minority small business grants to institutions operating minority business centers throughout the USA. The selected applicants can receive business consulting and procurement matching training through one of the centers.

Apart from this, financial assistance is also provided to businesses owned by minorities. The agency also provides valuable educational resources to entrepreneurs from minority sections of society.  

3. New Voices Fund

The fund aims to give women of color entrepreneurs the tools to achieve the dream of starting and running a business. They support established companies or start-ups. Especially companies that work within the community. New Voices by the owner of SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage and Sundial Brands, a black founder, a family-run entity. One hundred million dollars fund this grant.

4. Cartier Women’s Initiative

This grant is awarded explicitly to promising women entrepreneurs who have the potential to make it big in the business world in the future. Accordingly, as a part of this program, seven grants are awarded, each amounting to $100,000. Additionally, fourteen grants are also offered, amounting to $30,000 each.  

The submission deadline for the current financial year was extended to July 31st, 2020. Finally, the authority about applicants who are not selected would be notified about their application status by March this year. This grant is open to a revenue-generating, early-stage, for-profit, women-run sustainable company.

5. Dare to Dream

This national association guides University students through development seminars. Here they can understand the dynamics of creating a business through seminars. Also, they are awarded from $500-$5,000 in grants to individuals and teams. The students must show how they would take their business from conception to reality. Website

6. Tory Burch Foundation

Every spring, around fifty women-owned companies are selected. This program offers a total of 100 grants worth $5,000 each. The grant amount is only for business education and no other purposes. Every finalist gets a Tory Burch Fellowship for a year.

The small business grants also come with a free five-day trip to the Tory Burch Foundation campus in New Jersey during the summers. The trip includes networking opportunities and a workshop. Ten women also get the golden opportunity of pitching their ideas to a panel of industry experts among the grant recipients. Website 

7. Small Business Administration (SBA)

The SBA is an excellent resource for women starting their businesses. Entrepreneurs can access a wealth of knowledge from retired businessmen and women. The United States Small Business Administration is a source for women entrepreneurs.

Before meeting with a sponsor, you must already have a business plan. This shows you have a full grasp of what you want to do and are ready to process your new venture.  SBA grant application

8. The Girlboss Foundation Grant

This grant, provided twice a year, aims to help female entrepreneurs in their creative endeavors journey. Every grant winner receives an amount of $15,000. All finalists also get exposure through the platform and community of Girlboss.

The incentives are specially for women struggling to come up with something unique and extraordinary in art, design, fashion, and music. The subsidy amount received is to be used in a creative project strictly within the upcoming 12 months. Applicants must apply in June and December for the first and second cycles of the year.  Read on to learn how to get a universal grant from Ifundwomen.

9. Grants.gov

It lets grant applicants search and apply for various federal funding opportunities available in the market. It hosts information on over a thousand grant programs spanning all the national grant-making institutions.  Candidates who wish to apply for federal grants should get a unique identification number of 9 digits known as the DUNS number.

They should register to do business with their state government. They need to access the System Award Management website, go to Grants.gov, and create an account. Website

10. 37 Angels

Technically speaking, angel investment is not any grant. However, angel investing is the right choice for startups that require some direction to progress. Women-owning startups might also benefit from angel investment in terms of the required funds and industry expertise.

37 Angels, based in New York City, aims to narrow and close the gender disparity in the field of angel investing. The selected finalists are given a chance to pitch their companies to a team of investors based in New York. In the case of seed funding, around $50,000 to $100,000 is given as grants. Website 

11. The Halstead Grant

These annual grants are offered to emerging designers in the field of metal jewelry. The grant provides $7,500 as startup capital. The winners are also gifted Halstead merchandise worth $1,000.

The last date of submission every year is the 1st of August.  The grant is open to US-based silver jewelry designers who have taken up jewelry design as a career.

And they have been in the industry for 3 to 5 years. Here, jewelry designing should not be a part-time job or a hobby. The application procedure is relatively easy. Candidates need to send their jewelry collections along with grant applications. Website

12. Open Meadows Foundation

These grants concentrate on political change, activism, and empowerment. You can receive $2,000 for to project. Women who conduct different projects on gender, race, and economic justice are eligible to apply for these grants.

The foundation is primarily looking for beneficial projects for women. The foundation offers more favor to startups and small organizations. To qualify for these small business grants, a project needs to have a limited fund amounting to less than $75,000. Website

13. Eileen Fisher Grant

This fellows grant is sponsored by Eileen Fisher, the popular and famous retailer of women’s clothing. Every year, ten businesswomen receive these grants that, amount to a total of $100,000. The amounts of grants given may vary between $5,000 to $30,000.

To qualify for this grant, you must have at least 51% of the business’s leadership and ownership. Your business should be operating for a minimum of three years. Its annual revenue must have been lesser than $1 million. Also, your business needs to be based on environmental or social change. Website

How to Get a Small Business Grant

• The procedure for applying for a financial grant is quite lengthy. Before delving into applying, you should know about the grant. However, you need to find out if you are an eligible candidate.
• You need to record the business outcomes and draw up detailed reports showing how the grant money was used and its impact on the growth and expansion of the business.  Check your eligibility
• Before applying for a small business grant for women, check whether you can receive a particular grant. Therefore, you must meet specific qualifications while applying for a state grant. Federal funds are offered to startups that aim to bring social welfare. Non-profit organizations, educational institutions, etc., are eligible to apply.

How to Research Grants

The next thing you need to do after finding out your eligibility is to find a proper source of grant funding. First, be sure about your business’s mission, vision, and objectives. Then, look for funders whose vision and interests match those laid down by you.

Companies focused on churning alternatives for green energy, actively welcoming veterans to the workforce, developing business opportunities in rural areas, etc., have better chances of obtaining grants successfully. In for-profit businesses, they can try their luck accessing grants through private organizations and on the state level.

Drafting Grants

Drafting a grant proposal is a challenging and time-taking task. You must compile all the application materials and sort them into separate sections. You would need information regarding your business. Following this, you should mention your need and how you think of solving it.

Talk about how you would monitor the impact of the funding on your organization. There should be a detailed budget showing the fund allocation within the project. Add documents such as tax details, personnel qualifications, or certifications if required.

Submitting your Proposal

They are always submitted on time. Check all the submission guidelines as provided by the concerned authority. Make a note of guidelines related to things such as the length and formatting of the proposal.

If the grant proposal requires supporting materials, arrange them neatly at the back of your proposal. Remember to attach the signatures of the board members or the owners if required.