Business Grants for women from minority groups – Minority-owned businesses are less than 20% of the overall US employer businesses as per reports of the US Census Bureau. Nearly 1.1 million minority-owned small businesses face great challenges when it comes to securing funding to operate or expand their business. Securing small business grants, particularly minority grants, is a viable solution for a lot of women-owned businesses from minority groups.
With the grants they need not repay the funding their business receives nor share a piece of their business with the investors. Grants being an attractive funding source have an intense competition during the application procedure. This guide will throw light on top small business grants for women minority business owners.
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Highlights of this Post
What Are The Eligibility Criteria And Documents Required To Qualify For Business Grants For Minority Businesses?
The eligibility criteria required to qualify for government grants for minority business are as follows:
- You should be an entrepreneur owning an equal or a large stake in a qualifying business that is majorly for instance 51% or more owned and controlled by a minority
- Applicants should be citizens of the United States, or permanent residents and have income within a particular threshold
- Applicants should be above 18 years of age
- Fulfill the limitation set on the age of the business, annual business revenue and number of employees
- Must prove you are operating a startup company or an existing business in the United States of America. Businesses must be engaged in commercial activity within US and must sell goods or services in America
- Prove that you are currently operating an active business
- All the taxes should be correct and in good standing. Your company must not have any outstanding tax liens or legal judgments unless exempted.
- Must use the grant award for specific purposes mentioned by the program and demonstrate a robust need for the grant.
Minority-owned small businesses need to provide the following documents to secure a grant program.
- Tax ID or EIN IRS letter for reference
- Financial documents like recent pay stubs, bank statements and tax return forms
- Electronic payment form or voided check
- Identity identification documents for instance passport, Social Security card, business license, government-issued photo IDs etc.
- A completed application or resume
- A detailed project plan and business proposal
- A detailed budget showing how you are planning to use the grant funding for your business.
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What Are The Available Grants For Minority Businesses?
Federal Government Grants for Minority Businesses
Grants.gov is a website where you can find federal funding grants for the needy. You can get a wide range of information about different federal programs. You get information about over 1000 grant programs that are offered by different federal agencies.
A service imparted by the Small Business Administration known as the State Trade Expansion Program enables state as well as territory governments to provide financial assistance to small businesses in the United States that are engaged in export development.
Even minority women-owned exporting businesses are eligible to receive grants that can help them to learn exporting, create international marketing strategies and participate in foreign trade missions.
Minority Business Development Agency is another great program for minorities. This agency of the US Department of Commerce is working to promote and also boost the growth of minority businesses.
You can use grants that are given by the Minority Business Development Agency for different types of purposes such as financial assistance, market opportunities, and also federal contracts for small business owners.
USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program is a great program for those people who live in rural areas. The USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program helps in expanding opportunities for small businesses that are in rural areas even those owned by minorities.
To qualify you must have 50 or less employees and the gross revenue must be less than $1 million. To qualify for this program, the business must be located in an eligible rural area.
The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs offer grants and contacts to small businesses that are looking forward to commercializing research and development. You can find more about this grant on their official website.
The SBA 8 (a) Business Development Program is another great minority federal grants program that is coming forward to help socially and also economically less privileged small business owners.
Small business owners are given training, management, and also business development assistance along with technical help through this great program.
Small Business Grants For Minority Women
Woman’s Net, the Amber Grant Foundation provides unique opportunities for women entrepreneurs including minority women entrepreneurs with the monthly grant program.
Amber Grant includes monthly prizes for $10,000 with two additional $25,000 awarded at the end of the year to previous monthly winners. Applicants have to pay an application fee of $15 and complete an application outlining their goals and business information.
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An annual initiative known as the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award Program emphasizes supporting early-stage women-owned businesses that focus on economic, social and environmental development.
Grant awards worth $100,000 are provided to first prize winners whereas the second and third prize winners receive $60,000 and $30,000. Winners also get the opportunity to participate in training workshops and executive coaching sessions.
Businesses owned by minority women can get funding worth $500 by applying for the Freed Fellowship Grant in addition to free mentorship and entrance to a $2500 end-of-year giveaway.
Both minority men and women are eligible to apply for this grant and complete the online application by filling in information about their businesses.
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The nonprofit organization known as YVA Jourdan Foundation offers the HerRise Micro Grant to women of color business entrepreneurs. Minority business owners who need coaching, community and capital can get the right assistance from this resource.
A micro-grant worth $1000 is provided each month to female business owners of color. You can use the grant funding to purchase equipment, website creation and marketing.
An online marketplace where minority women entrepreneurs can seek funding opportunities for their businesses is known as the IFund Women Grant.
The database comprises numerous grant opportunities with different funding amounts, eligibility criteria and application deadlines. The system uses the information of minority business owners and their eligibility criteria to provide them with notification of available and accessible grants.
A women’s clothing brand known as Eileen Fisher provides $200,000 in grant funding to women-owned businesses. The grant provides funding opportunities to minority women entrepreneurs and other women who are making a significant impact on society through their business endeavors.
A total grant award of $200,000 each year through individual grants ranging between $10,000 to $40,000 is provided to eligible businesses that are majorly owned by women. The organization promotes a sustainable economy and adapts to climate change.
An organization known as 37 Angels comprises female angel investors who invest in women-owned small businesses including those owned by minority women.
This organization addresses the disadvantages that minority female entrepreneurs face in obtaining loans from other sources and works to close the gap. 37 Angels works to help female entrepreneurs continue their business operations and provide grants as large as $150,000.
Native Asian, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander female business entrepreneurs are eligible to receive assistance under the Hawaii FoundHer Accelerator Program. The grant comes with an award of $20,000 including a $4000 grant that can be put towards care costs.
The Tory Burch Foundation selects 50 women every year as the foundation enables them to take part in networking opportunities and professional development. The foundation awards a grant about $5000 that they can apply towards their business education.
To be eligible you need to be a woman-identifying entrepreneur and have an equal or large stake in a qualifying business that is majorly controlled or owned by women. For-profit businesses generating revenue of less than $75,000 are eligible to receive these grants.
The US Chamber of Commerce presents the Dream Big Award that recognizes and celebrates top American small businesses. The winner of the award receives a cash prize of over $25,000 including a one-year membership of the Chamber of Commerce, a feature article in the magazine and a promotional video about their business.
Other awards include categories like LGBTQ- owned Business Achievement Award, Minority-owned Business Achievement Award, Community Support and Leadership Award and Women-owned Business Achievement Award. To be eligible you need to have less than 250 employees, have less than $20 million in gross revenue and be based in the United States.
An annual event called the Women Founders Network Fast Pitch Competition is open to women-owned businesses in their early stages with great potential.
To be eligible for the competition business should have a founder CEO or co-founder who is a woman or is majorly owned by a woman based in the United States.
The top five finalists have to pitch their companies to angel investors and get cash prizes worth $55,000 and more than $100,000 in the form of professional services.
Black, Latino or indigenous women entrepreneurs belonging to the minority group are eligible to receive assistance from the Center for Economic Inclusion Vanguard accelerator if they’re based in the Twin Cities. Around 10 participants get a grant award of $5000 from this program.
FedEx Small Business Grant Contest is another one on the list of programs for minorities. And through these grants, 12 small businesses are rewarded with grants over $50,000. To apply for this grant program, your business must be non-profit and also run for at least 6 months now.
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National Minority Supplier Development Council
The National Minority Supplier Development Council aims to increase the business opportunities for certified minority-owned businesses. They run a non-profit business development program and the Business Consortium Fund. You can find more on their official website
Operation Hope Small-Business Empowerment Program is another best program for minorities. This program will help entrepreneurs and businesses with financial counseling and business training with financing options for small businesses.
Fast Break for Small Business is a grants program that was designed as a result of a partnership between the NBA, LegalZoom, WBNA, and NBA G League.
The program is administered by the Accion Opportunity Fund, a non-profit organization. There are a total of $6 million grants provided to needy entrepreneurs.
National Association for the Self-Employed is a non-profit trade association that helps self-employed people with grants and also educational resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses. This is a great program for the self-employed because it provides many resources to them. This great association offers grants of up to $4,000.
Additional Grants For Minority Business Owners
A partnership of different brands led to the formation of the Coalition Of Back Black Businesses which empowers black-owned businesses.
The Coalition supplied $14 million in the form of resources, minority grants and training over a period of four years throughout 2023.
The coalition comprises American Express, AIG Foundation, ADP, DOW, S&P Global Foundation and Altice USA. Eligible businesses should be black or enterprise and must be located in economically distressed communities. The grant amount is up to $5000 with an additional enhancement grant of $25,000.
Black woman-owned startup owners who think their business ideas are scalable and innovative can receive support and grants from the National Black MBA Association Scale-up Pitch Challenge.
The organization has designed a competition to provide startup companies an opportunity to connect with early-stage investors and venture capitalists. The judges provide a cash award worth $50,000 to the grant prize winner.
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The program is open to businesses operating in the food industry where the founder has 51% ownership of any of the following categories: Black, LGBTQ+, indigenous, person with disabilities, military veteran, Latinx or formerly incarcerated person. Apart from the financial award the program also helps participants with six months of educational training and consulting services.
A network known as the Asian Woman Giving Circle offers funding opportunities to Asian American women-led business projects. Awards up to $15,000 per project are given to eligible applicants.
Eligible projects should be related to promoting social awareness about issues that are impacting Asian American women, girls and families, arts and agriculture and business must be located in New York City.
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Minority business owners can apply for grant awards worth $500 to $2000 through the local empowerment grant program.
To be eligible black business owners should be a minimum of 18 years old, generate an annual average revenue of less than $1 million, have less than 20 employees and must operate brick-and-mortar locations based in the United States.
Funding opportunities are provided by the Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grants program to eligible small business owners. Two Native American business owners receive a grant award every year worth $10,000. To be eligible for this program businesses must be majorly owned by a federally recognized Alaskan Native or American Indian group.
Run by DigitalUndivided and funded by JP Morgan Chase the Breakthrough Program provides funding opportunities to women minority business owners who are Latina or black.
The recipients of the program receive a grant award of $5000 including business mentorship, customer analytics, marketing strategies and startup funding.
SBA-sponsored Resource Centers known as Small Business Development Centers provide consulting and one-on-one coaching to small business owners on various topics like financing your business and market research.
Resource centers will help you to apply for minority and women business enterprise certifications and SBA business development programs.
Small businesses can accelerate their growth by becoming eligible for Comcast Rise Grants. Even though they are not restricted to minority-owned small businesses, a lot of grants target disadvantaged communities.
Around 100 business owners get grants worth $5000 each in every participating city. Applicants should have less than 25 employees and must run their business for a minimum of three years.
Beyond Open Small Business Grant assists Charlotte NC-based small business owners who were identified as minorities or veterans, women or individuals with disabilities. The grant award may range between $10,000 to $150,000.
Black women entrepreneurs or other minority women entrepreneurs are entering the business world, and paving the way for future generations by breaking down barriers. To support black women in their businesses there are a lot of grants available. For a list of these grants visit Business grants for Black women Grants For Black Women Entrepreneurs.
Alternatives To Minority Small Business Grants
Following are a few alternative options that you can consider for small business grants for minority business owners.
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Community Development Financial Institutions
Community development financial institutions refers to nonprofits, banks and credit unions that receive government funding to expand accessibility to affordable loan programs in disadvantaged and underserved communities.
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Fundraising
Minority business owners can collect funds from relatives, friends and other connections to grow their business. Family is the first source of financing for a company especially if they are unable to secure funds from other sources.
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Small Business Administration Loans
The Small Business Administration provides subsidies to minority businesses. It provides loans for small companies and allocates grants for minority businesses. Microloans from SBA lenders are designed to assist minority-run businesses with small capital requirements.
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Venture Capital
Minority small business owners who do not have any control over their business can find an angel investor for themselves to get advice and funding.
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Conclusion
Minority small business grants are financial assistance programs that provide funding opportunities that are not required to be repaid. No matter whether you are an entrepreneur of color or belong to a federally recognized tribe there are tons of small business grants mentioned in this guide that you can apply for. These business grants come with a lucrative financial award and have stiff competition so you need to fulfill the eligibility and application procedure and also explore alternative financing options.
You can also learn about How to find a federal business identification number at our Get Government Grants’ blog section today. Our resources help people in their difficult times and provide them the right support and guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a minority business grant?
If you want to get a minority business grant then you must fulfill the eligibility criteria and submit all your required documents including a business plan. Eligible businesses must be run or owned by a business owner belonging to the minority group.
Where can you apply for a minority business grant?
You can apply for minority business grants by visiting the website of federal agencies like MBDA, SBA, USDA Rural Business Development, etc. that supports minority owned business. You can also apply to private grants mentioned above in this guide.