Michigan Business and COVID-19 Grants

•

April 28, 2020

You may have heard about the Michigan SBA loans offered as part of the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program. A Michigan small business loan is a start but it may not be enough. COVID-19 Michigan business resources are also available through a number of privately funded grants.

Here are eight private grants that may help your Michigan business.

Facebook Grants

Facebook has announced that it will give a total of $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to businesses impacted by COVID-19. You must have been in business for more than a year, be located near an active Facebook business location (Detroit is one) and have between 2 and 50 employees. There is no currently posted deadline.

You can find more information about the Facebook grants here.

Salesforce Grants

Salesforce is supporting businesses with individual small business grants in the amount of $10,000. The company has committed to giving $5M.

Applications have not yet opened but you can go here and sign up to be notified when it begins to accept applicants.

Quicken Loans

The Quicken Loans Community Fund and Gilbert Family Foundation are providing $1.2 million to the city of Detroit. The investment will include donations to the community as well as $450,000 that will be offered as flexible investments for small businesses and existing grant partners. These grant partners may be a source of funding for your business.

You can learn more about the Quicken Loans flexible investment program here.

Google Ads Credits

Google is offering ad credits for small and medium-sized businesses to offset the burden of COVID-19 financial issues. Google is giving $340 million in ad credits that can be used for the rest of the calendar year. You may be eligible if you have advertised directly with Google and had an active spend for at least 10 out of the 12 months of 2019. Google will begin distributing the ad credit in phases in late May.

Go here to learn more about Google’s free ad credit program.

GoFundMe Small Business Relief Fund Initiative

GoFundMe is partnering with Yelp!, GoDaddy, and Bill.com to support small businesses. These companies are facilitating the donation of money in a Small Business Relief Fund. These donations will be matched up to $500 for qualifying businesses. To qualify, you must raise $500 on GoFundMe. They are still building partnerships and have not set a deployment date for this.

Click here for the information request form from GoFundMe.

Sara Blakely of Spanx

Female entrepreneurs can benefit from a unique offering of $5 million from Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, to help small businesses. Blakely intends to give $5,000 to 1,000 small businesses that are owned by women. She is distributing this money through GlobalGiving.

Applications are not yet open for this. Go here to sign up to be notified when applications open.

Greater Grand Rapids Chamber Foundation

The Rapid Response Fund is specifically for residents of Kent County, Michigan. You may qualify if you have a small business with 5-25 employees. The goal is to provide funds in lieu of access to federal relief money. The Greater Grand Rapids Chamber Foundation is offering short-term grants that range from $5,000-$10,000.

Go here to learn more.

ID Ventures: Early Stage Tech Company Support

A tech startup stabilization fund is supplying $3 million in investments and loans for Michigan tech startups. This is being administered by ID Ventures. You may be eligible if you are a tech-based company with a headquarters in Michigan and have fewer than 50 employees. Go here to read about this opportunity. Applications for this money will close on May 1.

Click here to apply.

More Resources for Small Businesses: Detroit Metro

Private grants are a great option for your small business. However, don’t forget that there are loan and grant programs also provided by state and local governments and public partnerships. If you are in or near the Detroit Metro area, the following resources may be helpful to you:

Maxwell Goss Law represents clients in trade secret, intellectual property, and business litigation cases in Michigan and nationwide.