Financing Guides
8 min read

Written by: Nick Perry

How to Find Small Business Grants in 2026

For many small business owners, the holy grail of funding isn’t venture capital, and it definitely isn’t a loan. In many cases, the most realistic “grail” is a small business grant. Grants are essentially “free” money for your business that you don’t have to pay back. However, the competition is fierce, eligibility requirements are strict, and compliance with the grant’s rules is mandatory.

Grants are available from federal, state, and local sources, but to earn a small business grant, you need to know where to find them and how to make your application stand out.

Where to Find Government Grants

The federal government is the largest provider of grant funding in the U.S. Government agencies issue thousands of grants each year, and steer grant funds to many organizations that support small businesses, like non-profits or research institutions.

Federal Resources

  • Grants.gov: This is the central database for all federal grant programs. You can filter by “Small Business” to find opportunities, though many will be for research and development.
  • SBA.gov Grants: The Small Business Administration doesn’t provide grants directly to start or expand a business, but it does fund resource partners that provide free one-on-one consulting to help you find local and state-level grants.
  • SBIR and STTR Programs: If your business is in the tech, science, or healthcare space, these “America’s Seed Fund” programs offer significant non-dilutive funding for research and development.
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce CO-100: Formerly known as America’s Top Small Business Awards, the CO-100 recognizes high-performing small businesses with fewer than 250 employees and gross revenues of less than $20 million over the last two years. It’s extremely competitive, but there is one $25,000 grand prize winner and ten $2,000 finalist winners.

State and Local Resources

State grants are often easier to win than federal ones because the pool of applicants is smaller.

  • State Economic Development Agencies: Every state has a department (such as the Department of Commerce or Economic Development) that lists state-specific incentives and grants. Each state has a range of websites that may offer assistance in finding grants, so the best place to start is with a Google search for small business grants in your state.
  • City & County Grants: Municipal grants are often focused on beautification or lifting underserved communities. Look for Business Improvement Grants or Facade Improvement Programs offered by your local city hall or county economic development office.

Where to Find Private and Corporate Grants

Large corporations often run grant programs as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or diversity initiatives. These are often easier to apply for than government grants but may require a more compelling story to stand out.

Most of these programs run in yearly or quarterly rounds, so check each sponsor’s site for the current deadline. Some examples include:

Intuit QuickBooks and Mailchimp Small Business Hero Program

  • Amount: $20,000
  • Eligibility: Businesses located and operating in the 50 U.S. states or D.C.
  • Apply: Nominations go through the Intuit website; the business must be nominated by someone other than the owner.

Intuit’s Small Business Hero Program awards three businesses a $20,000 grant in each quarterly round. Designed for businesses that are making an out-sized impact on their communities, winners also receive social media promotion on Intuit’s owned channels and free access to QuickBooks and Mailchimp services.

National Association for the Self-Employed Growth Grant

  • Amount: Up to $4,000
  • Eligibility: Member of NASE.
  • Apply: Via the NASE website.

NASE offers small business growth grants for NASE members who provide a compelling business plan and explain how the funds will support execution of that plan.

Galaxy Grants

Hidden Star is a nonprofit supporting underserved business owners. It offers the Galaxy Grant a few times each year to new and experienced women and minority entrepreneurs. It’s also available to those looking to start a business.

Breva Thrive Grant

  • Amount: $5,000
  • Eligibility: U.S. construction businesses (general, trade and specialty contractors, builders, remodelers and suppliers) that can show an impact on their community.
  • Apply: Via the Breva website.

The Breva Thrive Grant is awarded quarterly, one award per business per calendar year. If you run a construction business, it’s one of the few grants built for your industry.

Secretsos Small Business Grant

  • Amount: $2,500
  • Eligibility: Owners 21 or older with an active, registered business in a U.S. state or territory.
  • Apply: Via the Secretsos website; there’s a $15 application fee.

The Secretsos Small Business Grant is awarded quarterly, one grant per application window. Applications don’t carry over, so you reapply each quarter.

Verizon Small Business Grant

  • Amount: $10,000
  • Eligibility: Must complete certain educational courses; additional requirements may apply.
  • Apply: Via the Verizon Digital Ready website.

Verizon’s Digital Ready program provides business owners access to free courses and educational materials, and is the first step to eligibility for a Verizon Small Business Grant. You must register through the Verizon website and complete at least two courses, live coaching seminars, or community events to be eligible to apply.

Allstate Main Street Grants Program

  • Amount: $20,000
  • Eligibility: U.S.-based businesses generating at least $25,000 in previous calendar year that are willing to participate in a virtual bootcamp.
  • Apply: Via the Hello Alice platform.

The Allstate Main Street Grants Program is a partnership with Hello Alice and the Global Entrepreneurship Network. 250 applicants are selected to enroll in a 12-week Boost Camp accelerator, and 100 of them will receive a $20,000 small business grant.

Progressive® Driving Small Business Forward Grant Program

  • Amount: $50,000
  • Eligibility: U.S.-based businesses with 10 or fewer employees, generating less than $5 million in annual revenue.
  • Apply: Via the Hello Alice platform.

Another partnership with Hello Alice, the Progressive Driving Small Business Forward Grant awarded $50,000 in its 2025 round to 20 businesses that have demonstrated a need for a commercial vehicle. Like the Allstate program, recipients are also invited to attend a 12-week virtual Boost Camp accelerator program.

Amazon Small Business Grant

  • Amount: 15 grants awarded, ranging from $15,000 to $25,000
  • Eligibility: U.S.-based businesses with an Amazon Business account and $1 million or less in revenue.
  • Apply: Via the Amazon Business website.

The Amazon Small Business Grant program offers annual grants to small businesses with an existing Amazon Business account. The winner receives $25,000, four finalists receive $20,000 each and ten semi-finalists receive $15,000 each.

Winners also receive free products from Eero Wifi and Kindle Scribe, Business Prime rewards points, and a one-year membership to Amazon Business Prime.

American Express Backing Small Businesses

American Express and Main Street America team up annually to deliver the Backing Small Businesses grant program that supports locally significant small businesses with community reach. While the grant amount is smaller than some, the program has awarded more than 1,600 grants since 2021 to small businesses facing economic challenges.

Tips for Winning a Grant in 2026

Just as AI is changing the job application landscape, it’s also changing the grant landscape. In medicine, a study found that proposals drafted with AI help were about four percentage points more likely to win grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

That said, the proliferation of AI has also made reviewers more skeptical of generic proposals. NIH itself no longer accepts applications substantially developed by AI as the applicant’s original work. While AI can help you draft, it’s imperative that you add a significant human element to any application.

Here are some best practices:

  • Check eligibility requirements: Don’t waste your time. Always review the eligibility requirements closely before applying. If a grant is specifically for women-owned businesses and you’re a man, you shouldn’t apply.
  • Quantify your impact: Don’t just say you’ll use the money to “grow.” Use hard data whenever possible, expressing exactly how the money will be used and what results you expect to see.
  • Align with the grantor’s mission: Grantors want to see a return on investment—not necessarily in dollars, but in social or economic impact. Explain how your business solves a problem for your community.
  • Use time-saving tools, but don’t depend on them: Applying for grants is time-consuming and often thankless. AI tools can be useful to summarize long requirements or check your grammar, but you should always write your founder’s story and your “why” yourself.

Always remember that you don’t need to get the biggest grant to make an impact. As filmmaker Adam Gorham says, “Running a creative business taught me more about chasing money than any guide ever could. The lesson that stuck: skip the giant, generic grants every founder is scrambling over and hunt for the niche funding built for creative and arts-based businesses. Local arts councils, state cultural funds, and creative-economy programs are real, and they’re wildly under-applied because most people never think to look there.”

If a Grant Doesn’t Come Through

Grants take months to land, and most applicants don’t win one. If your business needs capital sooner, financing can fill the gap while you keep applying. SBG Funding offers working capital for one-time needs and a range of other business financing options, with no hard credit pull to see what you qualify for.