Money doesn’t grow on trees, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get some extra cash to boost your business from time to time. When you’ve got more money for your business, you’ve got more time to create. Many of the best grants for content creators and small business owners could give you the financial wiggle room you need to grow your brand like never before. Check out our breakdown of the 14 best grants and funds for content creators and entrepreneurs.
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Top grants for content creators
Lots of social media platforms and big brands rely on user-generated content from creators. To that end, they now offer several stellar grants for content creators to help budding stars build their audiences from scratch.
TikTok Creator Fund
TikTok offers a designated Creator Fund to lift new content creators and give them the extra cash they need to thrive. It offers $200 million for creators as of July 2020. Creators need to have at least 100,000 authentic video views in the last 30 days to be eligible.
LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program
LinkedIn’s Creator Accelerator program is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs and influencers in the business arena. It’s a six-week program, “where participants bring new concepts and visions to life, helping to grow their audience and engage the LinkedIn community.” Succeed, and you’ll get access to special opportunities to be featured on social media channels and a $15,000 grant.
Pinterest Creator Fund
Use Pinterest often? The platform’s creator fund is a special $500,000 initiative that could provide content creators like you with up to $25,000 in cash and advertising credits.
YouTube Creator Fund
YouTube’s Creator Fund is specifically for YouTube Shorts content creators. Join this program, and you can enjoy bonuses of between $100 and $10,000 each month.
Facebook Creator Fund
Facebook’s Creator Program has $1 billion in funding, earmarked to reward content creators that use both the monetization and creative tools across Facebook and Instagram. Take advantage of these to earn extra cash and seasonal bonuses.
How to join a creator fund?
Joining a creator fund is usually very simple. Oftentimes, all you have to do is join the social media platform or brand offering the fund, then apply. However, note that most grants have certain qualifications – for example, the TikTok Creator Fund requires you to have 100,000 authentic video views over the last 30 days, be at least 18 years old, and meet several other requirements.
Other funds only accept applications during certain times of the year. So be sure to check them regularly so you know when applications open up again.
Grants for small businesses and entrepreneurs
Many creators are also small business owners. We know that sometimes it can feel difficult to be one without the other, so you might qualify for many of the best grants for small business owners too.
SBA Grants
The U.S. Small Business Association offers a variety of grants for qualifying small business owners. Take advantage of these grants to get access to small business funding and business loans with excellent interest rates. As a golden rule, business loans with interest rates of 5% to 7% are considered to be excellent. The SBA offers some of the best funding out there. You can learn more on the SBA’s website.
NASE Business Development Grant
The National Association for the Self-Employed offers grants that are worth up to $4000 for every micro-business owner who qualifies.
Grants.gov
Grants.gov is a great place to look for grants that might apply to your business. You have to create an ID and then you can start searching to find the right grants for you to bid on from the government.
Business grants for women
If you are a female entrepreneur or small business owner, check out designated business grant opportunities like the:
- Amber Grants for Women: These grants are offered in memory of Amber Wigdahl, a 19-year-old who died before realizing her business dreams. Women can apply for these monthly grants to get help funding their business endeavors.
- Asian Women Giving Circle Grants: This organization raises funds to help support Asian American women-led projects in New York City.
- IFundWomen Grants: These grants are for female business owners looking for some capital. The goal is to help support women who are raising debt-free capital with the idea that when female business owners are successful, they give back to others.
- Cartier Women’s Initiative: Each year three female-owned businesses earn grants from Cartier and there is an awards ceremony to celebrate them. In 2023 the application period opens on May 10 and runs until June 30.
Business grants for minorities
There are also plenty of stellar business grant opportunities for small business owners in minority groups, including the above-mentioned Asian Women Giving Circle grant. Others include:
- #YouTubeBlackVoices Grant Program: YouTube launched the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund in 2020 to help support more minority voices on the platform. The multi-year commitment has welcomed more than 300 creators so far.
- National Black MBA Association Scale-Up Pitch Challenge: The National Black MBA Association runs a challenge each year and the winners get thousands in grant money to put towards their business endeavors. The goal of the challenge is to “make big ideas bigger” by encouraging participants to make their startups scalable.
- Coalition to Back Black Businesses: These grants are awarded to hundreds of Black business owners each year to help support their small businesses. The $5,000 rewards go to businesses of all types from artists to restaurants and more.
Finding grants as a creator
Any of these grants and funds could be just what your business needs to succeed in the competitive market environment. Apply for as many as you can – you never know which ones you may qualify for and receive!
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