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Facebook announced a new $100 million program (in cash grants and ad credits) to help small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Facebook said the grants will be available for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in over 30 countries. That would be an average of $3,333 per business.
How can the program help?
- Keep your workforce going strong
- Help with your rent costs
- Connect with more customers
- Cover operational costs
Who’s eligible?
- Up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in more than 30 countries where we operate will be able to receive the grant. To be eligible to apply, you must:
- Have between 2 and 50 employees
- Have been in business for over a year
- Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
- Be in or near a location where Facebook operates
You can find more information here
COVID-19: $800+ million to support small businesses and crisis response
$340 million in Google Ads credits available to all SMBs with active accounts over the past year. Credit notifications will appear in their Google Ads accounts and can be used at any point until the end of 2020 across our advertising platforms.
Who is eligible for the ad credits?
The ad credits will be available to small and medium businesses1, who advertise directly with us or through partners, around the world with active accounts since the beginning of 2019. Credits will be provided to SMB advertisers that have been active advertisers since Jan 1, 2019 and comply with all Google Ads T&Cs.
How and when will eligible customers receive the ad credits?
Small and medium businesses worldwide that have been active advertisers since the beginning of 2019 will be informed in the coming months through notifications within their Google Ads account.
How long are the ad credits valid for?
This Google Ads credit can be used at any point throughout the year and will expire on 31st Dec 2020. Any unused portion will be removed from Google Ads accounts.
Will the ad credit work across all of Google’s channels (e.g., Search, YouTube, Display, etc.)?
Yes. These ad credits will be applicable across the Google Ads platform including Search, Display, and YouTube as well as all campaign types.
How can I find out if I’m receiving ad credits?
Advertisers receiving ad credits will be notified in the coming months. We are in the process of building these specialized credits into Google Ads accounts, therefore notifications will not show immediately. We appreciate your patience.
You can find more information here
Intuit
Intuit QuickBooks is teaming up with GoFundMe to create a Small Business Relief Initiative to help small businesses raise money to overcome the challenges caused by COVID-19. Through this initiative, small businesses can create a fundraiser on the GoFundMe platform where they’re able to share their story with the public and request financial support to help cover employee-related and business expenses.
We’re helping QuickBooks Capital customers with upcoming payments and access to funds. Customers who, due to hardship from this pandemic, are struggling to make their loan payment, can receive up to an 8-week deferral on loan payments with no interest charged.
We’re helping QuickBooks Payments customers get access to cash more quickly with our QuickBooks Instant Deposit offering which makes cash available on the same day. We’ll soon be launching a free version of the service that will save customers up to $3 million in fees and provide them with access up to a total of $300 million of their payments funds instantly.
You can find more information here
Visa Foundation
The Visa Foundation announced that it is pledging $210 million to fund two different programs that will support small and micro enterprises that have been financially disrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The second program pledges $200 million over five years to assist small and micro businesses worldwide. The focus will be on cultivating the economic advancement of women.
You can find more information here
WebFlow
Small businesses that rely on the support of local patrons in the community, may qualify for a free 3-month subscription to a Standard Ecommerce plan.
You can find more information here
MailChimp
Mailchimp Announces $10M Price Relief Fund to Support Small Business Customers.
As an additional response to the crisis, Mailchimp will invest up to $100M to help drive new and ongoing business for our small business customers through price discounts, product upgrades, add-ons, and more.
To apply for this fund: https://mailchi.mp/41d4d6961384/covid-19-small-business-support
You can find more information here
Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund
Small businesses can receive a $10,000 financial grant through LISC and Verizon’s Small Business Recovery fund
You can find more information here
Paypal
- Waived fees on chargebacks
- Extended customer dispute resolution period
- Doubling cash back rewards
- Extending seller protection to cover eligible purchases of intangible goods\
You can find more information here
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding can be an effective means of generating support for small businesses and their employees, as well as for businesses to stay connected to their local community. With this in mind, we wanted to highlight a few new programs targeted to address economic challenges associated with the Coronavirus:
- The online fundraising platform GoFundMe has seen a spike in small businesses seeking to raise funds donated in support of their ventures and staff. Through this platform, individuals can donate to their favorite local small businesses, and those businesses raising funds pay no platform fee to secure these much-needed funds. Check out the GoFundMe website for examples of other businesses raising funds and to start your own campaign
- Online investment platform WeFunder launched a targeted product with loan ranges between $20,000 and $1 million and repayment deferred until 2021. Funding comes via investments of as little as $100 from a business’ customer base as well as the 400,000+ Wefunder investors, and repayment is based on a share of future revenues. Check out the WeFunder website for more info.
- Crowd-lending platform Kiva has expanded eligibility for its 0% interest small business loan program, and also increased the maximum loan size to $15,000 while providing a grace period of up to six months. Check out the Kiva website for more info.
- Other crowdfunding options:
- Indiegogo
- Kickstarter
- Mainvest
Wefunder
Emergency funding for your business during the coronavirus crisis.
Raise funding from your fans on very generous terms. Payments based on revenue and deferred until 2021. Reward investors with perks when business is back.
For Wefunder’s part, it’s not charity — they’re still taking a slice of the total volume raised, though they are halving their usual percentage from 7.5% to 3.75%. Wefunder also charges individuals a 2% cut from their contribution.
Additional Resources – Loans & Others
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/big-tech-coronavirus-relief-covid19
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/FoundationsCorporate/248445
https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/global-impact/visa-foundation.html
Protect from scams: https://www.cyber.gov.au/advice/covid-19-protecting-your-small-business
Co-Authored by: Arunima Dey