Immigrant Business Grants and Resources

Immigrants have numerous funding opportunities at their disposal. While you can bolster your small business with traditional loans, business grants should be a top choice.

As FairFigure’s cofounders come from immigrant families, we are deeply committed to helping immigrant entrepreneurs like yourself succeed. We’ve compiled a few immigrant business grants that you can use to make your entrepreneurial vision possible.

Step 0: Create a Fundable Identity

To access many forms of financing and work toward higher amounts with better terms over time, you’ll need a fundable identity.

If you have your Green Card or full U.S. citizenship as a naturalized citizen, you can get a Social Security number and start building personal credit. This will prove useful when funding your small business.

You can also get an EIN. An EIN will help you build business credit, regardless of whether you use tools that call for EIN-only or require you to leverage your personal credit.

Once you’re established, you can begin applying for grants, business loans for immigrants, Small Business Administration loans (SBA loan), and beyond.

1. Grants.gov

The biggest challenge business owners experience when researching federal grants is running into expired opportunities. This is why the first recommendation on this list is Grants.gov.

For every list that exists out there, you’ll find that most grants are no longer being offered to entrepreneurs.

Many grant programs last a brief period of time. Once the application deadline passes and all the funding has been awarded, the grant program is shut down.

Grant resources like grants.gov are a useful resource for immigrants. You can see which government grants are active, search for grants that are relevant to you, and access educational resources about grants that will prove invaluable in your small business journey.

This way, you can circumvent the issue of researching business grants and hitting a wall every time the grant program expires.

Consider looking at similar resources like those offered by your nearby community development financial institution (many of which are nonprofit organizations) or small business development center as well.

2. Minority Business Development Agency

The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is a government agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

They operate several offices throughout the U.S. As you may have gathered, these offices cater to the needs of minorities, including immigrants, with minority business grant programs.

As with Grants.gov, the MBDA is more of a resource for securing funding. They’ll publish immigrant grant opportunities for minority owned businesses on their website and invite you to apply.

Visit their website to learn more about which grant programs are currently available and what it takes to apply.

If you need further small business financing resources or educational tools, you’ll find that they offer plenty of support for immigrants in this department, too.

3. Wilson-Fish Alternative Program

Some immigrant business owners may need more support than just small business support. It can be difficult to realize a business vision if personal circumstances are getting in the way. That’s where the Wilson-Fish Alternative Program comes in.

The Wilson-Fish Alternative Program is centered around the needs of refugees. They can help you with temporary financial assistance as well as connect you with various social services you might need.

It’s not a business grant or a business grant resource like other programs on this list. However, it could prove useful if you need support to stabilize yourself while you seek to start a small business.

Consider adding this to your strategy for maximum support in your small business endeavors.

4. National Association for the Self-Employed Growth Grants

NASE Growth Grants are designed for everyone looking to expand their small business. If you’re an immigrant entrepreneur, this means you!

They offer $4,000 grants that you could use for a wide range of small business activities. These include marketing, hiring, or even expanding your business operations.

Unlike some other grant programs, NASE Growth Grants are awarded quarterly. This means you likely won’t have to worry about losing the opportunity to apply for them in the near future.

The only caveat is that entrepreneurs need to be a member of NASE to be able to apply. Certain tiers can apply for small business grants immediately.

Other tiers, like monthly members or certain silver members, have to wait at least 90 days before they can apply for a Growth Grant. This won’t be too long of a wait if you’re hoping to fund your immigrant entrepreneurship vision.

5. GrantWatch

The nature of business grants means that you won’t win every grant you apply for. You can improve your chances of success by increasing the number of grants you’re targeting. That’s where GrantWatch comes in.

GrantWatch is a database of grant opportunities that can help you learn more about current refugee and immigrant grants. It also helps you stay up-to-date on any new immigrant business grants you can apply for to support your small business.

They make it easy to see when the application deadline is so that you can stay organized and get your application in on time. They feature grants with deadlines that are on the horizon as well as those with ongoing deadlines.

Not every grant program may be relevant to you. For example, some may be geared toward economic development or other specific uses.

However, using GrantWatch will make it easier to filter grant opportunities and avoid getting directed to grant programs that are no longer available.

6. WomensNet Grants

Are you a woman and an immigrant? If so, you’ll find grant programs like those from WomensNet to be quite beneficial.

WomensNet awards $10,000 in grant funding to small business owners monthly. This includes small business grants like Amber Grants (awarded to outstanding woman-owned businesses), startup grants, and business category grants.

One way they differ from other grant programs is that you could receive an extra $25,000 at the end of the year if you receive grant funding from them.

WomensNet is one of the best sources of small business grants for the women immigrant population. You need only apply once to be considered for all of the grants they offer.

Get More Funding with FairFigure

If you want to fund your small business, FairFigure can help.

The FairFigure Capital Card is the best business credit card with EIN only that’s easy to qualify for. There’s no personal credit check, personal guarantee, or paperwork required to get it.

The FairFigure card helps you fund your business by extending funding based on your business revenue. If you’re making a good amount each month, you can tap into funding commensurate with that amount.

So long as you make $2,500 in monthly revenue (and are at least three months old), you can start funding your small business with the FairFigure Capital Card.

You also get to choose your payback terms (four to eight weeks) and build business credit with reporting to Equifax, the SBFE, Creditsafe, and the FairFigure Foundation Report.

Make your business dream a reality; sign up for FairFigure today to access your free business credit report, business credit monitoring, funding, and more!