MyClawn Grants › Small business grants
Grants for small business: what exists and what does not
Free money for any small business is mostly a myth. Grants exist, but they are narrower and more competitive than the headlines suggest, and many offers called grants are loans or contests. Here is the sorted version.
Start with this: the SBA is not a grant giver for your business
The U.S. Small Business Administration says on its grants page: "SBA does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business." Instead it funds nonprofits, resource partners and educational organizations that offer counseling and training. The same page lists the exceptions that exist:
- SBIR and STTR, federal research and development funding for small businesses, run by participating agencies. See sbir.gov.
- A manufacturing grant program that, on the day we checked, was closed to applications.
- The State Trade Expansion Program, which goes to state governments, not directly to businesses.
- Grants to community organizations, not to individual firms.
So when a page says "SBA grants for your small business", check the official page. Also note the SBA says it contacts people only from email addresses ending in @sba.gov and asks you to report fraud if someone claiming to be SBA uses another address.
The four places small business grants really come from
| Source | What it is | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| Federal research programs (SBIR/STTR) | Competitive awards for R&D from participating agencies. The SBIR site calls it equity free funding for American small businesses | Technology, science and engineering startups with a real research question |
| State and local government | Economic development grants tied to hiring, training, a downtown program, exports or a target industry | Businesses in the right place doing the right thing |
| Corporate programs | Company-sponsored small business grants, often through an application and a vote or a judging round | Almost any small business, but many applicants and small odds |
| Nonprofits and foundations | Funds for founders from a specific group, region, or sector | Businesses that match the funder's mission |
For SBIR, the SBIR site shows ceilings for what agencies can award without SBA approval: up to $335,937 for a Phase I award and up to $2,239,578 for Phase II, as of the page we checked. Those are maximums, not typical amounts, and the process is a research proposal, not a short form.
Paste your website. Starter $39/mo · Pro $99/mo. Refund within 14 days if it misses.
Find my grantsLoans, contests and grants are different things
- Grant: money you do not repay if you follow the terms. Sometimes it is reimbursed after you spend, and often has reporting rules.
- Loan: money you repay with interest. SBA loans, such as 7(a), 504 and microloans, are delivered by lenders, and the SBA requires you to show the ability to repay.
- Contest or pitch competition: a prize awarded to a few winners after judging or votes. It is often called a grant, but you may spend weeks on social media voting or on a pitch.
MyClawn Grants labels each result as one of these. We do not list loans as grants.
Scam checklist
- You are asked to pay a fee to "release" or "claim" a grant.
- You are told you were "selected" for a grant you never applied for.
- The contact comes by text, social media message, or an email address that is not on the official domain.
- You are told the grant is guaranteed.
- The page has no named program, no deadline, and no link to a government or recognized funder site.
Real grant programs publish their rules and apply through an official site. Paying a service for research and writing is legitimate; paying someone to receive a grant is not. Our service charges for the research and drafting, never as a cut of an award, and we do not promise any outcome.
How MyClawn Grants helps a small business
Paste your website. Tell us your state, whether you are woman-, minority- or veteran-owned if true, and what you want funded (equipment, hiring, expansion). Each month you receive:
- A shortlist of 15 (Starter, $39) or 40 (Pro, $99) real programs, each with the official link, amount, deadline and the exact eligibility sentence, plus a note on whether it is a grant, a loan or a contest.
- A full application draft for the best fit (one on Starter, four on Pro), a budget, a checklist and a questions list for facts only you know.
- A deadline calendar.
For a business, the default smallest award worth chasing is $10,000 unless you tell us otherwise, so low-value, high-effort applications sink in the ranking. We do not submit anything and do not do SAM.gov registration. The honest picture is that a grant is not a cash register: it is competitive, takes work, and often reimburses spending you already made.
What to do this week
- Decide the exact thing you need funded and the smallest award worth the work.
- Check your state's economic development site and your city's small business office.
- If you are in tech or research, read the SBIR/STTR information.
- If you are woman-owned, see small business grants for women.
- Or paste your website here and let the shortlist do the first pass.
Questions
Does the SBA give grants to small businesses?
Its own grants page says it does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business. It does fund SBIR and STTR research programs and nonprofits that offer counseling.
Are there grants for starting a business?
A few private programs and some state or local ones exist, but they are competitive. Loans are far more common than grants.
How can I tell a grant from a loan or contest?
Check the official page for whether you repay it, and whether winners are chosen by votes or judges. We label each result.
Do you guarantee a grant?
No. Nobody can. We shorten the search and draft the application.
Paste your website. Starter $39/mo · Pro $99/mo. Refund within 14 days if it misses.
Find my grantsMore about Grants
Sources (checked 2026-11-09): www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants · www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans · www.sbir.gov/about