The past few months have affected everyone differently, but small businesses are especially vulnerable to the changing economy. Luckily, Facebook and Google have both launched programs that award grants to small businesses struggling as a result of COVID-19. Facebook is offering $100 million dollars in cash grants and ad credits, and Google is awarding $340 million in ad credits.
If you want guidance and personalized assistance for setting up and targeting your ads, learn about iPoint’s digital advertising services here. For retargeting ads, or steering past visitors back to your website, learn about or display ad services here.
In order to qualify for Facebook’s grant, you must:
- Be a for-profit company
- Have between 2 and 50 employees
- Have been in business for over a year
- Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
Once applications open in your area, you will have two weeks to apply for your grant. In the meantime, Facebook recommends collecting the necessary paperwork, which includes:
- Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
- Partnership documents
- Business license
- Proof of incorporation
- Official registration
The application will also ask for your contact information, a brief description of your business, and how you will use the money to benefit your business and your community. Here is a link to more information about the grant program (including an option to sign up for informational email alerts):
https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants
And a link for how to best prepare for your application:
https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants/application-guide
In order to qualify for Google’s ad credit, you must:
- Be a SMB (small-medium business)
- Have spent with a Google Ads account in ten out of twelve months of 2019, and in January and/or February of this year
The credits will only be for future use, and it is applicable across the Google Ads platform including Search, Display, and YouTube as well as all campaign types. The credits must be used before the end of December 31, 2020. After that, the credit expires. Google will gradually start awarding the credits in late May, and will message businesses about their qualification status during the following months. Here the article Google posted for more information:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9803410
We hope that you find this information useful and supportive during this time. We can’t wait to see what good you’ll do with the grant money!