Grants for Women Owned Businesses

Grants for women owned businesses is generally the money given to business that does not need to be repaid. Women are beginning to proudly own more and more businesses, and this is no secret anymore in today’s competitive business environment.

What are the grants available for business women and how to find them? How to avoid scams?

Grants for Women Owned Businesses

The United States is often called as ‘the land of opportunities’, as the sayings goes: the American dream.

The government and private organizations give out millions of dollars in grants every year to entrepreneurs to spur business activities and enhance the global competitive status of the country.

On a global scale, there exists many government grants and private foundations that are setup for the sole purpose of funding businesses owned by women entrepreneurs as well.

Grants for women owned businesses provided by some of the private foundations are:

* the Women’s Business Grants presented by Womens-Finance.com,
* Amber Grants for Women, and
* WomensNet Online grants.

These different foundations award grants for women entrepreneurs only.

The pupose of the grants may be:

- to help start a business, OR
- to help expand or grow a business that has already been started.

Let’s check out the list of available resources for grants and some scam alert in the next section.

List of Grants for Women Owned Businesses

Below are some of the suggestions if you are a woman entrepreneur and is currently looking for grants:

1. Amber Grants :
The concept of the Amber Grants came about as a way to keep alive the memory of the womensnet.net site’s original owner and founder Melody Wigdahl’s sister and only sibling, Amber Wigdahl. She was killed in 1981 at the age of 19. The purpose of the Amber Grants is to give other women entrepreneurs the chance to fulfill the dreams that Amber could not.
http://www.womensnet.net/Amber-Grants/apply.php

2. Women’s Funding Network
Women’s Funding Network is more than 150 organizations that fund women’s solutions across the globe, making them one of the largest collaborative philanthropic networks in the world. The members are women’s foundations that span public charities, private foundations and funds within community foundations. The funds promotes the development and growth of women’s funds that empower women and girls by fostering strategic alliances among women, donors, communities and institutions.
http://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/about

3. Financial Women International
Financial Women International was founded in 1921 as the National Association of Bank Women and continues to lead the way as the largest, longest-standing association devoted to the advancement of women in the financial services industry. They are able to provide information on professional growth, information sharing, peer networking, mentoring, leadership development, and career advancement for women.
http://www.fwi.org/

4. American Association of University Women
Since 1881, AAUW (formerly known as the American Association of University Women) has a long and distinguished history of advancing educational and professional opportunities for women in the United States and around the globe. Each year AAUW provides millions of dollars in fellowships, grants, and awards for outstanding women around the globe and for community action projects. AAUW also funds pioneering research on women, girls, and education. This foundation is one of the largest private sources of funding for graduate women in the world, supports aspiring scholars around the globe, teachers and activists in local communities, women at critical stages of their careers, and those pursuing professions where women are underrepresented.
http://www.aauw.org/education/fga/fellows_directory/index.cfm

5. Women@SCS
Women@SCS’ mission is to create, encourage, and support women’s academic, social and professional opportunities in the computer sciences and to promote the breadth of the field and its diverse community. The Women@SCS Advisory Committee consists of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty within the School of Computer Science.
http://women.cs.cmu.edu/Resources/Funding/

BEWARE OF SCAM in women business grants

As what we mentioned in our related articles about identify grants for starting a business, you may encounter scams in the way of: telephone calls to entice you, infomercials that look like TV programs with celebrities, “You’re Invited” seminars that offer a big-time sales pitch.

Don’t ever give out information like your credit card number or bank account number.

Do ask questions (you’re entitled) and make sure you get the answers.

Please be careful! Bookmark these resources so they are there when you need them:

* Federal Trade Commission - this is the federal government’s complaint department. Check here for other investigations that have led to scams and learn how to avoid them
www.ftc.gov

* ScamBusters - keeps you posted on what to watch out for. This site has earned the Forbes “Best of the Web” designation and has also appeared in the print version of Forbes’ Best of the Web.
www.scambusters.org

* U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/index.html

* Federal Bureau of Investigation
www.fbi.gov

For additional readings:
Introduction to Net Scams and Hoaxes

How To Avoid Internet Investment Scams

Women Starting a Business Grant

As you can see, there are many resources to grants for women owned businesses, please make sure you take all the relevant steps and due diligence checking to avoid falling into scams.

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