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NGExpert financial copywriter
Page written by Chris Godfrey. Last reviewed on July 16, 2024. Next review due October 1, 2025.
Business grants can provide crucial funding for Native Americans seeking to advance their career, launch a startup, or grow their current business. Although grants are typically competitive and may come with strict qualifying rules, they have major benefits that are very hard to beat: Grants are free money. You don’t have to repay the funds. There’s no interest to pay. No debt to carry.
Native American business owners and entrepreneurs can improve their chances of winning a business grant by preparing in advance. Key tasks to take care of include:
There are many grants available for Native American business owners. Here are some of the best to get you on your way:
The US Department of the Interior – Indian Affairs, is a federal agency tasked with a mission to enhance the quality of life, to promote economic opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives. As part of this goal, they offer numerous grant programs and business support initiatives.
Current funding opportunities include:
The first nations development institute is a Colorado-based nonprofit that works to improve the lives of Native Americans. Its business programs put heavy emphasis on business owner education and support, delivering webinars on everything from the basics of budget management to the inner workings of financial markets. The Institute also offers programs to support new Native American businesses. Since starting its national grant program in 1993, the institute has provided grants worth more than $54 million to Native American projects and organizations.
The Regional Development Corporation (RDC) is a nonprofit that helps drive economic development in Northern New Mexico. If you’re a Native American entrepreneur and you have a for-profit business that is headquartered in either Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel, Santa Fe, or Taos counties, you may be eligible for RDC’s Tribal Economic Diversity Fund. This program caters solely to businesses owned by federally recognized Indian tribes or enrolled members of such tribes. Grants can be as much as $8,000 and can be used for the purchase of critical technical services or equipment.
Offered by the State of Montana, the Indian Equity Fund (IEF) Small Business Grant is a grant to assist a start-up or expand Native American businesses. This money can be used for a variety of activities such as the purchase of new equipment or the development of a new product line. A total of $320,000 is available to fund Native American businesses in Montana.
Although it’s not a direct source of funding for Native American business owners, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) is a great source of commercial information and contacts that may lead to business investment. As a non-profit organization, the NCAIED is committed to helping Native Americans realize their entrepreneurial dreams. They provide training, advocacy, business development, and other business resources for Native American entrepreneurs.
The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) provides business growth grants of up to $4,000 to members, including Native Americans. Since 2006, nearly $1,000,000 has been awarded, with grants used for marketing, advertising, hiring employees, expanding facilities and other specific business needs. All minorities may apply, but you must be a member of NASE to participate. (Membership fees may be applicable).
If Native Americans can’t find it here, they may not find it anywhere. Grants.gov is an online goldmine for grants and federal business support initiatives. Provided by the US Office of Management and Budget, the Grants.gov website gives grant seekers access to more than 1,000 grant programs and vets grant applications for federal grant-making agencies.
MORE: Grants for minorities.
Business loans may provide an alternative source of funding for entrepreneurs wishing to grow their business or start a new venture. Online lenders will typically be the best option for this type of financing, although you may pay higher interest rates and fees than you would with traditional banks. Credit checks are standard with most commercial financing, but depending on the type of loan you choose, you may not need to provide collateral:
You receive a single, lump-sum cash injection and then pay it back in regular instalments over a fixed period of up to 25 years. Collateral may be required.
Withdraw as much as you want when you want from a loan facility up to the limit of your borrowing. You only pay interest on the sums you withdraw, not the whole credit line. Collateral may be required.
Borrow against the value of your unpaid invoices. The lender usually provides up to 95% of the invoice value within a few days or even hours of the bill being raised. Your invoices act as security for the loan, no added collateral required.
Use your new equipment as you pay for it, while the lender maintains a lien on the machinery. Once you pay the loan back, the lender releases the lien, and you own the equipment outright. No added collateral required.
For businesses that accept customer payments by credit and debit card. Borrow against the value of your card sales. As your card sales increase, your borrowing limit goes up. Your sales act as security for the loan, no added collateral is required.
Similar to a merchant cash advance but with higher borrowing limits. Based on the size and regularity of their total revenues, (not just their credit card sales), businesses may receive a lump sum and pay it back over a short-term schedule, typically by small deductions from their daily sales. This type of loan can usually be secured quickly as qualification rules are less intensive and credit scores are not so critical. No added collateral is required.
Available up to $50,000, SBA microloans come with relaxed qualifying rules and can usually be secured with FICO scores as low as 500, or even with no credit score at all.
Working with business finance experts can make all the difference when applying for grant funding. Contact Swoop to discuss your borrowing needs, get help with your application and to compare top quality small business grants and business loans from a choice of providers. Give your business the chance it deserves. Register with Swoop today.
Written by
Chris is a freelance copywriter and content creator. He has been active in the marketing, advertising, and publishing industries for more than twenty-five years. Writing for Wells Fargo Bank, Visa, Experian, Ebay, Flywire, insurers and pension funds, his words have appeared online and in print to inform, entertain and explain the complex world of US consumer and business finance.
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