Updated Thursday April 29 at 1:30pm EST
Earlier this week, the SBA began emailing small business owners regarding the new $5,000 Supplemental EIDL Grants. These grants are in addition to the full $10,000 Targeted EIDL Grants and are first-come, first-served. 1 million businesses will be eligible for these extra $5,000 grants and action is required if you're eligible. We've outlined the entire process below, including new information on who's received email invites and new guidelines from the SBA.
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How Many People Have Been Invited to Apply for Supplemental EIDL Grants?
According to our latest survey, only 7% of people have reported receiving an invite, so there's a long way to go. However, we have heard that emails are continuing to go out this week, when the SBA believes small business owners are eligible.
In addition, as part of our effort to smart businesses and increase eligibility, thousands of you have supported our petition to get the SBA to change the low-income community rules.
Does the SBA have Guidelines on What to Expect with the Supplemental EIDL Grants?
Yes, the SBA has recently published a comprehensive FAQ on both Supplemental and Targeted EIDL grants. The guide answers the following questions and more:
- Can I apply?
- What is the difference between the Targeted and the Supplemental?
- When will the SBA begin sending email invites?
Step-by-Step $5,000 EIDL Grant Instructions
The SBA started sending out emails this morning that look like this:
The second part of the email looks like this and outlines eligibility. Eligibility includes: In "Low-income community" (more on this below), 10 or fewer employees, and suffered economic loss of 50% between 2019 and 2020 over an 8 week period.
Once you click the green button, Targeted Advance Application, you'll get to a screen to enter your EIN or SSN, if self-employed.
Once you click continue you'll have to verify that you want to be considered for the Supplemental Targeted Advance of $5,000, then Submit. And that's it... or so we thought. There are actually more steps they don't tell you about...
But first, the problem with this application and process.
Millions of Small Businesses Will Not be Eligible
We've talked about this a lot both on YouTube and on our app, but the low-income provision does seem to unfairly disqualify hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of small business owners who are otherwise deserving and in need of emergency grants.
Our latest YouTube poll has found that 31% of people do not think they'll qualify for these extra $5k grants, and the primary reason is because the business is not located in a qualifying "low-income" location.
Based on your requests, we're writing a letter to the head of the SBA Isabel Guzman and senior leadership to have them reconsider the process and eligibility. You can learn more and sign the petition here.
Completing the $5K EIDL Grant Application on SBA Portal
The last step you'll need to do is login to your SBA Portal. Your dashboard might look something like this, with a new Supplemental Targeted Advance section under Advances. If you see the blue button "Submit for Processing" you'll need to click that to complete the flow.
If it successfully goes through, you should then see Submitted status.
What Do You Think About the $5K Supplemental EIDL Grants?
We would love to hear what you think about this new grant and the process. Are you happy with it? Do you think you're eligible? Have you gotten the email yet? Join the discussion on our YouTube video about this. Hundreds are leaving comments with more questions, answers, or insights you might find interesting.
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