2022 Microgrant Program

Since May 2020, we have been fortunate to have launched and executed four successful rounds of the Microgrant Program. The program seeks to provide direct financial support to our alumni businesses across all industries. Over the course of the history of this program, we have focused funding primarily on COVID-19 business impact and accounting services. For this next round, we will return to providing funding to a range of general business expense needs. These needs don’t explicitly need to be tied to the impact of COVID-19 as they had been in previous rounds.


Eligibility Criteria

  • Sunshine Enterprises graduates of the Community Business Academy, that were operating an online, home-based, or physical location business, as of January 1, 2022, are eligible for assistance through this program (Includes sole proprietors, LLC, S-Corp, NFP, etc). 

  • SE graduates who have received any amount of Microgrant support in the previous three rounds WILL be eligible to apply in this round. 

  • Payroll employees (part time or full time) of Sunshine Enterprises WILL NOT be eligible.

If granted, assistance will be provided in the form of direct payments to the applicant’s business entity in support of approved services. Applicants will not receive personal cash payments.

Eligible Services 

Eligible applicants may:

  • Request up to $1,000 of small business support grant funding to be used toward expenses or services in the following categories:

    • Professional Services (Accounting, tax, insurance, legal)

    • Tools and Equipment (software, hardware, process-specific tools or equipment, company vehicle)

    • Licenses and Certifications

    • Production and Workspace

    • Continued research and development of initial MVPs (minimum viable products)

    • Continuing Education and Key Personnel Development (Classes, workshops, training programs)

    • Marketing services or tools

    • Utilities

    • Rent

Program Administration & Application Process

Step 1: Submit online application 

All grant applications must be completed and submitted online. Applications will include a budget narrative for use of grant funds, short statement of need, business plan or executive summary, a collection of business financial data, and receipts/invoices of accounting services (services can either have already been paid for or planned to be paid for in the near future). Applications will be received between Thursday, March 24th and Thursday, April 7th and reviewed by an internal SE committee.

Step 2: Committee application review process 

SE committee will review applications weekly for compliance with eligibility guidelines and scope of work to be funded. Applicants will receive a funding decision by Friday, April 22nd.

Step 3: Process direct business service payment

Upon approval of application and validation of applicant’s good standing with the State of Illinois, Sunshine Enterprises will process direct funding of approved business services to the applicant’s business

Application Note: You will be prompted to sign in with a Gmail email address, if you do not have one you can create one quickly by clicking here

For questions: contact Quandra Speights at quandra@sunshineenterprises.com