# 4 Grants still open in October 2026 (4 more are dead) By MCAFax · Published July 29, 2026 · Updated October 3, 2026 Section: Business Funding › Grants · Series: Grant of the Week (https://mcafax.com/notebook/category/grants) Canonical: https://mcafax.com/notebook/ten-business-grants-that-are-actually-realistic-for-small-businesses Source: MCAFax, The Broker's Notebook (https://mcafax.com/notebook). MCAFax is not a lender or a law firm. --- Verizon gives $10,000 to ten small businesses every month. The entry fee is two free online classes. Most founders never apply. The grant lists they find are full of programs that closed two years ago. We opened every official page on October 2, 2026. Four of the programs on our old version of this list are gone. Four are open right now. They're ordered from easiest to start to hardest. Verified on the official pages: October 2, 2026. Grants are competitive, and none of these is a sure thing. Never pay anyone to "unlock" a grant. ## 1. Verizon Small Business Digital Ready grant - Amount: $10,000. Ten businesses are picked every month from June through December 2026. - Who qualifies: For-profit businesses based in the U.S., Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, with an owner aged 18 or older. Nonprofits are not eligible. - How: Make a free Digital Ready account and finish any two free courses or events. That unlocks the application. You apply once and stay in the pool for every monthly draw left in 2026. - Deadline: Rolling through 2026. The last monthly pick is in December, and everyone hears back by January 12, 2027. If you apply in October, you're in three draws. If you wait until December, you're in one. - Fee: none. - Apply: https://digitalready.verizonwireless.com/funding/details ## 2. Amber Grant (WomensNet) - Amount: $10,000. Three grants are awarded every month (the main grant, a startup grant, and a category grant). Three winners also get a $50,000 year-end grant. - Who qualifies: Women aged 18 or older who own at least 50% of a business based in the U.S. or Canada. Idea-stage businesses count. The startup grant is for businesses with under $10,000 in sales. October's category is Creative Arts. - Deadline: October 31, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET for the October round. The window resets monthly. - Fee: $15, non-refundable. A fee waiver is available if you email them before you apply. - Apply: https://ambergrantsforwomen.com/grant-rules/ ## 3. NASE Growth Grant - Amount: up to $4,000 for a specific project, like equipment, a website, marketing or a part-time hire. You can't use it to pay debt or rent. - Deadline: December 31, 2026 for the Q4 window (opened October 1). Q4 applications are reviewed in January. - Who qualifies: Members of the National Association for the Self-Employed. Annual, Veteran and Gold members can apply right away. Monthly members have to wait 90 days. - Bring: a grant-use statement, a business plan, a tax return or P&L (projections are fine if you're new), and a photo. - Fee: You have to pay for a membership. Check the current price on nase.org before you join just to apply. - Apply: https://www.nase.org/become-a-member/member-benefits/business-resources/growth-grants ## 4. NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I - Amount: up to $305,000 for 6 to 18 months of R&D. NSF takes no equity. - Apply: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/small-business-innovation-research-small-business-technology - Who qualifies: U.S. small businesses with fewer than 500 employees that are at least 50% owned by U.S. citizens or permanent residents and are building a high-risk technology. The tech lead must work there 20+ hours a week (no PhD needed). You need an invite from a short Project Pitch first. - Deadline: November 4, 2026, by 5 p.m. your local time for the full proposal. Pitches take one to two months to answer, so a pitch sent today realistically targets March 4, 2027. - Status: Congress let SBIR lapse on September 30, 2025, then reauthorized it through 2031 in April 2026 (https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12705). ## Before you apply: the ones that died Our old list named these programs. As of today, none of them takes applications: - FedEx Small Business Grant Contest (U.S.): FedEx says the program ran from 2012 "through 2024" and is retired. - LegalZoom Fast Break for Small Business: the program closed for good in 2024. - Jobber Grants 2026: applications closed June 11, 2026. Watch for a 2027 round. - USDA Rural Business Development Grants: real money, but it goes to towns, nonprofits and public bodies, not straight to your business. ## How to tell a grant from a lead form A real grant names its deadline, links its rules, and never asks for your bank login. A "grant" page that asks for three months of bank statements and has a "funding specialist" call you within an hour is a cash-advance lead form. Read the [grant-fee scam guide](https://mcafax.com/notebook/guides/grant-fee-scams) before you pay anyone. If you need cash before a grant decision comes back, start with the [SBA 7(a) playbook](https://mcafax.com/notebook/how-to-get-an-sba-7a-loan-without-getting-hooked-by-brokers) or [invoice factoring](https://mcafax.com/notebook/what-is-invoice-factoring-and-how-does-it-work-for-small-businesses) before you look at a daily-debit advance. ## Questions readers ask **Are small business grants taxable?** Usually, yes. Both NASE and the Verizon program administrator say awards are generally taxable, and LISC issues a Form 1099. Ask your tax preparer. **Is a grant with an application fee a scam?** Not always. Amber charges a small fee and offers a waiver. NASE requires a paid membership. A fee to "access a grant database," or a fee paid after you "win," is the scam. **Which one can a first-time founder actually win?** Verizon Digital Ready, because its first cut is an anonymous drawing. Next best: Amber's startup grant, if you're a woman founder with almost no sales yet.