Questions and answers

Yes. There’s no fee to apply and no fee to receive a grant. If anyone asks you to pay to get a Saffron Grants grant, it isn’t us. Please report it.

Most people finish in about 30 minutes. Your answers save in your browser as you go, so you can stop and come back later on the same device.

You send one application per business each cycle, and pick the grant that fits. If reviewers think a different grant suits you better, they may consider you for that one instead.

A few basics: when you started, roughly what you earn in a year and how many people work in the business. You’ll also need the amount you want, a simple budget, and short answers about your business, your plan and the difference the money will make.

A grant proposal (PDF) is required with every application. If your application is approved, we’ll ask you for a full business plan at the next stage, which you upload from your status page.

Email [email protected] before the deadline with your reference number and what you want to change. We can’t change applications after the deadline.

The Spring 2027 cycle closes Friday, January 15, 2027 at 11:59 pm Eastern. We can’t accept late applications.

Yes. The Spark Grant is for new and very small businesses, including ones that haven’t made a sale yet but have a clear plan.

Not right now. Our grants are for for-profit small businesses.

No. The business has to be based and operating in the U.S., you have to be 18 or older and an owner or officer, and the business needs a U.S. bank account in its own name.

Yes, as long as they meet the other rules.

Yes. Past winners can apply again 24 months after their award.

Reviewers score each eligible application on community impact (30%), business viability (25%), use of funds (25%) and readiness to deliver (20%). The full scoring guide is on How it works.

Our team first checks every application against the rules. Then members of our review panel score the eligible ones, each on their own. Reviewers tell us about any conflict of interest and step away from applications they’re connected to.

No. They’re optional, reviewers never see them, and they’re never used in scoring. They only help us report on who the program reaches.

Yes. Everyone who applies gets an email with the result by April 1, 2027. You can also check your status at any time.

No. It’s a grant, not a loan. You don’t pay it back, there’s no interest and we don’t take a share of your business.

Once you sign a grant agreement, we pay it by direct deposit into a bank account in your business’s name. Bigger grants are paid in parts as you reach your milestones.

Usually, yes. Grants paid to businesses normally count as taxable income, and we’ll send an IRS Form 1099 where the law requires one. It’s worth asking a tax professional about your situation.

Two short updates, at 6 and 12 months, on how you used the money and what changed.

Our emails only come from addresses ending in @saffrongrants.com. We never ask for passwords, bank logins, card numbers or payments, and we never tell people they’ve won through social media. Not sure about a message? Forward it to [email protected].

We only use it to run the grant program, and we never sell it. Our privacy policy has the details.