Cultural Nonprofits Eligible for COVID Aid

By Jondi Gumz

Registered 501 (c)(3) cultural nonprofits such as dance companies, theater companies, musical groups and museums that have struggled due to the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible to apply for a state grant from March 16 through March 23 from $50 million in funding out of $2 billion in small business aid approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Nonprofits with 2019 revenue of $1,000 to $100,000 are eligible for $5,000; those with revenue of $100,000+ up to $1 million are eligible for $15,000 and those with more than $1 million in revenue are eligible for $25,000.

Grants will be prioritized based on percentage revenue decline comparing the second and third quarters of 2020 with those quarters in 2019.

Applicants must apply at CAReliefGrant.com.

California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate, part of Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, is overseeing the aid program. Minority-owned Lendistry, an online lender founded in 2015 by Everett Sands and CDFI-certified, was chosen by the state to process applications and distribute grants.

In its first two funding rounds, 40,000 small businesses and nonprofits were selected out of 350,000 applicants to receive $500 million in grants. The requests exceeded $4.5 billion.

Waitlisted small businesses were eligible to apply for Round 3 from March 5-11.

New applicants can apply in Round 5, March 25-31, and applicants not awarded a grant in the previous rounds are automatically considered.

Dates for Round 6 have not been announced, but applicants not awarded a grant previously are automatically considered.

For info from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, see www.business.ca.gov